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Top 5 Career Presentation Templates with Samples and Examples

Shivam Kumar

Career advancement and professional growth are key aspirations of talented individuals seeking to thrive in their chosen fields. To translate those dreams into reality, a knowledge of career development plan and the standard roadmap to achieve goals is an absolute-must.

When you start out your career journey, a seemingly endless list of tasks awaits you and you must learn how to plan and set goals to get out of the chaos. Click here to access must-have goal planning templates to give your efforts a clear direction.

This collection of PowerPoint presentations from SlideTeam provides a valuable resource for those looking to strategize and plan their career trajectory.

For downloading and setting actionable steps for execution towards individual career plan templates, please click here.

Whether aiming for that coveted job promotion or seeking to outline your career roadmap, these slides offer a wealth of insights and practical guidance. They empower individuals to make informed decisions, set goals, and align their journey with their aspirations. Moreover, they cater to the needs of HR professionals and managers, facilitating employee career progression and development within organizations.

These templates are hands-on tools for career advancement, and are 100% editable and customizable, offering your both structure and a starting point. 

Let’s explore!

Template 1 Job Career Promotion PowerPoint Presentation Slides

If you’re striving for that next step in your career or aiming to leave a lasting impression on decision-makers, this PPT Template equips you with the tools to create a powerful and impactful presentation. Use this presentation template to craft a compelling narrative around your career journey, objectives, strengths, and aspirations. Propel your career path, engage your audience, and prime yourself for a future filled with achievement. Download this template from the link below. The slide on projects and achievements and the one slide on how I helped my current team add to the utility of the presentation template.

Download it now!

Template 2 : My career planning outline PowerPoint presentation with slides

To unlock your potential, we present a ready-made sample of a career planning process PowerPoint Presentation. To enhance and harmonize your career path planning, we’ve incorporated innovative design templates covering the evaluation process, work experience, project engagements, achievements, personal goals, key skills, current competencies, and much more. 

Enhance your self-assessment and articulate your career change ideas. With this resource, you can confidently shape your path to success.

Template 3 : Career Path Planning PowerPoint Presentation Slides

Navigate your career journey with precision using this PPT Template, a comprehensive complete deck of a toolkit in 30 slides. This presentation is  designed for professionals seeking to effectively chart their career progression. This PowerPoint theme expertly guides you through the entire process of succession, spanning across assessment, planning, development, training, and evaluation phases. Additionally, you can effectively demonstrate planning elements, objectives, and the essential tools required for career progression. Elevate your career with precision and confidence using this invaluable resource. Embark on your successful career journey today. Your path to professional growth begins.

Template 4 Employee Career Progression Planning PowerPoint Presentation Slides

The cornerstone of success lies in creating a clear structure for talent nurturing and career development. Recognizing and retaining skilled employees is not just important; it's imperative. Our comprehensive Employee Value Proposition (EVP) PowerPoint Deck is designed to help you pinpoint exceptional talents within your workforce and empower them to realize their full potential. This competency-based development slideshow covers components, categories, and frameworks, all adaptable to your unique organizational needs. It serves as a flexible career management visual, allowing ample customization to align with your goals. With this investment into your internal talent pool, you not only reduce external hiring costs but also foster professional growth, strengthen your employer branding, and facilitate career progression. Seize the opportunity to elevate your workforce and maximize their potential with this invaluable resource. It’s time to champion talent development and secure a brighter future.

Template 5 Career Development Roadmap PowerPoint Presentation Slides

Our PowerPoint Presentations are your gateway to showcasing career, project, and business advancements that captivate your audience. Use this complete PPT deck to outline your business plan's objectives or agenda effectively. The roadmap details steps like pedagogy, planning, content development, production, delivery, and evaluation. Highlight key features of your learning roadmap to elucidate procedures efficiently. Dive into the four learning roadmap phases: assessment, curriculum development, logistics, and certification.

Template 6 : Career Timeline PowerPoint Presentation Slides

These PPT templates spotlight your best work, leaving a remarkable impression on your interviewer. Present your short- and long-term goals with engaging visuals, and captivate your audience with achievements and milestones. Navigate through your work experience, highlighting accomplished tasks and discussing your future aspirations. This career path timeline PowerPoint Slideshow offers well-designed, clutter-free timelines, each tailored to enhance your narrative and create a presentation that reflects your unique journey.

UNLOCK YOUR CAREER GROWTH

These PowerPoint Presentation Templates provide keys to unlocking and accelerating your career growth. Whether you aspire to climb the corporate ladder, map out your career journey, or facilitate the progression of your employees, these resources offer invaluable guidance and insights. The templates help you structure your career aspirations and goals. Using these powerful presentation templates, you can simplify and accelerate your career growth, making your dreams of success a tangible reality. Elevate your career with ease, and seize the opportunities that lie ahead with these PowerPoint presentation templates.

If you’re interested in exploring career planning timeline templates, feel free to discover them Click here !

PS: Equip yourself with the essential tools for effective career portfolio highlighting by exploring our Templates in this blog, Click here !

FAQs on Career Presentation

What should be included in a career presentation.

A compelling career presentation begins with a captivating introduction, often a personal story or relevant industry example. It should provide insight into your unique career journey, highlighting milestones, challenges, and successes. Articulate your career goals and their alignment with your values and passions.

Share your core skills, competencies, and educational background, showcasing how your experiences have shaped your path. Delve into your work history, emphasizing key roles, projects, and lessons learned. Express your commitment to continuous learning and professional growth. 

Address challenges you've encountered, demonstrating resilience and problem-solving skills. Outline your vision for the future, describing the impact you aspire to make and the steps you plan to take.

Throughout, offer practical advice and insights based on your experiences. Use visuals, multimedia, and interactive elements to engage your audience. Summarize key takeaways, invite questions, and foster meaningful dialogue.

What is the purpose of the career presentation?

The purpose of a career presentation transcends the mere dissemination of information; it is a powerful opportunity to inspire, guide, and connect. At its core, a career presentation is a beacon illuminating the path ahead. A career presentation goes beyond the boundaries of a resume or LinkedIn profile. It’s a platform to share personal narratives, lessons learned, and the invaluable wisdom accrued over time. It encapsulates the spirit of mentorship, offering insights and advice that can shape the trajectory of others' careers. In essence, the purpose of a career presentation is to illuminate, motivate, and connect. It's an instrument of empowerment, a catalyst for growth, and a testament to the belief that each career is a unique and evolving narrative waiting to be written.

What is career life cycle?

The career life cycle is a dynamic and multifaceted journey that everyone embarks upon, characterized by distinct phases of growth, learning, and transformation. This unique trajectory defies a one-size-fits-all approach, as it is deeply influenced by personal aspirations, external opportunities, and the evolving professional landscape. It starts with the exploration phase. This is a period of self-discovery, where individuals identify their passions, strengths, and career preferences. It's a time of educational pursuits, skill acquisition, and the cultivation of foundational knowledge. As the journey progresses, the establishment phase unfolds. Here, individuals enter the workforce, building their reputation, and gaining practical experience.

The career life cycle then enters the expansion phase, characterized by the pursuit of new challenges and opportunities. Individuals may explore career paths, industries, or entrepreneurial ventures. It’s a phase, where innovation and adaptability emerge as the driving force. Finally, the culmination phase marks the twilight of one's active career.

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How to Present Your Career Journey on PowerPoint

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Talking about your career journey is a nerve-wracking exercise, whether in an interview or presenting to a large audience. You can make this process much more exciting by narrating your journey as a story.

A story that contains facts, figures, anecdotes, and more stories to illustrate your knowledge, experience, expertise, conflict resolution techniques, and insights. Here's how you can harness the power of PowerPoint to present your career journey as an interesting story:

1. Ask the Right Questions

Before you begin creating your presentation, you need to have a good idea about the content you will include in it. You can write down bullet points that act as the deck outline, or ask yourself pertinent questions. What kind of questions should you ask yourself? Here's a list to get you started:

• Who's my target audience; recruitment teams, college/school students, job fair attendees, or working professionals?
• What do I aim to achieve with this presentation?
• What professional events, stories, incidents, and insights should I include?
• What statistics, tips, and professional highlights should I mention?

