When you want to add graphics to your presentation, don’t use pictures from Google or Bing, except for company logos. You don’t have permission to use those pictures. They aren’t “royalty-free,” — meaning you haven’t secured the right to use them. It’s unlikely, but you could get sued for using them, especially if a company uses them, not an individual.
The best sources for materials will change over time. But here’s where I get the visual elements I use.
Everything I list below is safe and royalty-free.
For pictures, I use pexels.com (free) and Canva (paid).
For video, I use pixels.com (free, very limited selection) and VideoBlocks (paid).
I use graphicriver.net for PowerPoint (and Apple Keynote) templates. Templates are a cheap and easy way to do most of the nice visual work for your webinar as quickly as possible.
Editing Graphics:
You don’t need to become a Photoshop whiz, but knowing basic editing means you can clean up or change pictures, so they suit what you want.
Mac users can use Pixelmator ($30, one time). Windows users might try GIMP (free). If all you learn to do is learn how to remove a background and change color, that’s likely all you ever need to learn. Spending the time and money to get exactly what you want to see on your screen is well worth it.
The slide is a canvas:
When you buy a template from GraphicRiver, you’ll see that those designers don’t limit themselves to the confines of the slide. They look at a slide as a canvas. For example, they get interesting visual effects by letting items hang off the end of the slide. So the viewer only sees part of the shape.
This applies to you, too. Words need to be entirely on the slide, but everything else is open to your creative needs. The more interesting the slide, the longer the audience will look at it.
Movement is movement:
There’s no difference, attention-wise, between a moving image plus an unmoving viewer, and a static image plus a moving viewer. In other words, if you have a diagram, photo, or set of photos that gets the viewer to move their eyes back and forth, that counts as a “movement.” This will lead to better audience engagement and attention.