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How To Write A Presentation 101 | Step-by-Step Guides with Best Examples | 2024 Reveals

Jane Ng • 05 Apr 2024 • 8 min read

Is it difficult to start of presentation? You’re standing before a room full of eager listeners, ready to share your knowledge and captivate their attention. But where do you begin? How do you structure your ideas and convey them effectively?

Take a deep breath, and fear not! In this article, we’ll provide a road map on how to write a presentation covering everything from crafting a script to creating an engaging introduction.

So, let’s dive in!

Table of Contents

What is a presentation , what should be in a powerful presentation.

• How To Write A Presentation Script
• How to Write A Presentation Introduction 

Key Takeaways

Tips for better presentation.

• How to start a presentation
• How to introduce yourself

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Presentations are all about connecting with your audience. 

Presenting is a fantastic way to share information, ideas, or arguments with your audience. Think of it as a structured approach to effectively convey your message. And you’ve got options such as slideshows, speeches, demos, videos, and even multimedia presentations!

The purpose of a presentation can vary depending on the situation and what the presenter wants to achieve. 

• In the business world, presentations are commonly used to pitch proposals, share reports, or make sales pitches. 
• In educational settings, presentations are a go-to for teaching or delivering engaging lectures. 
• For conferences, seminars, and public events—presentations are perfect for dishing out information, inspiring folks, or even persuading the audience.

That sounds brilliant. But, how to write a presentation?

How To Write A Presentation? What should be in a powerful presentation? A great presentation encompasses several key elements to captivate your audience and effectively convey your message. Here’s what you should consider including in a winning presentation:

• Clear and Engaging Introduction: Start your presentation with a bang! Hook your audience’s attention right from the beginning by using a captivating story, a surprising fact, a thought-provoking question, or a powerful quote. Clearly state the purpose of your presentation and establish a connection with your listeners.
• Well-Structured Content: Organize your content logically and coherently. Divide your presentation into sections or main points and provide smooth transitions between them. Each section should flow seamlessly into the next, creating a cohesive narrative. Use clear headings and subheadings to guide your audience through the presentation.
• Compelling Visuals: Incorporate visual aids, such as images, graphs, or videos, to enhance your presentation. Make sure your visuals are visually appealing, relevant, and easy to understand. Use a clean and uncluttered design with legible fonts and appropriate color schemes. 
• Engaging Delivery: Pay attention to your delivery style and body language. You should maintain eye contact with your audience, use gestures to emphasize key points, and vary your tone of voice to keep the presentation dynamic. 
• Clear and Memorable Conclusion: Leave your audience with a lasting impression by providing a strong closing statement, a call to action, or a thought-provoking question. Make sure your conclusion ties back to your introduction and reinforces the core message of your presentation.

How To Write A Presentation Script (With Examples)

To successfully convey your message to your audience, you must carefully craft and organize your presentation script. Here are steps on how to write a presentation script: 

1/ Understand Your Purpose and Audience

• Clarify the purpose of your presentation. Are you informing, persuading, or entertaining?
• Identify your target audience and their knowledge level, interests, and expectations.
• Define what presentation format you want to use

2/ Outline the Structure of Your Presentation

Strong opening.

Start with an engaging opening that grabs the audience’s attention and introduces your topic. Some types of openings you can use are: 

• Start with a Thought-Provoking Question: “Have you ever…?”
• Begin with a Surprising Fact or Statistic: “Did you know that….?”
• Use a Powerful Quote: “As Maya Angelou once said,….”
• Tell a Compelling Story : “Picture this: You’re standing at….”
• Start with a Bold Statement: “In the fast-paced digital age….”

Main Points

Clearly state your main points or key ideas that you will discuss throughout the presentation.

• Clearly State the Purpose and Main Points: Example: “In this presentation, we will delve into three key areas. First,… Next,… Finally,…. we’ll discuss….”
• Provide Background and Context: Example: “Before we dive into the details, let’s understand the basics of…..”
• Present Supporting Information and Examples: Example: “To illustrate…., let’s look at an example. In,…..”
• Address Counterarguments or Potential Concerns: Example: “While…, we must also consider… .”
• Recap Key Points and Transition to the Next Section: Example: “To summarize, we’ve… Now, let’s shift our focus to…”

Remember to organize your content logically and coherently, ensuring smooth transitions between sections.