Your presentation can go in widely different directions based on your answers.

2. Draw a Content Flow Chart

Now that you have a good idea about what to include, it's time to organize this information into a seamlessly flowing story. Draw a flowchart or a simple diagram to indicate what goes where. This is the storyboarding stage, where you'll order the content and fine-tune the details to the last fact and figure.

3. Choose Content Format and Media

Once you're done with the “what” and “where,” it's time to address the “how.” How do I present my career story as concisely as possible? Not every part of your journey needs a slide with elaborate textual content. You can use graphs and timelines to depict career trajectories and time spent in different roles. Use bolded numbers with labels or SmartArt and Charts to highlight critical statistics.

A short video can explain your work methodology with animations and voiceover. Concept images, tag clouds, and simple sketches can convey information more concisely than a slide full of text. Once you've decided how each part in the flowchart will take shape on the slides and have the media content ready, it's time to launch the PowerPoint app.

4. Pick the Right Template to Tell Your Story

Searching for story-based templates brings up lots of options on PowerPoint that have different slides to highlight stats, show graphs, depict growth, insert a video, etc.

You can insert your information in the appropriate slides, clone the ones that need repetition, delete the ones that don't fit in with your story, and insert slides from other presentation decks that cater to your requirements. Just make sure to edit the theme of this slide to match the main template.

Using a premade template to prepare a professional presentation . You'll not have to waste time deciding on fonts, colors, themes, and manually inserting diagrams and charts. You can also download or buy presentation templates from online resources like Crystal Graphics or SlideUpLift . These sites offer custom templates to showcase career journeys, with creative slides to present information concisely.

You can also use the Slide Master feature in PowerPoint to create a custom theme for your presentation.

5. Design Your PowerPoint Presentation

It's time to execute your vision. Use as many slides as you need without worrying about the length of the presentation. Here are a few quick PowerPoint tips to help you present your career journey in a stellar way:

• Use high-quality images, videos, and graphics.
• Use Animations and Transitions sparingly.
• Use Presented View mode to check how your slides look, keep an eye on your notes, and edit as needed.

6. Polish Your Stories

Your career journey would be incomplete without highlighting your professional growth and maturity, lessons learned, and insights gained. Use the STAR method—Situation, Task, Action, Results to avoid rambling and keep it short and straightforward.

When narrating stories, describe the situation or conflict you were facing, what needed to be done, what was done, what you learned from the experience, and how it has impacted your decision-making process. The STAR method touches upon all the crucial details of a learning incident, allowing you to tell more stories in fewer words.

7. Edit Your Slides

Now you need to step into the shoes of your target audience. Look at every slide critically. Think about the value each slide adds to the rest of the presentation, and decide whether it stays or goes.

Are all your stories helpful and needed? Are your statistics factually accurate? How long will it take for you to walk through the entire set? Use these and other relevant questions as markers to cut down the number of slides.

8. Deliver With Poise

Making a kick-ass presentation is just one part of depicting your career journey. The other part consists of being a good storyteller. Use the PowerPoint Speaker Coach to improve your presentation skills . Memorize your notes, pay attention to your hand gestures, make eye contact, and do not read from the slides. Practice with a timer until you can deliver it in the precise amount of time you've been allocated to present.

Present Your Career Journey With Aplomb

Look for Behavioral Interview related questions online and how to ace them before you sit down to create your career journey presentation.

It will help you channel your nervous energy into telling a good story accompanied by a presentation. Learn more about creating engaging presentations on PowerPoint to improve your story.

• Work & Career
• Productivity
• Microsoft PowerPoint

Making English Fun

Dream Job Presentation Script Examples for Students

Welcome to our collection of “My Dream Job” presentation scripts for elementary students. In this resource, we embark on an imaginative journey, exploring a world of possibilities where young minds envision their future careers.

From astronauts exploring the cosmos to environmental scientists safeguarding our planet, these scripts are crafted to spark curiosity and ambition in young learners.

Perfect for classroom activities, these scripts encourage students to think creatively about their future and the positive impact they can have on the world.

Let’s inspire our students to dream, explore, and aspire!

You can download the scripts from the link at the end of the article, but remember to change them to make them suitable for you or for your students

Dream Job Presentation Scripts

We have split these into younger learners and slightly older learners, though of course you know you, or you know your students better than we do. So feel free to use them where ever they are best suited.

Dream Job Scripts For Younger Learners (Ages 6-7)

Dream job script: astronaut.

“Hi, my name is [Student’s Name], and my dream job is to be an astronaut!

I want to wear a space suit and fly in a rocket to the moon.

Astronauts get to see Earth from space and float in zero gravity. They do important science experiments and learn about stars and planets.

It must be so cool to be an astronaut because you can explore space and discover new things!”

Dream Job Script: Teacher

“Hello, I’m [Student’s Name], and when I grow up, I want to be a teacher.

Teachers are great because they help you learn new things like reading and math.

I like my teacher because she is kind and teaches us fun games. As a teacher, I want to help kids learn and make school fun.

I think being a teacher is important because you get to help lots of kids!”

Dream Job: Firefighter

“Hi everyone, I’m [Student’s Name], and I want to be a firefighter when I grow up.

Firefighters are brave and help keep people safe. They put out fires, rescue people, and even help animals in trouble.

I think it’s really cool how they drive fire trucks and use big hoses to spray water.

Being a firefighter is about helping others, and that’s what I want to do!”

Dream Job Presentation Scripts For Ages 8-10

Dream job script: environmental scientist.

“My dream job is to be an environmental scientist.

Environmental scientists help protect the Earth and solve problems like pollution and climate change.

They study the air, water, and land to keep our planet healthy.

I want to be an environmental scientist to help animals and plants and make sure our Earth stays beautiful for everyone.

I think it’s a job that can really make a difference in the world.”

Dream Job Script: Professional Athlete (Soccer Player)

“Hi, my name is [Student’s Name], and my dream job is to be a professional soccer player.

I love playing soccer because it’s exciting and keeps you fit.

Professional soccer players get to travel, play in big stadiums, and work as a team.

I also want to be a role model for other kids and show them that with hard work and practice, you can achieve your dreams.

Soccer is more than just a game; it’s about teamwork, determination, and having fun.”

Dream Job Script: Chef

“Hello everyone, I’m [Student’s Name], and I dream of becoming a chef.

Chefs get to cook delicious meals and try new recipes. I love cooking with my family and experimenting with different ingredients.

Being a chef is creative, and you get to make people happy with your food.

I especially want to learn how to make dishes from different countries.

Cooking is an art, and I can’t wait to learn more about it.”

Dream Job Script : Computer Programmer

“My dream job is to be a computer programmer.

Computer programmers get to build cool apps and games.

They use coding languages to create software that can do amazing things.

I like playing computer games, and I want to make my own one day.

Programmers also help solve problems and can work in lots of different areas like science, business, or art.

I think it’s exciting because you get to use technology to create new things.”

Dream Job: Marine Biologist

“Hello, my name is [Student’s Name], and my dream job is to be a marine biologist.

Marine biologists study ocean life, like fish, sharks, and even tiny plankton. They get to explore the sea and discover new things about the underwater world.

I love the ocean and all the amazing creatures in it.

By being a marine biologist, I can help protect marine life and learn how the ocean keeps our planet healthy.

It’s a job that combines adventure, science, and conservation.”

Dream Job: Architect

“Good morning, I’m [Student’s Name], and I dream of becoming an architect.

Architects design buildings like houses, schools, and skyscrapers.

They need to be creative and good at math.

I enjoy drawing and building models, which is a big part of being an architect.

I also want to design buildings that are good for the environment.

Being an architect means you can shape how cities look and create spaces where people live and work.

It’s like turning your ideas into real-life structures!”

You can download the scripts from the link below, but remember to change them to make them suitable for you or for your students

These “My Dream Job” presentation scripts hope to have ignited a spark of ambition and curiosity in your students.

These scripts are more than just a glimpse into various careers; they are a tool to encourage self-discovery and goal setting among young learners.

Whether they dream of being chefs, athletes, or programmers, each script is an opportunity to explore different paths and the skills required for these professions.

