“It is not titles that honour men, but men that honour titles.” – Niccolò Machiavelli
It’s the presentation equivalent of a first impression, so why do people spend so little time making it fantastic? Let’s take a moment to establish some do’s and dont’s for the first thing your audience notices: the title slide.
1. One Title
Your presentation isn’t a Hollywood movie on its fifteenth sequel, so make sure your title is short and singular. One phrase or word is all it takes to reduce text and keep your audience from the intangible fear that they are about to experience the PowerPoint version of War and Peace.
2. Revisit Your Theme
At Ethos3, we tend to give our presentations one word that describes the theme of the rest of the presentation for the title slide. Positive year-end financial reports become 
“Exceed,” pitch decks about a new kind of bike become “Peppy,” and so on. Revisit your content and look for keywords that are recurring, or main ideas that could create a more creative title. Aim for a summary of this theme in only 1-2 words, and voila! A playful yet meaningful title.
3. Keep It Secret
Don’t reveal your hand before the presentation begins by explaining everything your audience is about to see on the title slide. Instead, keep them guessing before you launch into all of the details. A title slide needs to set the tone, not act as an appendix or film credits.
4. No Names
And speaking of credits, try to avoid putting your name or any of the speaker’s names on the title slide along with your clean-looking (hopefully) one-word title. If the speakers are prepared, they will either introduce themselves or be introduced.
5. Logo Rules
Logos have a little bit more freedom than speaker’s names, because they are visual representations of your company, and not paragraph-long eyesores. If you have some design flexibility, pull colors from the logo to use in the title slide. Also, be mindful of how the logo is sized to fit on the screen: it really shouldn’t take precedence over the theme/title of the rest of your speech. And finally, never use a logo that isn’t the highest resolution possible; a blurry image is not what you need on Slide 1.
Approach your title slide like a handshake: it should be firm, straightforward, and give your audience an idea of the kind of character they are dealing with. Spend as much time working on your title slide as you would any other first impression.
Question: How can you improve your presentation’s title slide?