You can conclude with a strong closing statement summarizing your main points and leaving a lasting impression. Example: “As we conclude our presentation, it’s clear that… By…., we can….”

3/ Craft Clear and Concise Sentences

Once you’ve outlined your presentation, you need to edit your sentences. Use clear and straightforward language to ensure your message is easily understood.

Alternatively, you can break down complex ideas into simpler concepts and provide clear explanations or examples to aid comprehension.

4/ Use Visual Aids and Supporting Materials

Use supporting materials such as statistics, research findings, or real-life examples to back up your points and make them more compelling. 

• Example: “As you can see from this graph,… This demonstrates….”

5/ Include Engagement Techniques

Incorporate interactive elements to engage your audience, such as Q&A sessions , conducting live polls, or encouraging participation. You can also spin more funs into group, by randomly dividing people into different groups to get more diverse feedbacks!

6/ Rehearse and Revise

• Practice delivering your presentation script to familiarize yourself with the content and improve your delivery.
• Revise and edit your script as needed, removing any unnecessary information or repetitions.

7/ Seek Feedback

You can share your script or deliver a practice presentation to a trusted friend, colleague, or mentor to gather feedback on your script and make adjustments accordingly.

More on Script Presentation

How to Write A Presentation Introduction with Examples

How to write presentations that are engaging and visually appealing? Looking for introduction ideas for the presentation? As mentioned earlier, once you have completed your script, it’s crucial to focus on editing and refining the most critical element—the opening of your presentation – the section that determines whether you can captivate and retain your audience’s attention right from the start. 

Here is a guide on how to craft an opening that grabs your audience’s attention from the very first minute: 

1/ Start with a Hook

To begin, you can choose from five different openings mentioned in the script based on your desired purpose and content. Alternatively, you can opt for the approach that resonates with you the most, and instills your confidence. Remember, the key is to choose a starting point that aligns with your objectives and allows you to deliver your message effectively.

2/ Establish Relevance and Context

Then you should establish the topic of your presentation and explain why it is important or relevant to your audience. Connect the topic to their interests, challenges, or aspirations to create a sense of relevance.

3/ State the Purpose

Clearly articulate the purpose or goal of your presentation. Let the audience know what they can expect to gain or achieve by listening to your presentation.

4/ Preview Your Main Points

Give a brief overview of the main points or sections you will cover in your presentation. It helps the audience understand the structure and flow of your presentation and creates anticipation.

5/ Establish Credibility

Share your expertise or credentials related to the topic to build trust with the audience, such as a brief personal story, relevant experience, or mentioning your professional background.

6/ Engage Emotionally

Connect emotional levels with your audience by appealing to their aspirations, fears, desires, or values. They help create a deeper connection and engagement from the very beginning.

Make sure your introduction is concise and to the point. Avoid unnecessary details or lengthy explanations. Aim for clarity and brevity to maintain the audience’s attention.

For example, Topic: Work-life balance

“Good morning, everyone! Can you imagine waking up each day feeling energized and ready to conquer both your personal and professional pursuits? Well, that’s exactly what we’ll explore today – the wonderful world of work-life balance. In a fast-paced society where work seems to consume every waking hour, it’s vital to find that spot where our careers and personal lives harmoniously coexist. Throughout this presentation, we’ll dive into practical strategies that help us achieve that coveted balance, boost productivity, and nurture our overall well-being. 

But before we dive in, let me share a bit about my journey. As a working professional and a passionate advocate for work-life balance, I have spent years researching and implementing strategies that have transformed my own life. I am excited to share my knowledge and experiences with all of you today, with the hope of inspiring positive change and creating a more fulfilling work-life balance for everyone in this room. So, let’s get started!”

🎉 Check out: How to Start a Presentation?

Whether you’re a seasoned speaker or new to the stage, understanding how to write a presentation that conveys your message effectively is a valuable skill. By following the steps in this guide, you can become a captivating presenter and make your mark in every presentation you deliver.