Here’s to fostering a future full of fulfilled dreams and accomplished goals!

18 Presentation Tips for Kids

More Dream job Scripts

Not many of these either

https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/interviewing/interview-question-what-is-your-dream-job

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I have been a teacher of English for over 15 years, in that time i made hundreds and thousands of resources and learnt so much i think its worth sharing. Hopefully to help teachers and parents around the world.

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Home Blog Presentation Ideas How to Write a Presentation Script

How to Write a Presentation Script

Delivering a successful presentation is a combination of a confident speech and professional-quality graphics. The first element is sometimes neglected, as presenters rely mostly on the slides and add an improvisation element to the speech. Truth is, if you aim to hone your presentation skills, you need to work on the speech. And for that to be a powerful asset, the answer is to learn how to write an effective presentation script.

This article will detail how to create a presentation script, which elements it should contain, how to relate the script to the presenter’s notes, and much more.

Table of Contents

What is a Presentation Script

How do you start a presentation script, how do you write a presentation script, how to connect a presentation script with presenter notes, recommended ppt templates to write a presentation script, final words.

A presentation script is a written guide that outlines what a speaker will say during a presentation. It includes the key points, transitions, and supporting details needed to communicate the message clearly and effectively. The script helps the speaker stay on track, ensuring the presentation is organized, concise, and delivered within the allotted time. It often integrates cues for visual aids and other presentation elements.

Defining the Purpose and Objective

Every effective presentation script starts with clearly understanding its purpose and objectives. Defining these elements early ensures your script remains focused, relevant, and aligned with your desired outcomes. 

Your core message is the central idea you want your audience to take away from your presentation. It should be clear, concise, and memorable. To define your core message, ask yourself:

• What is the one thing I want my audience to remember?
• Why is this message important?
• How does this message benefit my audience?

Once you have a clear core message, everything in your script for a speech should support and reinforce it. This focus will help you avoid straying into irrelevant topics and ensure your presentation remains cohesive.

Next, the presenter should establish clear objectives for the talk. Objectives must be specific, measurable outcomes you want to achieve with your presentation. They give you a clear direction and help you measure the success of your presentation. Objectives can be:

• Informational: Educate the audience on a particular topic.
• Persuasive: Convince the audience to adopt a viewpoint or take a specific action.
• Motivational: Inspire the audience to feel or act in a certain way.
• Instructional: Teach the audience how to do something.

For example, suppose your core message is about the importance of cybersecurity. In that case, your objectives might include informing the audience about common threats, persuading them to adopt better security practices, and instructing them on implementing them.

Check our article on SMART goal setting for a practical approach to defining measurable goals.

Aligning the Script with Desired Outcomes

Once you’ve defined your core message and objectives, your script should be structured to achieve these outcomes. This involves:

• Prioritizing content: Focus on the information and arguments directly contributing to your objectives.
• Building logical flow: Ensure that each section of your presentation leads naturally to the next, creating a narrative that reinforces your core message.
• Incorporating calls to action: If your objective is to persuade or motivate, include clear, actionable steps your audience can take after the presentation.

By defining the purpose and objectives of your presentation script, you set the stage for a focused, effective, and impactful delivery.

In this section, we’ll explore section by section how to write a presentation script. The following image is a guideline of presentation script examples on how to create icebreakers for each section

Crafting a Compelling Introduction

The introduction is your opportunity to capture the audience’s attention and set the tone for the rest of the presentation. It should be engaging and clearly overview what the audience can expect.

If you are wondering how to start a presentation , key elements of a strong introduction include:

• Opening hook: Start with a statement, question, or anecdote that grabs the audience’s attention. This could be a surprising statistic, a relevant quote, or a provocative question.
• Purpose statement: Clearly state the purpose of your presentation and what you hope to achieve. This helps the audience understand why they should care about your words.
• Agenda overview: Briefly outline the main points you will cover. This will give the audience a roadmap of what to expect and help them follow along.

Let’s say your presentation is about digital marketing trends. In that case, you might start with a surprising statistic about the growth of AI technology usage, followed by a statement about the importance of staying ahead of digital trends, and then outline the specific trends you will discuss in an upcoming slide.

Organizing the Body of the Script

The body of your script is where you present your main content. It should be organized logically, with each section building on the previous one to reinforce your core message. 

Break down your content into clear, manageable sections. Each section should cover a specific point or idea. Smooth transitions between sections help maintain the flow of your presentation and keep the audience engaged . Phrases like “building on that idea,” “another important factor,” or “let’s now shift our focus to” can help guide the audience through your presentation.

Use data, examples, case studies , and visuals to support your points. This will strengthen your argument and make your presentation more engaging. 

For instance, in a presentation about social media’s impact on consumer behavior, you might organize the body into sections on social media usage trends, the psychology of social media influence, and case studies of successful social media campaigns.

Engaging the Audience with Stories and Examples

One of the most effective ways to make your presentation engaging and relatable is by incorporating stories and examples. These elements help illustrate your points, making them more memorable and impactful. 

Consider the following strategies:

• Use personal anecdotes: Sharing personal experiences related to your topic can help establish a connection with the audience and make your presentation more relatable.
• Include case studies: Real-world examples or case studies can help illustrate how the concepts you’re discussing apply in practice. This is especially effective when presenting to a business or professional audience.
• Tell a story: Structure part of your presentation as a narrative, with a clear beginning, middle, and end. Stories are inherently engaging and can make complex information more digestible.

You can learn more about this technique with our article on storytelling for presentations .

Developing a Memorable Conclusion

The conclusion is your final opportunity to reinforce your core message and leave a lasting impression on your audience. 

A strong conclusion should:

• Summarize key points: Recap the main points of your presentation to reinforce them in the audience’s mind.
• Reiterate the core message: Restate your core message in a way that resonates with the audience and underscores its importance.
• End with impact: Conclude with a powerful statement, call to action, or thought-provoking question that leaves the audience with something to think about or do.

If your presentation was about the importance of innovation in business, you might conclude by summarizing its key benefits, restating that innovation is crucial for long-term success, and ending with a call to action for the audience to start thinking about how they can innovate in their roles.

Get more insights on how to end a presentation with our article.

Although the presentation script is a fantastic resource for preparing your presentation and also for rehearsal, presenters cannot bring lengthy text pages with them and start reading if they feel lost. This is where presenter notes come in handy, and in this section, we’ll learn how to turn the presentation script into presenter notes. 

The first step in this process is to go through the detailed script a couple of times, highlighting the main ideas, data, and messages to convey to the audience. You can follow the process as with meeting notes and apply the strategies explained in that article.

Now, we need to condense the information into simpler sentences, direct phrases, or keywords that trigger memory recall. These phrases will be added to the slides in the format of speaker notes linked to each slide. It’s crucial to mark the transitions from one topic to another in the presentation so we can articulate the speech or remember to emphasize a point. 

Remember, if we suddenly need to include last-minute details, we can use visual cues or a printed version of our slides with extra handwritten notes.

Before we conclude this article, we want to recommend some PowerPoint templates that can help the presentation script creation process, especially for team collaboration, where the presentation goes through multiple iterations. Remember these designs also serve as Google Slides templates .

1. 6 Step Creative Timeline Diagram for Presentation Scripts

Say you need to create a sample script for a presentation or work with your team for a department presentation: this is where this best PPT template is beneficial. We can summarize processes or points that we intend the presentation to cover into six actionable steps that can be discussed within the team. The icons included help us to connect concepts with the steps we’re describing.

Use This Template

2. Product Timeline Script of Speech PPT Template

In sales and product presentations, we need to contextualize the dates on which we expect things to happen. By using this timeline PPT template as a visual aid, presenters can carry a printed version or digital version on another device to remind themselves of the milestones that a product or service is due in the near future.

3. The Presentation Experience Script PowerPoint Template

Although this template is tailored to sales presentations, this slide deck is ideal for writing a recap of the presentation script. You can add facts, questions, numeric data, and more.

4. Steps & Stairs Diagram Presentation Script Google Slides Template

This diagram template for PowerPoint and Google Slides is a highly visual 3D aid intended for defining the steps to write the script or to present processes. Use this staircase design template to summarize key information about your presentation speech.

