Quick answer
To show a process clearly on a slide, cut it to five to seven steps, give each step a short verb-led label, lay them out in one direction, use one shape and one arrow style throughout, and highlight only the step you are talking about. Put the detail in your voice or the speaker notes, not the diagram.
Every business has a process it needs to explain: how a kitchen fit runs from survey to handover, how a new client is onboarded, how an order moves from website to doorstep. Put it on a slide and it usually turns into a tangle of boxes, crossing arrows and nine-word labels in tiny type. The audience squints, nods and remembers nothing. A workflow diagram that works is simpler than you think, and you can build one in any presentation tool in about twenty minutes.
Start on paper, not in the software
Presentation tools make it easy to add shapes and hard to think. Before opening one, write the process as a list on paper. Then cut it:
- Merge small steps. “Email quote”, “chase quote” and “accept quote” become “Agree the quote”.
- Drop internal steps the audience does not care about. A customer does not need to see your stock check.
- Stop at seven. If there are more, split the process into two slides: an overview, then a zoom into the complicated part.
Write each label as a verb and an object: “Survey the room”, “Approve the design”, “Fit and test”. Two to four words each. If a label needs a sentence, the sentence belongs in what you say.
Choose the right shape of diagram
| Diagram | Use it when | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Straight line of steps | The process always runs in the same order | Survey, design, order, fit, sign off |
| Chevrons | You want a sense of forward movement and phases | Discovery, build, launch |
| Loop or cycle | The process repeats | Plan, post, measure, adjust |
| Simple branch | There is one important decision | Quote accepted? Yes: book; no: follow up |
| Swimlanes | Several people or teams each own different steps | Customer, office, fitters |
Most slides need the first one. Reach for branches and swimlanes only when the decision or the hand-over is the point you are making.
Build it step by step
- Pick a layout direction. Left to right suits wide slides and up to six steps. Top to bottom suits longer lists and portrait documents.
- Draw one shape and style it. A rounded rectangle in your brand colour, with your brand typeface at a size readable from the back of the room. Then duplicate it, rather than drawing new ones, so every step matches.
- Space the shapes evenly. Use the tool’s align and distribute options; uneven gaps look careless even when nobody can say why.
- Add connectors, not loose lines. Connectors stay attached when you move a shape. Use one arrow style and keep arrows short and straight.
- Number the steps if the order matters and people will refer to them later (“as in step three”).
- Add one icon per step only if it helps. A single consistent icon set can aid recognition; a mix of clip art styles does the opposite.
- Check it from a distance. Shrink the slide to a thumbnail. If you can still follow the flow, it will work on a projector.
Both main tools have built-in diagram features. Google’s help article on inserting shapes, diagrams and lines in Google Slides covers its options, and Microsoft’s PowerPoint help centre covers SmartArt, which can turn a bulleted list into a process diagram in one click. SmartArt is a useful starting point, but restyle it in your own colours so it does not look like everyone else’s.
Use colour to guide, not decorate
Keep all steps in one neutral or brand colour, and use a single accent colour to highlight the step you are currently talking about. Duplicate the slide for each step, moving the highlight along, and you have a simple animation without any animation effects. The audience always knows where you are.
Check that text on coloured shapes is readable. Light grey text on a pale brand colour often fails, especially on projectors that wash colours out. WebAIM’s free contrast checker takes seconds.
Common mistakes
- Every detail on one slide. The diagram becomes a wiring plan. Split it.
- Arrows going in several directions. If the eye has to search for the next step, the diagram has failed.
- Different shapes for no reason. In formal flowcharts, shapes have meanings (a diamond means a decision). On a business slide, a random mix just adds noise.
- Tiny text to make it fit. If it does not fit at a readable size, there is too much on the slide.
- Off-brand colours from the default template. A process slide in default blue looks borrowed.
A worked example
A bathroom fitter wants one slide for customer presentations showing how a job runs. The first draft has eleven boxes: enquiry, call back, survey, measure, quote, deposit, order, strip out, first fix, tiling, handover. Cutting it on paper gives six steps: “Free survey”, “Fixed quote”, “Choose your suite”, “Strip out”, “Fit and tile”, “Handover and clean”. Laid left to right in rounded rectangles in the brand’s navy, with the current step in the brand’s orange, the slide reads in about five seconds. The detail about deposits and ordering goes into the spoken explanation and the written quote.
Make it reusable
Once you have one good process diagram, save it as a layout in your presentation template, so the whole team draws processes the same way. Over time your proposals, pitch decks and onboarding packs start to look like one business, which is the point of having a brand at all. If your materials already look inconsistent, our guide to a brand that looks different everywhere explains how to pull it back together, and our free brand audit checklist helps you spot the gaps.
When to get it designed
A tidy diagram is within anyone’s reach. A full set of branded slide layouts, icons and colour rules is design work, and it pays off when your team presents often. Our brand identity design, £299, sets the colours, typography and imagery your slides should follow, and our guide to brand guidelines costs explains what a guidelines document covers. If you are briefing someone, our guide to briefing a designer keeps it quick. Every Luxbranding price is on our pricing page.
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Frequently asked questions
How many steps should a process slide show? +
Five to seven is a comfortable maximum for one slide. If your process has more, merge small steps, drop the internal ones the audience does not need, or split it into an overview slide and a second slide that zooms into the complicated part. Short labels of two to four words keep each step readable.
What is the best tool for workflow diagrams in slides? +
The one your team already uses. PowerPoint's SmartArt and Google Slides' diagrams and shapes both handle simple process flows well. Specialist diagram tools help with complex flowcharts, but most business slides need a straight line of steps, which any presentation tool can do once you style one shape and duplicate it.
Should a process diagram use different shapes? +
On a business slide, keep to one shape for every step and one arrow style throughout. Formal flowcharts give shapes meanings, such as a diamond for a decision, and that is useful for technical documents. For an audience, a mix of shapes just adds noise. Use colour to highlight the current step instead.
How do I animate a process on a slide simply? +
Duplicate the slide once for each step and move a single highlight colour along the steps as you talk. When you click to the next slide, the highlight moves, so the audience always knows where you are. It works in every tool, prints cleanly and avoids distracting animation effects.