Additionally, AhaSlides can significantly enhance your presentation’s impact. With AhaSlides, you can use live polls , quizzes , and word cloud to turn your presentation into an engaging and interactive experience. Let’s take a moment to explore our vast template library !

Frequently Asked Questions

How to write a presentation step by step .

You can refer to our step-by-step guide on How To Write A Presentation Script: Understand Your Purpose and Audience Outline the Structure of Your Presentation Craft Clear and Concise Sentences Use Visual Aids and Supporting Material Include Engagement Techniques Rehearse and Revise Seek Feedback

How do you start a presentation? 

You can start with an engaging opening that grabs the audience’s attention and introduces your topic. Consider using one of the following approaches: Start with a Thought-Provoking Question: “Have you ever…?” Begin with a Surprising Fact or Statistic: “Did you know that….?” Use a Powerful Quote: “As Maya Angelou once said,….” Tell a Compelling Story : “Picture this: You’re standing at….” Start with a Bold Statement: “In the fast-paced digital age….”

What are the five parts of a presentation?

When it comes to presentation writing, a typical presentation consists of the following five parts: Introduction: Capturing the audience’s attention, introducing yourself, stating the purpose, and providing an overview. Main Body: Presenting main points, evidence, examples, and arguments. Visual Aids: Using visuals to enhance understanding and engage the audience. Conclusion: Summarizing main points, restating key message, and leaving a memorable takeaway or call to action. Q&A or Discussion: Optional part for addressing questions and encouraging audience participation.

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

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Managing your Presentation Notes

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When you start to give presentations, you will realise that you also have to work out how to manage your text.

Whether you’re confident enough to speak with very brief notes, or you need a full text, you need to consider how you record it to remind you what you’re going to say.

There are various examples of ways you might choose to manage your text.

These include:

Full Text Notes

Notes on Cue Cards

Keywords on Cue Cards

Full text script.

The main advantage of this method is that the entire text is in front of you so you cannot forget what you want to say.

The disadvantage, however, is that you will pay less attention to the group or audience whilst reading the text.  If you are speaking to a small group, this method might be overly formal, as written text sounds very formal when spoken out loud. If you read a prepared text, you should know what you are going to say very well so that you can maintain eye contact with your listeners whilst not losing your place.

Reading the text is not always an easy option as it can sound stilted and rather unnatural. Remember to engage with your audience as much as you can.

When reading from a full-text script it is also much harder to change what you’re going to say halfway through, if you see that your audience is starting to fidget.

To help, you can use big bold headings to guide your eyes through the text so that you can skip sections if you want.

Notes Pages from a Slide Package

Most presentation packages, including PowerPoint, have an option to create a page of ‘Slide Notes’.

You can use these to write out more or less detailed points about what you plan to say in relation to every slide that you use.

The advantage is that everything that you want to say is tailored to your slides. However, the packages are not very sophisticated: you cannot, for instance, highlight sections, or play with the font size very easily. This means that it can be hard to identify quickly and visually the most important points to make.

You will also end up with a sheaf of papers, which can get a bit flappy and hard to handle. This can come across as somewhat unprofessional.

To use cue cards, write your main points on separate index cards and, underneath each point, write the supporting material in a concise way.

When using Cue Cards...

Use only one side of the card and number the cards so that you can easily reorder them if you drop them.

On the bottom of each cue card, write a link statement to lead you into the next point.

The advantage of using cue cards is that you are speaking directly to the audience, which increases your rapport with them.

Small index cards also look more professional than large sheets of paper which may prove difficult to handle. The disadvantage is that you have to write them by hand since PowerPoint and similar packages don’t offer an option for ‘keycards’, only ‘Notes pages’.

To avoid losing your thread, ensure that you are familiar with the main points of your argument and the links between one idea and the next so that you become less reliant on the cards.

Further simplify the information on the cue cards by drawing out keywords that will remind you of the key points that you wish to convey.

The advantages of using keywords on cue cards are the same as above but their use increases spontaneity and rapport with the audience even further.

