How to Quickly Make a Timeline in Keynote With Templates

In this tutorial, we’ll use the Timeline 2.0 for Keynote template from Envato Elements. This template is all about building out timelines efficiently in Keynote. The slides have fully developed slides that you can use for a Keynote timeline! All you need to do is add your details to make them successful. 

With Timeline 2.0, there are ten different color schemes to choose from. Each of those color schemes has 50 different slides with unique timeline designs. Furthermore, there’s an animated and non-animated version of each slide. These give you vast creative flexibility to create designs of your own. 

You don’t have to use this slide deck on its own. It’s easy to design a timeline slide and paste it into an existing slide deck.

The key idea is to start with pre-built slides that already have a timeline structure in place. Let’s learn how to use these to customize your timelines. 

5 Excellent Keynote Timeline Slides (Customize Quickly)

Our slide template has a wide variety of slide designs. But that means that it can be challenging to select the right one for the timeline that you’re designing! The trick is to embrace the flexibility that so many options afford you.

Let’s take a look at five great Keynote timeline slides in Timeline 2.0. As we explore, we’ll imagine some ways that you could use each of them. 

1. Keynote Timeline Slide 48 – “Key” Date Slides

This slide puts critical dates front and center with a slick graphic. The key graphic can be used to show those pivotal dates on a project that are crucial to its success.

Throughout these slides, the method is the same. Start with one of these slide designs, add your details, and remove anything that you don’t want to use.

In this example, I’ve updated the starter slide with details of the three key parts of my project. Just double click in the text boxes and add your details to show a timeline for your work.

2. Keynote Timeline Slide 2 – Project Completion Slides

This Keynote timeline template slide is incredibly versatile! Of course, it shows the major dates for timelines. But it also illustrates the percent completion of each stage.

For projects that run many objectives in parallel, slide 2 is an ideal choice. Just fill in the circles with the appropriate completion percentage and status description! When you do, you’ll show the project’s status to your audience in real time. 

3. Keynote Timeline Slide 29 – Cube Date Slides

This cube date slide (slide 29 in the deck) can work for a litany of timeline purposes. In this design, the descriptions that you add will take more priority than the shapes or graphics. It’s a compelling way to make a visual timeline. 

As always, it’s easy to take a slide with this starting design and drop your details into. Update the dates, add the milestone details, and voila! You’ve made an incredible Keynote timeline of your own. 

4. Keynote Timeline Slide 36 – Photo-Driven Timeline Slide

Here’s a slide that can shine with the addition of several photos. A timeline can be used to show the progress of a project, and this slide might be the perfect design for it.

When you open slide 36, you’ll see five photo placeholders that you can add your photos to. Just update the text and add in your photos to see the lifespan of a project, illustrated with real images.

5. Keynote Timeline Slide 33 – Month-by-Month Slide

This slide design is perfect for setting the course of a project. You need to link together the milestones in a project with key dates.

The half rings in this slide are ideal for this. A quick description for each milestone helps you show the project on a timeline. And of course, you can update the months as needed. Consider using this in a project pitch to gain buy-in.  

5 Practical Uses for Timelines

There’s almost no limit to the situations that you can use a timeline for. Whenever you need to connect events together, consider using a timeline. Here are some scenarios that you could use a timeline for:

1. Job application pitches. Telling a future employer about your past employment experiences? One of the best ways to do it is with a timeline in Keynote that explains how all your expertise fits together.
2. New project approvals. If you want a team to approve your project, it’s crucial to lay out a road map with key milestones. This level of open communication drives engagement and approval. 
3. Explaining the history of a topic. How about using a timeline in Keynote to show key events in a company’s history? You can use critical points on a timeline to show key events in the organization’s history.
4. Predicting the future. I’ve seen timelines also used for future forecasts or predictions. Even if your timeline extends past the present, you can use the critical points along it to point out the key dates.
5. Set your personal goals. Use a timeline with key points to mark the steps it’ll take to reach a major goal.

Whether you’re showing the past or future, a timeline shows how the events fit together to tell a story. No matter what your project needs are, a Keynote template can be one of the best ways to build a timeline. 

The Best Source for Top Keynote Timeline Templates (In 2023)

You can always build a Keynote timeline by hand. When you do, you’ll manually draw out the timeline, using shapes and lines to show events. But that takes too much time and is inflexible, and the result won’t be as good as the alternative.

So, why build timelines from scratch? Use a Keynote timeline template with pre-built designs instead! The easiest way to create a timeline is to get a head start and add your details to it. 

All you need to do is pick out a Keynote timeline template that fits your style. Then, you’ll substitute the placeholders with your own project specifics. 

Find Keynote Timelines

For this, we’ll use a template from Envato Elements. With a premium timeline template Keynote, you’ll save precious time. You won’t have to build Keynote timeline designs from scratch. Instead, you’ll just need to fill in your key details! In seconds, you can make a visual timeline of your own. 

Time and time again, the Elements selection of items impresses me with its depth. There are templates for every purpose, including many templates designed for building timelines. When you choose a Keynote roadmap template from Elements, you’ll enjoy:

• Expertly crafted designs. With slides built by creative experts, you’ll wow your audience.
• Flexible layouts. Easy-to-edit and fast to work with, you can customize a premium Keynote roadmap template fast.
• Themed slide decks. Many timeline template Keynote designs feature unique themes for your business. 

As you can see, a premium Keynote roadmap template from Envato Elements is your best bet! Browse the vast library and join today!

5 (More) Creative Keynote Timeline Templates

These aren’t the only options to build your Keynote timeline graphics. Thanks to Envato Elements, there’s a deep library of options for building timeline templates.

1. Timeline Keynote Template

The Timeline Keynote template is a top design, with 30 slides for timeline graphics. As you’ve already seen in this tutorial, timelines can take a variety of forms! This template offers a wide sampling of them. Choose from any of them along with the 7 color schemes to craft your timeline in Keynote in no time flat!

2. Travel Keynote Template

The Travel template has many slide designs built in, and they’re incredibly easy to work with! Some of my favorites are the timeline slides you can use to chain events together. Bold typography and smooth shapes are ideal to build your Keynote timeline graphic.

3. Rubick Keynote Template

If you’re wondering how to make a timeline in less time, look no further than this Keynote template. Rubick is a dark and bold template with splashes of color that makes it one of my top choices.

Not every slide features a timeline graphic. But many options are found in this presentation. Use Rubick’s Keynote template to bring your timeline to life.

4. Crown Keynote Template

Less is more, and great Keynote timeline templates like Crown are a powerful reminder of that. The light and airy slides help your content take center stage and stand out to the audience.

Best of all, you’ll see slides that have bold timelines that stand out. Customize these timeline graphics easily.

5. Startup Infographic Keynote Template

Launching your startup takes bold graphics to gain support. One type of slide that’s often included is a timeline that helps showcase your growth journey. Look no further than this Keynote timeline package! It includes all the timelines you see in the screenshot above.

Want to see other templates that include designs that cover all your Keynote needs? Check out the round-up below:

• 

  18 Best Keynote Presentation Templates (Designs for Mac Users 2023)

  

  Gonzalo Angulo

  25 Feb 2022

Learn All About How to Make Great Presentations (Free eBook)

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Keep Learning Apple Keynote

Don’t stop here! Everyone needs skills to build out presentation templates so that they can feel confident when giving a presentation. With well-built timelines, you can craft a story in an order that resonates with the audience.

Check out these other tutorials from Envato Tuts+ to see more Keynote skills and templates that you can use to build the best presentation possible. 

• 

  35 Modern Keynote Templates to Create Beautiful Presentation Designs 2023

  

  Dacia Egurrola

  14 Apr 2023

• 

  How to Use Keynote Presenter Display View in 60 Seconds

  

  Andrew Childress

  21 Jun 2018

• 

  What Is Apple Keynote Software? +How to Start Using It to Make Presentations

  

  Sven Lenaerts

  24 Feb 2023

You Just Learned How to Make a Visual Timeline in Keynote

How do you show events on a timeline? Now, you know how to make a visual timeline in Keynote to do just that. Keynote timelines show how steps in a sequence link together for a cohesive story.

Now, it’s your turn. It’s time to open your presentation and make a visual timeline to tell a story. You’re sure to love the results and weave a great story that engages the audience.

Editorial Note: This post was originally published in 2018. It has been revised to add extra tips and examples by our staff—with special help from Andrew Childress.