The Presentation Guld is turning 10
How it all began...

If you ask how the Presentation Guild got its start, the story begins with a small, annoying moment—one that carried a much bigger message. The Presentation Guild’s founders, Sandy Johnson and Echo Swinford, reflect on the Presentation Guild’s creation 10 years ago this September. 

Back in late 2013 or early 2014, Echo was setting up the Adobe Creative Suite on a new computer. The installer asked: “What kind of design do you do?” Textile design? Billboard design? Several options were listed. But not a single mention of presentations.

That was the spark.

If Adobe didn’t even recognize our field, how could clients, employers, or the industry at large? Frustration turned into resolve. Calls went out to colleagues, and the response was unanimous: we needed to do this. Everyone threw in seed money, time, and passion. A professional home for presentation designers was about to be born.

Why a “Guild”?

Choosing a name wasn’t easy. We knew it couldn’t be about PowerPoint alone; our field was much broader. Were we an association? An organization? It was Glenna Shaw, Microsoft PowerPoint MVP, and one of the founding directors of the Presentation Guild, who argued for the word “Guild.” Some thought it sounded old-fashioned, but the definition fit perfectly: a group of artisans protecting and advancing their craft. That’s exactly what we wanted—to validate our profession and support one another.

The Push for Certification

The need for certification came from lived experience. Echo recalled being asked by a potential client if they were Microsoft Certified. Despite being an MVP—and even having tech-edited Microsoft’s own test—they couldn’t “prove” their skills in a way the client respected, and she didn’t get the job.

That frustration became fuel. If the world needed credentials to recognize presentation expertise, then the Presentation Guild would create them.

Certification didn’t happen overnight. Glenna Shaw again brought crucial experience, helping distinguish between simple certificates of attendance and true professional certification. Volunteers hammered out standards—objective, measurable skills that defined what it meant to be a professional at different stages of a career.

Sheila B. Robinson, Owner of Custom Professional Learning, LLC and one of the first volunteers and later President of the Presentation Guild, refined exam questions. Richard Goring, Director at BrightCarbon and his team created practical test files. Together, they built a certification program that gave presentation professionals the credibility they had long deserved.

Community, Research, and Recognition

Certification wasn’t the only early win. Around the same time, Sandy launched the first State of the Industry survey, insisting we needed a baseline to measure against as the Guild grew. That survey became a pillar of our work, offering data that both professionals and organizations could use to better understand the field.

And then there was the community itself—the “village” that made it all possible. People contributed time, money, and brainpower, united by the belief that presentation design mattered.

Looking Back with Pride

What began with frustration at a missing drop-down menu option became something much larger: the world’s only professional association dedicated to presentation design.

Every certification earned, every survey conducted, every event hosted moves the industry forward. As Charles Cranford, Founder of CTCA, and one of the founding board directors, liked to say, “A rising tide lifts all boats.”

The Presentation Guild’s founding is proof of what can happen when a group of passionate professionals refuses to let their work remain invisible. It was about recognition then—and it still is today.

Thank you to all the members who supported the Presentation Guild from its early beginnings and throughout the years, and to all the volunteers who have contributed their time and talent to building and sustaining the organization.

Sandy Johnson, Microsoft PowerPoint MVP, Founder of Presentation Wiz, and host of the Presentation Podcast and Echo Swinford, Microsoft PowerPoint MVP, Owner of Echo’s Voice, and co-author of the book Building Presentation Templates.