However, if you become side-tracked, it is easy to lose the thread and possibly miss key points. It’s best only to use this method if you are very familiar with your subject and feel confident in making the presentation.

Mind maps are diagrams used to represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked to and arranged around a central key word or idea. Mind maps are used to generate, visualize, structure, and classify ideas, and can be used as notes to aid a presentation.

The advantages of using a mind map are similar to those of using keywords on cue words but it is easier to illustrate complex relationships than with keywords.

However, again, using mind maps as a presentation aid requires you to be familiar with the subject material and a confident speaker. When presenting it can be difficult to keep track of your progress through a mind map, but it can be very helpful if you want to interact with your audience, as you can just reorder your points to fit the session.

It’s up to you!

When you’re giving a presentation, it’s up to you to choose a method of handling your notes that works for you.

Whatever you do, someone is sure to judge you on it, so you simply have to make sure that you’re comfortable, and don’t worry what anyone else says.

The important thing is to get your points across confidently and competently, and not to show off.

Continue to: Working with Visual Aids Deciding the Presentation Method

See also: Preparing for a Presentation Writing Your Presentation Coping with Presentation Nerves Dealing with Questions

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• Customer-service writing
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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 Click To Tweet

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 Click To Tweet

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 Click To Tweet

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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How to present a research paper in PPT: best practices

A research paper presentation is frequently used at conferences and other events where you have a chance to share the results of your research and receive feedback from colleagues. Although it may appear as simple as summarizing the findings, successful examples of research paper presentations show that there is a little bit more to it.

In this article, we’ll walk you through the basic outline and steps to create a good research paper presentation. We’ll also explain what to include and what not to include in your presentation of research paper and share some of the most effective tips you can use to take your slides to the next level.

Research paper PowerPoint presentation outline

Creating a PowerPoint presentation for a research paper involves organizing and summarizing your key findings, methodology, and conclusions in a way that encourages your audience to interact with your work and share their interest in it with others. Here’s a basic research paper outline PowerPoint you can follow:

1. Title (1 slide)

Typically, your title slide should contain the following information:

• Title of the research paper
• Affiliation or institution
• Date of presentation

2. Introduction (1-3 slides)

On this slide of your presentation, briefly introduce the research topic and its significance and state the research question or objective.

3. Research questions or hypothesis (1 slide)

This slide should emphasize the objectives of your research or present the hypothesis.

4. Literature review (1 slide)

Your literature review has to provide context for your research by summarizing relevant literature. Additionally, it should highlight gaps or areas where your research contributes.

5. Methodology and data collection (1-2 slides)

This slide of your research paper PowerPoint has to explain the research design, methods, and procedures. It must also Include details about participants, materials, and data collection and emphasize special equipment you have used in your work.

6. Results (3-5 slides)

On this slide, you must present the results of your data analysis and discuss any trends, patterns, or significant findings. Moreover, you should use charts, graphs, and tables to illustrate data and highlight something novel in your results (if applicable).

7. Conclusion (1 slide)

Your conclusion slide has to summarize the main findings and their implications, as well as discuss the broader impact of your research. Usually, a single statement is enough.

8. Recommendations (1 slide)

If applicable, provide recommendations for future research or actions on this slide.

9. References (1-2 slides)

The references slide is where you list all the sources cited in your research paper.

10. Acknowledgments (1 slide)

On this presentation slide, acknowledge any individuals, organizations, or funding sources that contributed to your research.

11. Appendix (1 slide)

If applicable, include any supplementary materials, such as additional data or detailed charts, in your appendix slide.

The above outline is just a general guideline, so make sure to adjust it based on your specific research paper and the time allotted for the presentation.

Steps to creating a memorable research paper presentation

Creating a PowerPoint presentation for a research paper involves several critical steps needed to convey your findings and engage your audience effectively, and these steps are as follows:

Step 1. Understand your audience:

• Identify the audience for your presentation.
• Tailor your content and level of detail to match the audience’s background and knowledge.

Step 2. Define your key messages:

• Clearly articulate the main messages or findings of your research.
• Identify the key points you want your audience to remember.