Creating a detailed, professional presentation script doesn’t have to be a daunting process. As long as we understand the basis of how to structure what we intend to say, questions and answers about which content to include shall arise. 

Follow the steps shown in this article and you will master the process to create your own presentation scripts in no time.

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Presentation Skills, Speech Filed under Presentation Ideas

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Business writing essentials

How to write a presentation (and deliver it, even via Zoom)

Jack elliott.

31 minute read

You’ve been asked to give a presentation. Chances are, your response will be roughly one of the following:

1. It’s a subject you’re passionate about and you’re a confident speaker. You’re pleased to have the opportunity.

2. You secretly worry that your style is flat and unengaging. You’re not looking forward to it.

3. At best, the prospect makes you nervous; at worst, terrified. You’d rather have root canal surgery.

If you belong in one of the last two categories, you probably know you’re not alone. You may have heard the statistic that public speaking is more widely feared even than death .

However you feel about the prospect of presenting, this comprehensive guide will take you step by step through the process of planning, writing and delivering a presentation you can be proud of (even via Zoom).

Use the contents links below to jump to the section you need most, make your way through methodically from start to finish, or bookmark this page for next time you need it.

What is a presentation?

Essentially, it’s a story. And its origins go back thousands of years – to when our ancestors gathered around the campfire to listen to the wise elders of the tribe. Without PowerPoint!

These days, presentations encompass the glitz and scale of the Oscars or the new iPhone launch through to business briefings to smaller audiences, in person or – increasingly – online. We’re focusing on the business side.

Whatever the occasion, there’s always an element of drama involved. A presentation is not a report you can read at your leisure, it’s an event – speakers are putting themselves on the spot to explain, persuade or inspire you. Good presentations use this dynamic to support their story.

Always remember: everyone wants you to do well

If you are nervous, always remember: no one sets out to write a poor presentation and no one wants to go to one either. There may be private agendas in the room, but for the most part audiences approach presentations positively. They want to be engaged and to learn. They want you to do well.

First things first: the date’s in the diary and you need to prepare. Let’s break it down.

1. Preparing your presentation

Imagine you’re a designer in the automotive industry and your boss has asked you to give a presentation. The subject: the future of the car and how it will fit with all the other modes of transport.

Where to start? How to approach it? First you need an angle, a key idea.

We talk about ‘giving’ a presentation – and of course it’s the audience who will be receiving it. So, instead of beginning with cars (in this case), let’s think about people. That way we can root the talk in the everyday experience we all share.

Maybe you remember a time you were stuck in traffic on a motorway. Morning rush hour. No one moving. Up ahead children were crossing a footbridge on their way to school, laughing at the cars going nowhere. And you thought, ‘Enjoy it while you can! This will be you one day.’ But maybe not. Surely we can do better for future generations!

There’s your opening – the whole issue captured in a single image, and you’ve immediately engaged your audience with a simple story.

The who, the why and the what

Always begin with the people you’ll be addressing in mind. Before you start writing, answer three fundamental questions: who is your audience, why are you talking to them and what do you want to say?

The answers will provide the strong foundations you need and start the ideas flowing. Ignore them and you risk being vague and unfocused. Clear writing is the result of clear thinking and thinking takes time, but it’s time well spent.

Got a presentation to write? Before you do anything else, answer three fundamental questions: who is your audience, why are you talking to them and what do you want to say? @EmphasisWriting Share on X

Start with the audience

Are you a senior car designer talking to your team? If the answer’s yes, you can assume high-level, shared knowledge.

But if you’re talking to the sales or marketing departments, you can’t make the same assumptions – there are issues you might have to explain and justify. And if it’s a press briefing, it’s about getting the message out to the general public – a different story again.

Knowing your audience will also dictate your tone. Your presentation to the board is likely to be quite formal, whereas a talk for your team can be more relaxed.

And what’s the audience’s mood? On another occasion you might have bad news to deliver – perhaps the national economy and the company’s finances are threatening people’s jobs. Then you must empathise – put yourself in their position and adapt your tone accordingly.

I want to …

You also need a clear objective (the why ). For our car designer, the overriding objective should be to plant a key idea in the audience’s mind. Starting with that image of the schoolchildren, it’s to convince the audience that the company has a radical and distinctive design future.

That’s the takeaway. How should they do that? Should they explain, persuade or inspire – the three key strategies for any presentation? You may need to use several of them to achieve your goal.

Objectives should always complete the statement ‘I want to …’. What do you want to do ?

It’s about …

The what is the substance of your presentation – the building blocks, all the facts and figures that tell the audience ‘It’s about …’.

Back to our designer. The move away from petrol and diesel will allow a complete rethink of car design. The electric power unit and battery can lie under the car’s floor, freeing up all the space taken up by the conventional engine. And then there are all the issues around emission-free, autonomous vehicles in the ‘smart’ cities of the future.

When you’re planning, it can be helpful to get all the information out of your head and onto the page, using a mind map , like the example below (for a talk on UK transport policy).

This is an effective way of unlocking everything you know (or still need to do more research on). Start with your main topic, then keep asking yourself questions (like who, what, when, where, how and why) to dig into all the aspects.

Mind map with the topic of ‘UK transport policy at the centre. Arrows point out to six bubbles with the labels ‘Who’, ‘When’, ‘Why’, ‘How’, ‘What’ and ‘Where’. More arrows point out from each of these bubbles to explore related points in each area, and still more arrows from some of those points to expand further. The information reads:

• Special interests / NGOs
• Need for clear government direction
• What industry will do
• R&D spend
• What industry is doing
• Congestion [this leads to the sub-point ‘Wasted time and money’]
• More pollution
• More congestion
• More wasted time and money
• Climate change
• Road pricing
• Legislation
• Working together
• New technology
• Exports/revenue
• Social policy
• Rest of world
• Emerging economies

Once you’ve got it all out on the page, you can identify which parts actually belong in your presentation. Don’t try to include every last detail: audiences don’t want to process piles of information. They are more interested in your ideas and conclusions.

Now let’s put all this research and planning into a structure.

2. How to structure your presentation

On 28 August 1963, Dr Martin Luther King Jr stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC and delivered one of the most powerful speeches in history: ‘I have a dream’.

He was the leader of the civil rights movement in the US and his audience that day numbered in the hundreds of thousands. His goal was to inspire them to continue the struggle.

Presentations usually aim to either explain, persuade or inspire – sometimes with elements of all three. Your aim will determine your structure. This will be the backbone of your presentation, giving it strength and direction.

Explain in a logical sequence

When you explain, you add to people’s knowledge to build the key idea. But ask yourself, what does this audience already know?

If you’re an astrophysicist talking to an audience of your peers, you can use terms and concepts you know they’ll be familiar with. If you’re explaining black holes to Joe Public, you can’t do that. Typically, you’ll have to use simple analogies to keep the audience with you (‘Imagine you’re in a huge dark room …’).

Whether it’s black holes or new software, good explanations start with what we know and then build on that understanding, step by step, layer by layer. The audience will stay with you if they can follow your logic and you can help this with linking comments – ‘Building on that … ‘, ‘This means …’, ‘To illustrate that, I’ve always found …’.

Presentations usually aim to either explain, persuade or inspire – sometimes with elements of all three. Your aim will determine your presentation's structure. @EmphasisWriting Share on X

We need to change

If you’re writing a persuasive presentation, you also need to follow a particular sequence.

Whether you’re writing a pitch for a prospective customer or making research-based recommendations to a client, you follow the same structure. That structure is the Four Ps . It’s a powerful way of leading your audience’s thinking.

Start with the current situation – where you are now ( position ). Explain why you can’t stay there, so the audience agrees things have to change ( problem ). Suggest up to three credible ways you can address the issue ( possibilities ). Then decide which one is the optimum solution ( proposal ).

Three is a magic number for writers – not too many, not too few. But there may be one standout possibility, in which case you go straight to it ( position, problem, proposal ).

Think about how the pandemic has profoundly changed our working lives. Towns and cities are full of offices that people used to commute to. But to maintain social distancing, we’ve been encouraged to work from home where possible and to stay away from public transport.

