Where should you place your logo on your slides?

These are questions I face in every workshop on business presentation skills: Is there a right spot to place the logo? Is it obligatory to use corporate colors in the presentation background? 

Why the obsession with logo & colors?

This obsession comes from the old marketing maxim that the logo and corporate color should be used in all corporate communication. It is okay if it just reminds your audience about your company, but it ends up having a negative outcome as well. Let me explain why.

1.       The problem of visual tolerance:

Humans have this remarkable ability to turn a blind eye to things that are repetitive and mundane. This is called visual tolerance. 

You experience this phenomenon every time you walk through a crowded street. There may be hundreds of billboards and neon signs on either side of the street but you ignore all of them. 

The same powerful phenomenon causes your audience to ignore your slides when you put logo in the presentation template. 

2.      

The problem of monotony:

Standard templates are expected to make slides of an organization look consistent. While the idea is good, the outcome is a boring slide deck. Since the human mind is wired to ignore the usual, people categorize the same looking slides as ‘usual’, and ignore the content. 

Use your logo and corporate colors only on the Title and Thank you slides:

1.       Audience attention is always high at the start and end of your presentation, so, your corporate symbols make a mark where it matters 

2.       You need not worry about wasting the precious real estate on the slide. 

3.       You have a wider option of colors to use and need not worry about the background colors clashing with a powerful picture.   

Finally, give some relief to your audience with your fresh looking slide deck!