Step 3. Design your research paper PPT presentation:

• Use a clean and professional design that complements your research topic.
• Choose readable fonts, consistent formatting, and a limited color palette.
• Opt for PowerPoint presentation services if slide design is not your strong side.

Step 4. Put content on slides:

• Follow the outline above to structure your presentation effectively; include key sections and topics.
• Organize your content logically, following the flow of your research paper.

Step 5. Final check:

• Proofread your slides for typos, errors, and inconsistencies.
• Ensure all visuals are clear, high-quality, and properly labeled.

Step 6. Save and share:

• Save your presentation and ensure compatibility with the equipment you’ll be using.
• If necessary, share a copy of your presentation with the audience.

By following these steps, you can create a well-organized and visually appealing research paper presentation PowerPoint that effectively conveys your research findings to the audience.

What to include and what not to include in your presentation

In addition to the must-know PowerPoint presentation recommendations, which we’ll cover later in this article, consider the following do’s and don’ts when you’re putting together your research paper presentation:

• Focus on the topic.
• Be brief and to the point.
• Attract the audience’s attention and highlight interesting details.
• Use only relevant visuals (maps, charts, pictures, graphs, etc.).
• Use numbers and bullet points to structure the content.
• Make clear statements regarding the essence and results of your research.

Don’ts:

• Don’t write down the whole outline of your paper and nothing else.
• Don’t put long, full sentences on your slides; split them into smaller ones.
• Don’t use distracting patterns, colors, pictures, and other visuals on your slides; the simpler, the better.
• Don’t use too complicated graphs or charts; only the ones that are easy to understand.
• Now that we’ve discussed the basics, let’s move on to the top tips for making a powerful presentation of your research paper.

8 tips on how to make research paper presentation that achieves its goals

You’ve probably been to a presentation where the presenter reads word for word from their PowerPoint outline. Or where the presentation is cluttered, chaotic, or contains too much data. The simple tips below will help you summarize a 10 to 15-page paper for a 15 to 20-minute talk and succeed, so read on!

Tip #1: Less is more

You want to provide enough information to make your audience want to know more. Including details but not too many and avoiding technical jargon, formulas, and long sentences are always good ways to achieve this.

Tip #2: Be professional

Avoid using too many colors, font changes, distracting backgrounds, animations, etc. Bullet points with a few words to highlight the important information are preferable to lengthy paragraphs. Additionally, include slide numbers on all PowerPoint slides except for the title slide, and make sure it is followed by a table of contents, offering a brief overview of the entire research paper.

Tip #3: Strive for balance

PowerPoint slides have limited space, so use it carefully. Typically, one to two points per slide or 5 lines for 5 words in a sentence are enough to present your ideas.

Tip #4: Use proper fonts and text size

The font you use should be easy to read and consistent throughout the slides. You can go with Arial, Times New Roman, Calibri, or a combination of these three. An ideal text size is 32 points, while a heading size is 44.

Tip #5: Concentrate on the visual side

A PowerPoint presentation is one of the best tools for presenting information visually. Use graphs instead of tables and topic-relevant illustrations instead of walls of text. Keep your visuals as clean and professional as the content of your presentation.

Tip #6: Practice your delivery

Always go through your presentation when you’re done to ensure a smooth and confident delivery and time yourself to stay within the allotted limit.

Tip #7: Get ready for questions

Anticipate potential questions from your audience and prepare thoughtful responses. Also, be ready to engage in discussions about your research.

Tip #8: Don’t be afraid to utilize professional help

If the mere thought of designing a presentation overwhelms you or you’re pressed for time, consider leveraging professional PowerPoint redesign services . A dedicated design team can transform your content or old presentation into effective slides, ensuring your message is communicated clearly and captivates your audience. This way, you can focus on refining your delivery and preparing for the presentation.

Lastly, remember that even experienced presenters get nervous before delivering research paper PowerPoint presentations in front of the audience. You cannot know everything; some things can be beyond your control, which is completely fine. You are at the event not only to share what you know but also to learn from others. So, no matter what, dress appropriately, look straight into the audience’s eyes, try to speak and move naturally, present your information enthusiastically, and have fun!