At some point, decision-makers within organisations will have to make a call – or share a recommendation – about what to do long term. Should we go back to the office, stay at home or combine the two?

If we had to present on this choice using the Four Ps structure, we could outline the pros and cons of each possibility and then make a push for the one we recommend above the others. Or we could join the likes of Google and Twitter and simply propose purely remote working well into the future.

I have a dream

A presentation that inspires is about the future – about what could be. Scientists inspire children to follow careers in astronomy or physics with their passion and stunning visuals. Designers re-energise companies with their radical, exciting visions. Business leaders convince their staff that they really can turn things around.

An audience watching an inspirational presentation is not going to take away lots of facts and figures. What’s important is their emotional and intellectual engagement with the speaker, their shared sense of purpose. One way to build that engagement is with your structure.

From dark to light

The most inspiring presentations are so often born of shared struggle. On 13 May 1940, Winston Churchill addressed the British parliament – and the British people listening on their radios – in the darkest days of the Second World War.

He was brutally realistic in his assessment of the current position: ‘We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering.’ He then set out his policy: ‘To wage war by sea, land and air, with all our might … against a monstrous tyranny’, and the prize: ‘Victory, however long and hard the road may be.’

In difficult situations, audiences immediately see through false hope and empty rhetoric. They want honest acknowledgement, and the determination and clear strategy to lead them to the future.

We can imagine how the same structure could show up in a more business-related context:

‘I’m not going to sugar-coat the figures. We have to change to save jobs and secure our future. There will be dark days and sacrifices along the way, but what’s the hardest part of any turnaround? It’s getting started. To do that, we all need to keep asking two fundamental questions: where can we improve, how can we improve? And if we push hard enough and if we’re utterly relentless, change will come and our momentum will build.’

Are you going to appeal to your audience’s

• habits of thought (current beliefs)?

If your recommendations run counter to their current beliefs, try appealing to their emotions.

3. Writing your presentation script

You don’t have to write a script. Some people put a few PowerPoint slides together and wing it; others make do with bullets on a smartphone, laptop or cue cards. It depends on the event and the presenter.

Writing a full script takes time, but if it’s a very important presentation and you might use it again – perhaps to appeal for investment – it will be worth it.

Some people will write a full script because the company or organisation that’s commissioned a presentation will want to see a copy well ahead of the event (often for legal reasons). Others will write the script, edit it down to the required time and then edit it down again to bullets or notes.

If the presentation is to a small audience, your notes or bullets will suit a more conversational approach. There are no rules here – see what works best for you. But what you must do is know your subject inside out.

To write clearly, you must think clearly and a full script will expose the areas that aren’t clear – where an explanation needs strengthening, for example, or where you should work on a transition.

Timing is everything

A full script also helps with working out timing, and timing is crucial. TED talks, for example, have a strict 18-minute limit, whether in front of an audience or online. That’s short enough to hold attention, but long enough to communicate a key idea. (The ‘I have a dream’ speech lasted 17 minutes 40 seconds and it changed the world.)

It takes a very skilled presenter to go much over 30 minutes. If you are taking questions during or after your presentation , however, it’s fine to build in extra time.

Imagine you’re writing your presentation in full and your slot is 20 minutes. On an A4 page with a 14-point Calibri font and 1.5 line spacing, that will equate to about 10 pages.

You can also divide the page in two, with slides on the left and text on the right (or vice versa). Then you can plan your words and visuals in parallel – and that will be roughly 20 pages.

Script page with a slide on the left-hand side and text on the right. The slide has the heading ‘What is your purpose?’ and has a photo of a smiling person at a whiteboard mid-presentation. The text on the slide reads:

Do you want to:

• do a combination of all three?

The notes next to the slide read:

How should they do that? Should they explain, persuade or inspire – the three key strategies for any presentation? You may need to use several of them to achieve your goal.

The most powerful key on your keyboard – Delete

Use these numbers as your goal, but your first draft will probably be longer. That’s when you start deleting.

Be ruthless. Anything not adding to the story must go, including those anecdotes you’ve been telling for years ( especially those anecdotes). It’s not about what you want to tell the audience, it’s about what they need to hear.

Don’t feel you have to include every single issue either. Dealing with two or three examples in some detail is far better than saying a little bit about many more.

And interpret visual material you’re displaying rather than describing it, just as you wouldn’t repeat the text that’s on the screen. The audience can see it already.

It’s a conversation

Be yourself – don’t write a script that’s not in your style. We want the real you, not a supercharged version.

Some people are naturals when it comes to presenting – which can mean they’ve learned how to draw on their authentic strengths.

Sir David Attenborough is a great example. He has a wide-ranging knowledge of the natural world. He has an infectious passion and enthusiasm for his subject. And most importantly, he doesn’t lecture the camera: he talks naturally to his audience (and he’s now using Instagram to inspire new generations).

You can take a cue from Sir David and make your presentation style your own. Knowing your own strengths and really understanding your why will help you speak with purpose and passion.

And aim to speak naturally. Use conversational, inclusive language. That means lots of personal pronouns ( I believe, we can) and contractions ( Don’t you wonder …, you’re probably thinking …).

Sir David Attenborough introduces his new series, Our Planet at its premiere. He builds up our awareness by layering information alongside arresting statistics. These are framed simply, in relatable terms (‘96% of mass on the planet is us …’), so we easily grasp their shocking significance. He also uses ‘we’ and ‘us’ a lot to underline how this environmental emergency affects us all on ‘the planet we all call home’.

Finding the right words

Imagine you’re talking to someone as you write. And try saying the words out loud – it’s a good way to catch those complex, overlong sentences or particular words that will be difficult to say.

Presentations are not reports that can be reread – the audience has to understand what you are saying in the moment . Don’t leave them wondering what on earth you’re talking about, as they will only fall behind.

So avoid using long or complex words, or words you wouldn’t hear in everyday conversation (if your everyday conversation includes ‘quarks’ and ‘vectors’, that’s fine). And beware of jargon – it can exclude the audience and it quickly becomes clichéd and outdated.

Here are some more hints and tips on how to write effectively for speaking:

Syntax (word order): Disentangle your thoughts and arrange the words in your sentences to be simple and logical. Often, complex syntax shows up when the main point is getting lost inside excess information (or that the speaker is unsure what their main point is).

Pace, rhythm and tone: Varying the pace, rhythm and tone of sentences makes both the speaking and listening experience far more enjoyable.

Make sure the stress falls on the most important words. For example, ‘To be or not to be ‘ (where the stress rises and falls on alternate words) or ‘I have a dream ‘ (where the stress falls on the final word).

Vary the length of sentences and experiment with using very short sentences to emphasise a point.

Play with rhythm by arranging words in pairs and trios. Saying things in threes gives a sense of movement, progression and resolution: Going, going … gone . Saying words in pairs gives a more balanced tone (‘courage and commitment’, ‘energy and effort’) or a sense of tension between the words (‘war and peace’, ‘imports and exports’).

Analogies: Good analogies can work well in presentations because they paint vivid pictures for the audience. The best way to do it is to use either a simile (‘It wasn’t so much a dinner party, more like feeding time at the zoo’) or a metaphor (‘He was the fox and the company was the henhouse’).

Alliteration: This means using two or more words that start with the same sound, like ‘big and bold’, ‘sleek and shiny’ or ‘key components’. On the page alliteration may look contrived, but it can effectively highlight important phrases in a presentation.

Words to avoid: Be careful about using clichés like ‘pushing the envelope’, ‘playing hardball’ and ‘thinking outside the box’. And think carefully about using any word that ends with -ism, -ise, -based, -gate, -focused and -driven.

Be careful with humour too: don’t write jokes unless you can naturally tell them well. Keep the tone light if it fits the occasion, but a badly told joke can be excruciating.

4. How to start your presentation

People tend to remember beginnings and endings the most, so make sure your opening and conclusion are both strong.

You have about a minute to engage an audience. You want them to be intrigued, to want to know more, to come slightly forward in their seats. If you only learn one part of your presentation by heart, make it that minute.

