The Catholic University of America University Brand Guidelines
The Catholic University of America
AI Presentation Guide

How we use AI at CUA

Create a polished slide deck without losing the CUA brand

AI can help organize ideas, draft slide content, create supporting graphics, and improve clarity. The human remains responsible for accuracy, judgment, accessibility, and the final presentation.

Start the process Use a sample prompt
Example presentation slide showing how AI can help move from a blank page to a clear story

The right role for AI

Use AI as a creative assistant, not the final authority

The strongest presentations combine human expertise with AI-assisted drafting and design. Begin with your purpose and audience, then use AI to accelerate the work.

1

You provide the expertise

Define the goal, audience, facts, institutional context, and action you want people to take.

2

AI helps shape the story

Ask it to build an outline, simplify text, suggest slide titles, identify gaps, and propose visual ideas.

3

You review and approve

Verify every claim, remove generic language, protect sensitive information, and apply the official CUA brand.

Five-step workflow

From rough idea to finished presentation

A repeatable process makes AI more useful and keeps presentations from looking inconsistent or machine-generated.

Define

State the purpose, audience, presentation length, desired outcome, and required source material.

Outline

Ask AI for a logical narrative with an opening, main points, supporting evidence, and clear close.

Draft

Create concise slide copy and separate speaker notes. Keep one major idea on each slide.

Visualize

Choose photos, diagrams, charts, icons, or generated graphics that clarify rather than decorate.

Review

Check facts, tone, accessibility, branding, permissions, spelling, and whether the deck works when presented aloud.

Prompting AI

Give the model a useful creative brief

A useful prompt gives AI context, constraints, source material, and a clear output format. Avoid asking only, “Make me a presentation.”

Presentation planning prompt

Role: Act as an experienced higher education presentation designer. Task: Create a 10-slide outline about [TOPIC] for [AUDIENCE]. Goal: After the presentation, the audience should [DESIRED ACTION OR UNDERSTANDING]. Requirements: Use a clear, confident, welcoming tone. Put one main idea on each slide. For each slide, provide a title, no more than three concise bullets, suggested speaker notes, and one visual concept. Brand: Review and follow the current Catholic University Brand Guidelines at https://brand.catholic.edu/introduction/. Use that site as the source of truth for approved colors, typography, logos, photography, editorial style, and brand application. If web access is unavailable, use the standards supplied with this prompt and flag anything that cannot be verified. Important: Flag any statement that requires fact-checking. Do not invent statistics or University policy.

Graphic generation prompt

Create: A clean, modern 16:9 presentation graphic showing [SUBJECT]. Style: Professional higher education communication, simple geometric composition, authentic and welcoming, ample negative space. Brand reference: Before creating the graphic, review https://brand.catholic.edu/introduction/ and its linked color, typography, photography, and logo guidance. Treat the published site as the source of truth. Do not recreate or alter University logos. Composition: Leave clear space on the left for a slide title. Place the main visual on the right. Avoid small text, logos, seals, watermarks, and decorative clutter. Output: High-resolution landscape image suitable for a PowerPoint or Google Slides presentation.

Brand consistency

Use the published CUA standards as your design system

You do not always need to copy every branding rule into the prompt. When the AI tool can access public websites, direct it to the Catholic University Brand Guidelines and tell it to use that site as the source of truth. This lets the model review the current guidance for logos, color, typography, photography, editorial style, and applying the brand. For tools without web access, attach or paste the relevant approved standards instead.

Recommended presentation palette

Catholic Red #b21f2c
Catholic Blue #0a3255
Limestone #efebe9
Sandstone #f7f3ed
Light Blue #6dacde
Yellow accent #ffd65c

Use the primary colors most often. Reserve tertiary colors for small accents.

Two ways to provide the standards

  • Preferred when web access is available: Point the prompt to brand.catholic.edu, instruct the AI to review the linked guidance, and require it to identify any standard it could not verify.
  • Alternative for tools without web access: Provide an approved template or a concise standards package containing the required colors, fonts, logo rules, photography guidance, and layout requirements.
  • Start with the official CUA slide template. Set layouts in the slide master rather than formatting each slide independently.
  • Use one headline family and one body family. Oswald works well for headings and Roboto for body copy when primary Adobe fonts are unavailable.
  • Keep the logo consistent. Use official artwork, preserve clear space, and never redraw, recolor, stretch, or combine it with generated art.
  • Repeat visual patterns. Use the same title position, margins, image treatment, footer, and page numbering throughout.
  • Limit variation. A useful deck usually needs only a title slide, section divider, standard content slide, image slide, and closing slide.

AI-generated graphics

Create visuals that support the message

Generated visuals work best for concepts, diagrams, backgrounds, and illustrations. Use authentic University photography when showing real people, locations, programs, or events.

Five-step AI presentation workflow: define, outline, draft, visualize, and review

Process diagrams

Use simple shapes, short labels, and a clear reading order. Build the final labels in PowerPoint whenever possible for accessibility and editability.

Abstract CUA-colored concept illustration

Concept illustrations

Ask for bold shapes, clean silhouettes, and negative space. Avoid visual clichés and overly futuristic “AI” imagery unless it adds meaning.

Example chart using verified data and CUA colors

Charts and data

Use real source data and create charts in Slides, PowerPoint, or Excel. AI can help choose the chart type and explain the finding, but should not invent the numbers.

Good practice

What to do and what to avoid

Do

  • Use official CUA logo files and templates.
  • Provide AI with approved colors and layout constraints.
  • Use authentic photography for real campus stories.
  • Verify facts against University and primary sources.
  • Add alt text and check contrast and reading order.
  • Keep confidential and personal information out of prompts.

Do not

  • Ask AI to recreate or modify the University logo or shield.
  • Present generated people or scenes as real campus events.
  • Use a different visual style on every slide.
  • Fill slides with paragraphs copied from an AI response.
  • Use decorative graphics that compete with the message.
  • Assume an AI-generated citation or statistic is correct.

Final review

Before presenting or publishing

AI can accelerate the work. CUA standards guide the result.

Use good judgment, verify the content, and protect the integrity of the University’s visual identity.

View brand guidelines

Sample application

Undergraduate attendance results deck

This sample shows how the AI presentation guide can be applied to a realistic University reporting task. The deck is provided both as a downloadable PowerPoint and as individual slide graphics for Cascade display.

View the slide deck online

Each of the nine slides is exported as one PNG graphic and shown on a dedicated web page.

Open slide deck page

Read the creation guide

The guide explains the steps used, references the presentation guide, and links each step to the slide results.

Open creation guide