If you need help with slide design, get in touch with our dedicated design team and let qualified professionals turn your research findings into a visually appealing, polished presentation that leaves a lasting impression on your audience. Our experienced designers specialize in creating engaging layouts, incorporating compelling graphics, and ensuring a cohesive visual narrative that complements content on any subject.

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How to Make a PowerPoint Presentation of Your Research Paper

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A research paper presentation is often used at conferences and in other settings where you have an opportunity to share your research, and get feedback from your colleagues. Although it may seem as simple as summarizing your research and sharing your knowledge, successful research paper PowerPoint presentation examples show us that there’s a little bit more than that involved.

In this article, we’ll highlight how to make a PowerPoint presentation from a research paper, and what to include (as well as what NOT to include). We’ll also touch on how to present a research paper at a conference.

Purpose of a Research Paper Presentation

The purpose of presenting your paper at a conference or forum is different from the purpose of conducting your research and writing up your paper. In this setting, you want to highlight your work instead of including every detail of your research. Likewise, a presentation is an excellent opportunity to get direct feedback from your colleagues in the field. But, perhaps the main reason for presenting your research is to spark interest in your work, and entice the audience to read your research paper.

So, yes, your presentation should summarize your work, but it needs to do so in a way that encourages your audience to seek out your work, and share their interest in your work with others. It’s not enough just to present your research dryly, to get information out there. More important is to encourage engagement with you, your research, and your work.

Tips for Creating Your Research Paper Presentation

In addition to basic PowerPoint presentation recommendations, which we’ll cover later in this article, think about the following when you’re putting together your research paper presentation:

• Know your audience : First and foremost, who are you presenting to? Students? Experts in your field? Potential funders? Non-experts? The truth is that your audience will probably have a bit of a mix of all of the above. So, make sure you keep that in mind as you prepare your presentation.

Know more about: Discover the Target Audience .

• Your audience is human : In other words, they may be tired, they might be wondering why they’re there, and they will, at some point, be tuning out. So, take steps to help them stay interested in your presentation. You can do that by utilizing effective visuals, summarize your conclusions early, and keep your research easy to understand.
• Running outline : It’s not IF your audience will drift off, or get lost…it’s WHEN. Keep a running outline, either within the presentation or via a handout. Use visual and verbal clues to highlight where you are in the presentation.
• Where does your research fit in? You should know of work related to your research, but you don’t have to cite every example. In addition, keep references in your presentation to the end, or in the handout. Your audience is there to hear about your work.
• Plan B : Anticipate possible questions for your presentation, and prepare slides that answer those specific questions in more detail, but have them at the END of your presentation. You can then jump to them, IF needed.

What Makes a PowerPoint Presentation Effective?

You’ve probably attended a presentation where the presenter reads off of their PowerPoint outline, word for word. Or where the presentation is busy, disorganized, or includes too much information. Here are some simple tips for creating an effective PowerPoint Presentation.

• Less is more: You want to give enough information to make your audience want to read your paper. So include details, but not too many, and avoid too many formulas and technical jargon.
• Clean and professional : Avoid excessive colors, distracting backgrounds, font changes, animations, and too many words. Instead of whole paragraphs, bullet points with just a few words to summarize and highlight are best.
• Know your real-estate : Each slide has a limited amount of space. Use it wisely. Typically one, no more than two points per slide. Balance each slide visually. Utilize illustrations when needed; not extraneously.
• Keep things visual : Remember, a PowerPoint presentation is a powerful tool to present things visually. Use visual graphs over tables and scientific illustrations over long text. Keep your visuals clean and professional, just like any text you include in your presentation.

Know more about our Scientific Illustrations Services .

Another key to an effective presentation is to practice, practice, and then practice some more. When you’re done with your PowerPoint, go through it with friends and colleagues to see if you need to add (or delete excessive) information. Double and triple check for typos and errors. Know the presentation inside and out, so when you’re in front of your audience, you’ll feel confident and comfortable.