A quick ‘thank you’ is fine if someone has introduced you. A quick ‘good morning’ to the audience is fine too. But don’t start thanking them for coming and hoping they’ll enjoy what you have to say – you’re not accepting an Oscar, and they can tell you what they thought when it’s over. Get straight down to business.

There are four basic types of introduction which will draw your audience in:

• News – ‘Positive Covid-19 tests worldwide have now reached …’
• Anecdotal – ‘About ten years ago, I was walking to work and I saw …’
• Surprise – ‘Every five minutes, an American will die because of the food they eat.’
• Historical – ‘In 1800, the world’s population was one billion. It’s now 7.8 billion.’

You can interpret these beginnings in any number of ways. If you were to say, ‘I have an admission to make …’, we will expect a personal anecdote relating to your main theme. And because you’re alone in front of us, it’s playing on your vulnerability. We’re intrigued straight away, and you’ve established a good platform for the rest of the presentation.

You can also combine these techniques. The historical beginning creates a sense of movement – that was then and this is now – as well as a surprising fact. It may prompt a thought like, ‘Wow, where’s this going?’ And you can trade on this with your own rhetorical question: ‘What does this mean for everyone in this room? It’s not what you think …’.

As well as setting up your story, you need to quickly reassure the audience they’re in safe hands. One way to do that is to give them a map – to tell them where you’re going to take them and what they’re going to see along the way.

Then you’re starting the journey together.

5. How to end your presentation

Your ending is what you want the audience to take away: your call to action, your vision of the future and how they can contribute.

If your presentation is online or to a small group in a small room, your ending is not going to be a battle cry, a call to man the barricades – that would be totally inappropriate. But equally don’t waste it with something flat and uninspiring.

Here are four effective ways to end your talk (like the intros, you can combine them or come up with your own):

• Predict the future – ‘So what can we expect in the next ten years? …’
• Quotation – ‘As our chief exec said at the meeting yesterday, …’
• Repeat a major issue – ‘We can’t carry on with the same old same old.’
• Summarise – ‘Continuous improvement isn’t our goal. It’s our culture.’

Predicting the future fits well with a historical beginning – it completes the arc of your presentation.

If you end with a quotation, make sure it’s relevant and credible – it has to be an authoritative stamp.

Repeating a major issue means pulling out and highlighting a major strand of your presentation, while summarising is about encapsulating your argument in a couple of sentences.

Your ending can also be a change of tone, perhaps signalled by the single word ‘Finally …’. It’s the audience’s cue to come slightly forward again and pay close attention.

As with your opening, it will have more impact if you’ve learned your ending – put down your notes, take a couple of steps towards the audience and address them directly, before a simple ‘Thank you.’

6. Creating your PowerPoint slides

We’ve all been there – watching a seemingly endless, poorly designed slide deck that’s simply restating what the presenter is saying. So common is this tortuous experience that there’s a name for it: Death by PowerPoint. But it doesn’t have to be like this.

Do you need slides at all?

As with your script, the first thing you should ask is ‘Do I actually need this?’ In 2019, Sir Tim Berners-Lee gave the Richard Dimbleby lecture for the BBC. He spoke for about 40 minutes with no autocue (he’d memorised his script) – and no speaker support.

This is a uniquely powerful form of presentation because the audience’s attention is totally focused on that one person. The call to action at the end of a presentation and delivering bad news are also best done without visuals.

Visual support

But if they’re well-judged and relevant, slides or other visuals can add enormously to a presentation – whether it’s photography, video or the ubiquitous PowerPoint. There are, however, two things everyone should know about PowerPoint in particular:

• It’s incredibly versatile and convenient.
• In the wrong hands, it can be unbearably tedious.

Your PowerPoint slides should not essentially be your cue cards projected onto a screen. They shouldn’t be packed margin to margin with text or full of complex diagrams.

If the presentation is live, the audience has come to watch you, not your slide deck. Online, the deck may have to work harder to sustain visual interest.

As with the script, keep your finger poised over that Delete key when you’re putting the deck together.

How many slides?

There’s no hard-and-fast rule about how many slides you should use, but think in terms of no more than one or two a minute on average. And don’t use more than a couple of short video inserts in a 20-minute presentation.

You might have a section where you show a few slides in a sequence or hold a single slide for a couple of minutes, which is fine. Varying the pacing helps to keep a presentation moving.

Optimise for psychology

As self-professed presentation aficionado David JP Phillips notes in his TEDx talk , people – and that includes your audience – have terrible working memories. If you don’t account for this fact in your slides, your talk will not have a lasting impact. In fact, most of it will be forgotten within around 30 seconds.

To counter this effect, David identifies five key strategies to use when designing your PowerPoint:

• Only have one message per slide: more than that and you’re splitting your audience’s attention.
• Don’t use full sentences on slides, and certainly don’t imagine you can talk over them if you do. People trying to read and listen at the same time will fail at both and absorb nothing. Move your running text into the documentation section instead, and keep the slide content short and sweet.
• People’s focus will be drawn to the biggest thing on the slide. If your headline is less important than the content below it, make the headline text the smaller of the two.
• You can also direct people’s attention using contrast. This can be as simple as guiding their point of focus by using white text (on a dark background) for the words you want to highlight, while the surrounding text is greyed out.
• Including too many objects per slide will sap your audience’s cognitive resources. (Your headline, every bullet, any references, even a page number each count as an object.) Include a maximum of six objects per slide and viewers will give a mental sigh of relief. This will probably mean creating more slides overall – and that’s fine.

More Powerpoint and visual aid tips

Here are a few more guidelines for creating your visual aids:

• Never dive into PowerPoint as job one in creating your presentation. Work out your talk’s structure (at least) before designing your slide deck. Making a genuinely effective PowerPoint requires that you know your subject inside out.
• List any visuals you’ll need as you prepare your script. That terrific photo you saw recently could be difficult to track down, and you might need permission and to pay to use it.
• It bears repeating: keep each slide to one key idea.
• Use the build effect of adding one bullet at a time (or use the contrast trick above) and try not to use more than three bullets per frame (or six objects overall).
• Strip each bullet to the bare minimum – no articles (‘a’, ‘an’ and ‘the’), no prepositions (‘in’, ‘at’, ‘to’ etc) and cut right back on punctuation.
• Every word that’s not there for a reason has to go. Delete, delete, delete.

‘Extra’ slides

• Use a ‘walk-in’ slide. Rather than have the audience arrive to a blank screen, this tells them who you are and your presentation’s title.
• Use occasional holding slides in between those with more content – perhaps an image but no text. They give the audience a visual rest and put the focus back on you.
• A plain white background might look fine on a computer monitor, but it will be glaring on a big screen. Invert the norm with a dark background, or use shading or ‘ghosted’ images to break up backgrounds and add visual interest.
• Some colours work better than others on-screen. Blues and greys are soft and easy on the eye. Red is a no-no, whether for backgrounds or text. And if you stick with a light background, favour a more subtle dark grey over black for the text.
• Use sans serif fonts (like Arial, Helvetica or Calibri) and think about point size – make sure it’s easily legible.
• Only use upper case where absolutely necessary.

Images and data

• Photos work well full screen, but they also really stand out well on a black background.
• Make sure your charts and graphics aren’t too complex. The dense information that’s fine on the page will not work on-screen – it’s too much to take in. Graphs behind a TV newsreader are often reduced to a single line going dramatically up or down.
• Don’t present data or graphs and expect them to speak for themselves. You need to find the story and significance in the data and present that .

And finally

• Proofread, proofread, proofread – or risk standing in front of an embarrassing spelling mistake.

Technical check

• Check what laptop they’re using at your venue. If you’ve written your deck on a PC, run it on a PC (and, of course, the same rule applies if you’ve used a Mac).
• If you’ve emailed your presentation to the venue, take a USB copy along as back-up.
• If you’re presenting online, check which platform you’ll be using and get comfortable with it. If someone else will be hosting the event, make sure you arrange a time for a rehearsal, especially if there will be a producer.

7. Delivering your presentation

You’ve put a lot of time and effort into preparing your presentation and now you’ve come to the sharp end – it’s time to stand and deliver.

Run it through

You don’t have to rehearse, but most presenters do and for good reason – it catches weak points and awkward transitions. And, crucially, it bolsters confidence.

Read your script or go through your bullets aloud – it will help to settle your nerves. If you use colleagues as a dummy audience, you can do a sense check too: ‘Does that bit work?’ ‘Have I explained it clearly?’ ‘Do you get the big picture?’ And rehearsing out loud will catch those words and sentences you thought you could say but can’t.

The more you rehearse, the more familiar and natural the presentation will become. Rehearse the technical side too – where the video is going to come in, how you’re going to vary your pace and tone to maintain interest.

Try speaking slightly more slowly than you would normally so the audience catches every word, and don’t be afraid to pause now and again. It gives a breathing space for you and the audience.

Connect with your audience

When you deliver your presentation for real, establish eye contact with the audience, just as you would in a conversation. In a small room with a small audience, talk to individuals. In a larger space, don’t talk to the first couple of rows and ignore the rest – include everyone.

And if you stumble over your words here or there, carry on and don’t dwell on it – you’ll lose your concentration. Audiences are generally forgiving and they might not even notice.

Each audience is unique: they react differently in different places. And although tomorrow might be the tenth time you’ve done the same presentation, it will be the first time this audience sees it. Your duty is to keep it fresh for them.

A final point

This is your presentation – you’re in control and the audience needs to feel they’re in safe hands.

It’s perfectly natural to feel nervous , but it’s the thought of doing it that’s the worst bit. Once you get going – and especially when you sense the audience is with you – the nerves will start to disappear. Try to enjoy it. If you enjoy it, it’s far more likely the audience will too.

And remember: everyone wants you to do well.

8. How to present online

Taking to Zoom or another online platform to present was once the exception. These days, online presenting is as essential a skill as presenting in person.

The switch to online can be nerve-wracking and cause even usually skilled presenters to falter. But there’s no need for that to happen.

Indeed, all of the advice we’ve talked about on preparing, structuring and writing for in-person presenting is equally relevant for your online delivery. You just need to be ready for the unique challenges that remote presentations pose.

An obvious one is that while you still have an audience, it will probably be muted and possibly even unseen (if webcams are switched off). This makes it far more difficult to gauge audience reaction, and if the event is pre-recorded, there might not be any at all – at least not immediately. Clapping and laughing emojis are not quite like the real thing.

Keep eye contact

But although your audience may be many miles away, there are still ways you can – and should – create a sense of connection with them. Your presentation will have much more impact if you do.

Whether the event is live or recorded, at least start with your webcam on (unless you really can only use slides). If it’s an option and feels appropriate, consider keeping your camera on throughout – remember, you are the presentation as much as any visuals.

If you will be on display, make sure you know where your webcam’s lens is and at key moments of your talk look directly into it – and out at your audience – to punctuate those points.

And don’t look at a second screen to cue up your PowerPoint – viewers will think your attention is wandering.

Engage your online audience

Being an engaging speaker is always important, but remember that the online world is already a place we associate with distraction. It’s also easier for a viewer behind their laptop to disguise their wandering attention than it would be for one in an auditorium or boardroom.

This isn’t to say your audience don’t want to give you their attention. But it is more important than ever to keep your presentation sharp and concise. Revisit your structure, your script or cue cards and your slides. Take a really critical eye to it and (as always) delete, delete, delete anything that’s not directly relevant.

If it works for your format, you can look at making your presentation interactive. You can then break the content into short segments, interspersed with comment, polls, questions and discussion. The variety will be a welcome change for your viewers.

Your visuals are part of what will keep people with you – along with the interplay you create between you and them. This means following the best-practice guidance we covered earlier is even more important.

Using Zoom for your presentation? Master the art of online delivery through this simple mix of set-up, delivery and technical tricks @EmphasisWriting Share on X

Modulate your voice

Your tone of voice is extremely important here because presenting online is like radio with pictures. When people say ‘You have a great voice for radio’ what they mean is that it’s easy to listen to, often because you’re using quite a low-pitched, warm and relaxed register.

Listen to voices on the radio and voiceovers and identify the ones you particularly enjoy. What do you like about them? Why do you enjoy some voices and not others?

A flat, unmodulated voice, for instance, is difficult to listen to for long periods (and isn’t likely to inspire anyone).

Experiment with intentionally adding energy to your voice, as internet audio can have a dulling effect. As our trainer Gary Woodward puts it: ‘Turn up the enthusiasm dial even higher than you think, to make sure it comes through.’ And always vary your pace and tone as you would in a normal conversation.

And if it suits the tone of your talk, smile now and again. Smiling is contagious, and people will hear it in your voice even if they can’t see you.

Perfect your transitions

One of the other key challenges of remote presentations is that you have another layer of technology to wrestle with: sharing your PowerPoint online.

This means that many presentations begin with the popular catchphrase ‘Can you see my screen?’

This can also cause many presenters to stumble through their transitions, making the links between their slides clunky. And while remote audiences may be forgiving, for a slick presentation it’s best to prevent these sort of fumbles.

Naturally, practice plays a part here. But you can also give yourself the advantage with your set-up.

Dave Paradi from Think Outside the Slide explains one great way of setting up Zoom so you can smoothly cue up and run your slide deck – and be certain what’s being displayed.

You’ll even be able to see the rest of your screen (but the audience won’t). As you’ll be able to see what’s coming up, your transitions can also be seamless.

The trick is to use one of Zoom’s advanced settings after you hit ‘Share screen’, to share only a portion of your screen:

Advanced screensharing options pop-up box in Zoom, with the options ‘Portion of Screen’, ‘Music or Computer Sound Only’ and ‘Content from 2nd Camera’. The ‘Portion of Screen’ option is highlighted in blue.

This will give you a frame you can move to the part of the screen you want the audience to see.

Put your PowerPoint slides into ‘presenter view’ before launching the screenshare. Then you’ll be able to see the upcoming slides and your notes throughout, and your animations (like build slides) will work as normal.

Zoom’s ‘portion of screen’ setting in action

Presenter view in PowerPoint, with the current displayed slide on the left and the upcoming slide displaying smaller on the right, with notes below it. There is a notification saying ‘You are screen sharing’ at the top and a sharing frame positioned around the current slide.

The other part of the trick? Set it up in advance shortly before you’re due to speak. Once you’re happy with the set up, you can stop sharing until it’s time to kick off your talk. When you return to ‘Share screen’ again, it will reopen the frame in the same place.

Dave shows you the process in this video:

Five practical tips for a truly professional online presentation

You’re happy with the content of your talk, you’ve ruthlessly streamlined your slides and mastered your radio voice. Now just make sure you cover these crucial practicalities for a polished presentation:

1. Create a good space Make sure you have your environment well set up:

• Keep the background on display as tidy and minimalist as possible – a plain wall or backdrop is great, if you can.
• Manage and minimise background noise (shut the window, ensure your phone’s on silent, put the cat out, make sure someone’s watching the kids in another room – whatever it takes).
• Check your lighting: have your light source in front of you, not behind you (or you’ll be in shadow).
• Set up your computer or device at eye level so that you are well-framed and facing it straight on – avoid looming above it while providing a lovely view into your nostrils.

2. Think about your appearance Dress in the same way you would if the presentation were in person, and judge your choice of attire based on the formality of the event and your audience.

3. Practise! Run through the presentation and rehearse the technical side. Practise your transitions, including the initial cueing up of your slides (perhaps using the Zoom tip above), so that you can be confident in doing it all smoothly.

4. Be primed and ready Log in early on the day of your talk. Check all your tech is working, get your headset on and ensure everything is set up well ahead of time. This will save any last-minute issues (and stress) and means you can hit the ground running.

5. Stand and deliver Even online, consider giving your presentation standing up, if you can do so comfortably (adjusting your device or webcam accordingly). This may put you more into a presenting frame of mind and will differentiate you from most remote presenters.

Are you still there?

Live audiences have a group dynamic – as soon as a few people start laughing it becomes infectious and the others join in. It’s naturally different online. But that doesn’t have to throw you.

You might not get that immediate feedback, but don’t overcompensate and feel you have to win them back.

Yes, it’s often more difficult to gauge an audience’s reaction online – especially if their audio is muted and their webcams off. Yes, this can be daunting. But they are still out there listening. You may or may not hear (or see) laughter, but they could still be smiling and very interested in what you have to say. Have faith in your own content. Whatever form your delivery will take, keep coming back to your purpose and message for giving this talk – and keep considering the people you’ll be talking to. Whether the address will be online or in person, it is keeping this focus which is the key to every powerful presentation.

Ready to learn even more? Work one-to-one on your presentation-writing skills with one of our expert trainers or join our scheduled presentation-writing courses . If your team are looking to upskill, we also offer tailored in-house training . And if fear of presenting is holding your team back, check out our in-house course The reluctant presenter .

Image credit: lightpoet / Shutterstock

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These days he's one of Emphasis' top business-writing trainers, but in previous career lives Jack has written for many public and private sector organisations. He has an in-depth knowledge of the engineering and manufacturing sectors, particularly the UK automotive industry. As the lead scriptwriter for chairmen and CEOs, he has been responsible for proposals, pitches and reports as well as high-profile speeches and global product launches.

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• Interactive Presentation

Presentation Script | Ultimate Guide To Engage Your Audience in 2024

Jane Ng • 05 April, 2024 • 8 min read

How can you organize a PowerPoint presentation so it engages the audience? this is a hot topic! Are you looking for a script presentation example? Every memorable presentation starts with a single blank page and a writer's determination to create something extraordinary. If you've ever found yourself staring at that intimidating blank canvas, unsure how to transform your ideas into a captivating script, fear not. 

In this blog post, we'll guide you on how to write an impeccable presentation script that will mesmerize your audience. Moreover, we'll provide you with practical tips and real-life examples that help you kickstart your journey toward crafting a compelling presentation script.

Learn how to write a presentation script with AhaSlides, today!

Table of Contents

Why a well-written presentation script matters, how to write a presentation script, expert tips for writing an engaging presentation script.

• Presentation Script Example 
• Key Takeaways

Overview - Presentation Script

• Presentation description
• Title ideas

Start in seconds.

Get free templates for your next interactive presentation. Sign up for free and take what you want from the template library!

A well-written presentation script is the backbone of your delivery, ensuring structure, engaging your audience, boosting your confidence, and providing adaptability.

• An excellent presentation script brings structure and clarity to your message.
• It keeps your audience engaged and helps them understand your ideas. 
• It also ensures consistency and repeatability, especially when presenting multiple times. 
• A good script for presentation provides adaptability and preparedness, enabling you to adjust and handle unexpected situations. 

In addition, for many presenters, nerves and Glossophobia can be significant hurdles to overcome. A well-written script provides a sense of security and confidence. Like a safety net, it ensures that you have your key points and supporting details at your fingertips. This boosts your confidence and reduces anxiety, allowing you to deliver a more polished presentation.

So, how to make a script for a presentation?

Before writing a presentation script, you need to know your audience's background, interests, and knowledge level. Then clearly define the purpose of your presentation. Having a clear objective will help you stay focused while writing your script.

1/ Outline The Structure

Start with an attention-grabbing introduction, followed by the main points you want to convey, and conclude with a strong summary or call to action.

For example:

• Introduction - The introduction script for presentations should be a welcome and personal connection to the topic. 
• Main Points - Benefits of "topic"
• Transitions - Use phrases like "Now let's move on to," or "Next, we'll discuss." 
• Conclusion - Recap key points and call to action.

You can consider using bullet points or headings to organize your ideas within each section.

2/ Craft A Powerful Opening

Crafting a strong opening statement is crucial to capturing your audience's attention and setting the tone for your entire presentation. Here are some key elements to consider when creating an impactful opening statement:

• Hook the Audience: Start with a captivating hook that immediately grabs the audience's attention
• Establish Relevance: Communicate the relevance and importance of your topic to the audience. Highlight how it relates to their lives, challenges, or aspirations.
• Create an Emotional Connection: Appeal to your audience's emotions and create a sense of resonance or empathy. Connect with their desires, challenges, or aspirations to make a personal connection.

3/ Develop Key Points

When developing the key points in your presentation script, it's essential to provide supporting information, examples, or evidence that reinforces your message. Here's how you can expand on each main point:

Supporting Information:

• Present facts, data, or expert opinions that support your main point.
• Use credible sources to strengthen your arguments and provide context.
• Use evidence to back up your claims and increase credibility.

Logical Order or Narrative Flow

• Organize your main points in a logical order to facilitate understanding.
• Consider using a narrative flow to create a compelling storyline that connects your main points.

4/ Incorporate Visual Aids

Incorporating visual aids strategically into your presentation can significantly enhance understanding, engagement, and retention of information.

• Example: If you're discussing the features of a new product, display images or a short video demonstrating its functionality as you describe each feature.

5/ Include Transitions and Signposts

Including transitions and signposts helps guide your audience through your ideas and ensures they can easily follow your train of thought.

You can use concise and engaging language to introduce the upcoming subject matter.

• Example: "Next, we'll explore the latest..."

Or you can use questions to transition between sections or engage the audience's attention.

• Example: "But how can we tackle this challenge? The answer lies in..."

6/ Summarize and Conclude

• Recap your main points to reinforce key messages concisely.
• End with a memorable conclusion that leaves a lasting impact or a call to action for your audience.

7/ Seek Feedback and Revise

• Share your script with a trusted colleague, friend, or mentor for constructive feedback.
• Once you have made revisions based on feedback, practice delivering your revised script.
• Refine and fine-tune your script as needed through practice sessions and additional feedback.

Involve The Audience

Boost audience participation and engagement by leveraging interactive features such as Q&A session , live polls, quizzes and small activities through AhaSlides . By utilizing these interactive elements, you can transform your presentation into a dynamic and engaging experience for your audience.

You also can ask your audience for feedback by rating scale or Likert scale !

Use Conversational Language

Write your script in a conversational tone to make it more approachable and relatable. Avoid jargon and complex terminology that might alienate your audience.

Know Your Key Takeaways

• Identify the main messages or key takeaways you want your audience to remember.
• Craft your script around these key points to ensure they are emphasized throughout the presentation.

Address Potential Questions or Concerns

By proactively addressing potential questions or concerns within your presentation script, you demonstrate thoroughness, credibility, and a genuine commitment to addressing your audience's needs. 

This approach helps foster trust and ensures that your presentation provides clear and comprehensive information, leaving your audience feeling satisfied and informed.

Presentation Script Example

Here's an example of a presentation script about "The Power of Effective Communication": 

Key Takeaways 

In conclusion, crafting a well-written presentation script is essential for delivering a successful and impactful presentation. By following the steps and tips outlined in this guide, you can create a script that engages your audience, communicates your message effectively, and leaves a lasting impression.

Remember, incorporating interactive elements can significantly enhance audience engagement and make your presentation more memorable. AhaSlides, with our wide range of templates and interactive features like questions, polls , and activities, provides a powerful platform to involve your audience actively and create an interactive and dynamic presentation experience.

How do you write a script for a presentation?

Here are steps on how to write an effective presentation script: Outline the structure, including an attention-grabbing introduction, main points, and a strong conclusion.  Craft a powerful opening that hooks the audience, establishes relevance, and creates an emotional connection.  Develop key points with supporting information and logical order.  Incorporate visual aids strategically to enhance understanding.  Use transitions and signposts to guide your audience.  Summarize and conclude with impact .  Seek feedback, revise, and practice for a polished presentation.

How do you start a presentation script example?

Here's an example of how you can start a presentation script: - "Good morning/afternoon/evening, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you all for being here today. My name is_____, and I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak with you about_______. Over the next _______, we will explore [briefly mention key points or objectives of the presentation]." The opening lines should aim to grab the audience's attention, establish your credibility, and introduce the topic you will be discussing. 

Is it okay to read a script for a presentation?

While it's generally recommended to avoid reading directly from a script, there are situations where it can be beneficial. For formal or complex presentations like academic or technical talks, a well-crafted script ensures accuracy and keeps you on track.  However, in most cases, a conversational style with notes or prompts is preferred. This allows flexibility, spontaneity, and better audience engagement. 

A writer who wants to create practical and valuable content for the audience

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