How to make a presentation step by step

Whether it’s a project review at work, a seminar in college or a pitch to a new customer, every presentation is built the same way. You decide what you want to say, you put it in order, you turn it into slides, and you practise saying it. That’s all.

This guide takes you through each of those stages in plain steps. You can follow it for a five-slide update or a thirty-slide training session. The method stays the same; only the size changes.

Before you open any slides

The biggest mistake people make is starting with the slides. They open a blank deck, pick a design and start typing headings. An hour later they have pretty slides and no clear message.

Start with a notebook, a sheet of paper or a blank note on your phone instead. You’ll come back to the slides soon.

Step 1: Know your audience

Ask yourself three simple questions:

• Who will be listening? Your manager, your classmates, a customer, a panel?
• What do they already know? Don’t explain the basics to experts, and don’t skip them for beginners.
• What do they care about? A finance head cares about cost. A professor cares about understanding. A customer cares about what’s in it for them.

Write the answers down. For example: “Our regional sales team in Hyderabad. They know the product well. They care about hitting their targets this quarter.”

Step 2: Decide the one main message

If your audience remembers only one sentence from your presentation, what should it be? Write that sentence.

Some examples:

• “Switching to the new billing software will save the accounts team two days every month.”
• “Rainwater harvesting can meet a large part of our hostel’s water needs.”
• “Our new menu should launch in March, before the summer season.”

This sentence is your main message. Every slide you make should support it. If a slide doesn’t help, it probably doesn’t belong.

Step 3: Know what you want people to do

A presentation should lead somewhere. After you finish, what should happen?

• Your manager approves the budget.
• Your class understands the concept well enough to discuss it.
• The customer agrees to a trial order.

Write this down too. It will become your last slide.

Step 4: Collect your material

Now gather everything you might use: notes, numbers, examples, photos, reports, quotes from your own team or customers (with permission). Don’t sort it yet. Just put it all in one place.

Then go through it with your main message in mind. Keep what supports the message. Set aside the rest. It’s normal to set aside a lot. Good presentations leave out far more than they include.

Step 5: Build an outline

An outline is a list of your slides, in order, with one line about what each slide says. It’s the skeleton of your presentation.

A simple structure works for most situations:

1. Opening: what this is about and why it matters
2. The situation or problem: what’s happening now
3. Your idea or answer: what you propose or explain
4. Support: reasons, evidence, examples (usually two to four slides)
5. Next step: what you want the audience to do

Here’s what that might look like for a short proposal at a small company:

Slide	What it says
1	Proposal: move customer orders to WhatsApp Business
2	Today, orders come by phone and get missed when we’re busy
3	WhatsApp lets customers order any time and keeps a record
4	The team already uses WhatsApp, so there is little to learn
5	We can try it for one month with our regular customers
6	Decision needed: can we start next Monday?

Read only the right-hand column, top to bottom. Does it tell the story? If yes, your outline is ready. It’s also the kind of input an AI presentation maker works best from, if you’d like a first draft of the slides built for you.

Step 6: Write each slide

Now open your slides. Take one line from the outline at a time and turn it into a slide.

Write a headline that says the point

Instead of a heading like “Current situation”, write a full sentence: “Orders get missed when the phone is busy.” The audience understands the slide before you’ve said a word.

Keep the text short

A slide is not a document. Aim for a headline and a few short points, or a headline and one picture, chart or number. If you need to explain more, say it out loud. Put the extra detail in your speaker notes.

A useful rule: one idea per slide. If a slide is trying to say two things, make two slides.

Use real numbers and examples

“Many customers” is weak. “We missed about a dozen orders last week” (if that’s true for you) is strong. Use your own real figures, and only figures you can stand behind.

Step 7: Design the slides simply

Good design is mostly about being clear and consistent. You don’t need to be a designer.

• Pick one font, or two at most. Use it everywhere.
• Use two or three colours. One for text, one for highlights, one for backgrounds.
• Make text big enough to read from the back of the room. If you’re unsure, make it bigger.
• Leave empty space. A crowded slide is hard to read. Space helps the eye.
• Use pictures that mean something. A photo of your actual shop or product is better than a random stock image.
• Keep layouts consistent. Headlines in the same place on every slide make your deck feel organised.

If you show a chart, keep it simple. One chart, one point. Label it clearly and make the important bar or line a different colour.

Step 8: Make a strong start and finish

The first and last slides matter most.

For the start, skip the long introduction. Tell people what this is about and why they should care. A clear question or a surprising (true) fact from your own work can work well.

For the finish, don’t end with “Thank you” or “Any questions?” alone. End with your main message and your request. For example: “Let’s try WhatsApp ordering for one month, starting Monday.” You can still say thank you out loud.

Step 9: Practise out loud

Practise at least twice, out loud, standing up if you’ll be standing on the day. Reading in your head is not the same.

While you practise:

• Time yourself. Most people run longer than they expect. If you have ten minutes, aim for eight.
• Don’t read the slides. Know what each slide says and talk about it in your own words.
• Notice where you stumble. That’s usually a slide that needs to be simpler.
• Practise in front of someone. A friend, family member or colleague will spot confusing parts you can’t see.

If your presentation is in English but you’re more comfortable in another language, practise the tricky sentences a few more times. It’s fine to keep the language simple. Clear and simple beats fancy and nervous.

Step 10: Prepare for the day

A little preparation removes most of the stress:

• Save your file in two places, such as a pen drive and your email.
• Check whether the room has a projector, a screen or a TV, and which cable or connector it needs.
• If presenting online, test screen sharing before the call.
• Arrive early, or join the call a few minutes before, to check everything works.
• Keep a printed copy of your outline in case something fails.

Step 11: Handle questions calmly

Questions are a good sign. They mean people are listening. A few simple habits help:

• Listen to the full question before answering.
• If you don’t know, say so honestly and offer to find out.
• Keep answers short. If it needs a long answer, offer to discuss it after.
• Bring the answer back to your main message where you can.

A quick checklist

Before you present, check:

1. Do I know who my audience is and what they care about?
2. Can I say my main message in one sentence?
3. Does my last slide ask for a clear next step?
4. Does each slide have one idea and a headline that says it?
5. Is the text big and the design simple?
6. Have I practised out loud and timed it?

If you can say yes to all six, you’re ready.

Where to go from here

For situations with their own challenges, we’ve written separate guides. If you’re a student, see our college presentation tips. If you run a shop, studio or small firm, see presentation tips for small businesses.

And when you’re ready to turn your outline into slides, you can describe it to Deck and refine the draft from there. For more templates and presentation tools, presentations.ai is another good place to start.