Create Butterfly Diagram in PowerPoint

HomePowerPoint Tutorials PowerPoint Models >Butterfly Diagram

Learn to create beautiful butterfly chart in PowerPoint for your business presentations. Discover creative variations of the diagram to convey your message with impact.This tutorial has been updated with step by step video on creating the Butterfly Diagram.

The butterfly diagram you will learn today is:

The diagram is as useful as it is beautiful. Before we learn to create the diagram, let us understand a bit more about the application of the diagram in business presentations.

Applications of the diagram:

A typical Butterfly diagram has the shape of a butterfly. The body of the butterfly represents the core concept. The wings represent ideas emerging from the core. You can use the diagram to represent:

  • Two sides of an argument
  • Two sets of outcomes from an action
  • Cause and effect relationship
  • Comparison etc.

Let us learn to create the diagram in a simple step by step way.

Watch the video below to create this diagram

Here are the step by step instructions on how to create the Butterfly diagram:

Step 1: Draw Editable Shape

Draw a rectangle using ‘Rectangle tool’ from auto shapes menu.

 Select the rectangle and go to ‘Format’ tab. Open the ‘Edit shape’ drop down menu and select ‘Convert to Freeform’ option.

Now the rectangle is a freeform shape, which is easy to edit.

You can use this simple feature to play with create interesting PowerPoint shapes. See related tutorial here…

Step 2: Create Wedge Shape

Right click on the shape and go to ‘Edit points’. Drag the corner point in the bottom left of the rectangle to your left till you get a wedge shape as shown below.

Step 3: Create the wings:

Make 3 more copies of the shape using ‘Ctrl +C’ and ‘Ctrl + V’ shortcut. Go to ‘Arrange’ tab in the PowerPoint ribbon on top. Go to ‘Rotate’ -> Flip Vertical and Flip Horizontal options to arrange the shapes as follows:

Step 4: Complete & Format the Diagram

Using ‘Rounded rectangle’ tool in auto shapes menu add a rounded rectangle shape in the middle as follows:

Select the ‘Shape fill’ color of your choice for the wings and the core.

 Select the shapes -> got to ‘Shape effects’ in PowerPoint ribbon -> Presets -> Preset 2. This gives a nice bevel to the shapes. Add necessary text to the shapes. Group the shapes and add ‘reflection’. Add a rectangle with a gradient to create a floor and give a 3D feel to the diagram.

Your Butterfly diagram is ready.

Related: Creating a Professional Floor in PowerPoint

Now that you learnt to create a simple butterfly diagram, let us explore some interesting variations of the diagram.

About the Diagrams Below:

All the diagrams you are about to see are taken from our ‘PowerPoint 2 CEO Packs Bundle’.

The pack has more than 815 fully editable PowerPoint diagrams divided into three broad sections – Business concepts, Business models and PowerPoint graphics.

Let us see some relevant samples from the pack…

Useful Variations of Butterfly Charts:

You can visualize two levels of outcome by altering the wings of the diagram as follows:

Source: Consulting Models from PowerPoint 2 CEO Packs Bundle

An alternative version of this consulting chart is:

Here are some simpler variations of the Model:

Source: Consulting Models from PowerPoint 2 CEO Packs Bundle

So, the variations are limited only by your imagination.

A practical alternative for business users:

While diagrams like the ones you just saw can make your business slides remarkable, they take a lot of time and effort to create from the scratch. Most business users don’t have the time to invest in building such diagrams. That is why we came up with our ‘CEO PowerPoint Charts and Diagrams packs’.

The two volumes include more than 1615 unique diagrams to help you visualize every business concept imaginable.

All the diagram templates are fully editable. You just need to choose your diagram template and replace sample text with your own text. Your professional slides get ready in no time.

Why waste time creating your diagrams from the scratch when you have such a high quality solution available off the shelf? Browse PowerPoint 2 CEO Packs Bundle here >>

Related :Create an Attractive PowerPoint Bridge

Return to Main PowerPoint Models Page

Return to Top of Butterfly Diagram Page

Share these tips & tutorials

Get 25 Creative PowerPoint Ideas Mini Course &
 Members-only tips & offers. Sign up for free below: