From blank page to presentation outline

The hard part of a presentation is not the slides. It is deciding what you are actually saying. AI makes a good sparring partner at this stage: tell it who is in the room and what you want them to do afterwards, and it will give you a structure to argue with.

1. 1

   Name the audience and the ask

   “Ten colleagues, I want them to approve a pilot” is enough.

2. 2

   Say the one sentence

   If you cannot state the message in a sentence, ask AI for three candidates and choose.

3. 3

   Ask for slide titles only

   Titles that read as a story from first to last. Content comes later.

Why slides come last

Most people start a presentation by opening the slide software. They pick a template, write a title and begin filling slides with whatever they know about the subject. The result is a tour of information with no direction. The audience leaves knowing more and unsure what they were supposed to do about it.

A presentation is an argument, not a document. It has one point and it asks for one thing. If you settle those two before touching a slide, the outline almost writes itself, and the slides take a fraction of the time. AI is helpful at this stage because it forces the questions: who is listening, what do you want from them and what is the single sentence they should remember?

A worked example

A team leader has ten minutes with the management team. She wants approval to hire two more support staff. Her one sentence is: “Response times have doubled since spring, we are losing customers because of it, and two hires would fix it within a quarter.”

The outline that comes back has eight slide titles. One: “Our response time has doubled since April.” Two: “Customers are noticing: complaints and cancellations.” Three: “The cause is volume, not performance.” Four: “What we have already tried.” Five: “Two options, and what each costs.” Six: “Our recommendation: two hires.” Seven: “What you get, and by when.” Eight: “The decision we need today.” Read in order, the titles alone make the case. That is the test of a good outline, and it is why she asked for titles only.

Titles that say something

1. 1

   Write a sentence, not a label

   “Sales fell 12% in the north” tells the audience what to see. “Sales overview” tells them nothing.

2. 2

   One idea per slide

   If a title needs “and”, it is two slides.

3. 3

   Make the titles readable as a story

   Someone who reads only the titles should understand the argument.

4. 4

   Put the conclusion first

   Busy audiences want the answer, then the reasons. Do not save the point for the end.

5. 5

   End with the ask

   The last slide states exactly what you want decided or done.

A structure that nearly always works

• The situation: where things stand, in a sentence or two.
• The problem or opportunity: why this matters now.
• The options: usually two or three, with honest pros and cons.
• The recommendation: what you propose and why.
• The next step: what you need from the people in the room.

For an informative talk without a decision, the pattern is similar: what the audience already knows, what is new, why it matters to them and what they can do with it.

Follow-up prompts

• “Add one or two bullet points under each title, no more than eight words each.”
• “What is the toughest question this audience is likely to ask, and how could I answer it?”
• “Write a 30-second opening that states the problem without a joke or an apology.”
• “Suggest what kind of chart would make slide two clear, and what it should show.”
• “Write speaker notes for each slide, about three sentences, in spoken language.”
• “I have been cut from twenty minutes to five. Which three slides do I keep?”
• “Give me a one-page handout version to leave behind.”
• “Here is my outline: [paste]. Where is the argument weak or the order confusing?”

Less on the slide

A slide is a backdrop for what you say. It is not your script and it is not the handout. If the audience is reading, they are not listening. Aim for one message, a few words and one visual per slide. Use a large font. If you need to share detailed figures, put them in a separate document and send it afterwards. A useful rule: if you could not explain the slide in the time it takes someone to glance at it, it holds too much.

Rehearse aloud

A talk that has been read silently is not rehearsed. Say it out loud, standing up, with a timer, at least twice. You will find that it runs long, because nearly every presentation does. Cut content instead of speaking faster. Practise the first minute until you can deliver it without notes, because the opening is when nerves are worst. Ask AI to play a sceptical member of the audience and put five hard questions to you. Answering them aloud beforehand is the best cure for the fear of questions.

Check your facts

If you ask AI for supporting data, statistics or quotations, it may supply some that are inaccurate or simply made up, complete with a plausible source. Never put a number on a slide that you have not verified at its origin. Use your own organisation’s figures and published sources you can cite. Be careful as well about pasting confidential company information into an outside tool. For the outline, a general description of the situation is enough.

Common mistakes

• Opening the slide software before knowing the point.
• Starting with background and history.
• Slides that are paragraphs.
• Reading the slides to the audience.
• No clear request at the end.
• Running over time, which the audience remembers more than anything you said.

Quick questions

1. 1

   How many slides for ten minutes?

   Often six to ten. The number matters less than having one idea on each.

2. 2

   Should I memorise the talk?

   Know the opening, the structure and the closing. Speak the rest naturally from your titles.

3. 3

   Can AI design the slides too?

   Some tools do. Get the outline right first, since no design rescues a muddled argument.