How to Present a Research Paper

If your PowerPoint presentation is solid, and you’ve practiced your presentation, that’s half the battle. Follow the basic advice to keep your audience engaged and interested by making eye contact, encouraging questions, and presenting your information with enthusiasm.

We encourage you to read our articles on how to present a scientific journal article and tips on giving good scientific presentations .

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• Public Speaking

How to Prepare Notes for Public Speaking

Last Updated: May 21, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Deb DiSandro . Deb DiSandro is the Owner of Speak Up On Purpose, an organization dedicated to improving and teaching public speaking. Deb has over 30 years of experience as a national speaker and has presented at the Erma Bombeck Writer’s Conference and the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. She was awarded the National Speakers Association Member of the Year 2007 and has been published in Writer's Digest, Daily Herald, Women's Day, and Better Homes & Gardens. There are 10 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 240,601 times.

You have to give a speech, and you wonder how you can give it without staring at a piece of paper. Rather than memorize the words, you can use notes. Notes are easy to make. First, write and refine your speech. Pick out keywords that represent the main ideas of your speech and write them on notecards. Finish filling out the notecards with important talking points. Good notes make you sound natural as a speaker while having a safety net in case you get lost.

Creating and Breaking Down Your Speech

• This is a draft. Pay attention to word choice and sentence structure. Make it as good as possible, but remember that you'll be able to fix any mistakes before you make your notes.
• Get all of your ideas on paper. It doesn't matter if they're crazy, inspiring, or weird. You have a chance to perfect what doesn't work later on. [2] X Research source

• It's a good idea to time yourself while you do this. That way, you'll know when you need to cut down your speech's length.
• Learn transitional phrases to help your speech flow naturally. [4] X Research source

• Highlight things that worked from your first draft and areas that you want to keep that need to be reworded.

• Record your own speech and listen to the phrases and pacing. Listen for any awkward phrases and try to smooth them out in the next draft.
• If you know someone who's given a public speech before, ask them to listen. They will have more experience and will be less biased.

Making Your Notes

• For example, you are speaking about the life of a politician. You can use the word “Military” to show yourself when it's time to talk about their military experience.
• Images can also help solidify the order of your speech. Visualize uniformed soldiers marching in unison and you won't forget you need to talk about military training.
• Write out the first words of your transition sentences to help keep yourself on track.

• For example, if you need to introduce your second idea at the three minute mark, write three minutes on the card containing that idea.

• Write the words in a pen that's legible to you. Black or blue ink works best.
• If you have bad handwriting, you can type out your notes. Cut and glue them onto your notes or print them directly by using the “Size” option in the “Print Layout” tab.

• For example, write out “award” or “Purple Heart” to remind yourself to mention the awards someone earned in service.

• For instance, write down “75% pass” if you need to inform your audience how many people pass a class.

• Customize the color code to whatever works best for you.
• This works best if you color code while you practice your speech, but it could be distracting or confusing by the time you give the speech.

• You can also bind the cards together. Use a drill or hole punch on the upper left corner of the notes. Loop a string through them. They'll be easy to flip and can't be mixed up.
• However, make sure the flipping of the notecards is not distracting to the audience.

Rehearsing Your Speech

• Memorizing a speech word-for-word is unhelpful because the audience can tell that you're reciting a script. Only use memorization and scripted words if you're painting a picture with your words or you need to tell a joke with comedic timing.

• Because you are using a minimal outline, your speech will sound a little different every time. However, it'll also sound more natural.

• You can time yourself again while giving the speech so you know exactly how long it is rather than making a guess. It can show you when you're going off-script too much. Keep in mind when you give the speech, you're bound to talk faster and the speech will be shorter.

Community Q&A

• Research name pronunciations before writing your speech. Thanks Helpful 4 Not Helpful 1
• Try to have 3 main points in the middle of your speech so the audience remembers it well. You can back these points up with further information or quotes. Thanks Helpful 4 Not Helpful 1
• Look at your card quickly and smoothly. Keep your thumb next to the line on your note card so you don't lose your place. Thanks Helpful 3 Not Helpful 1

• When using visual aids, make them sparse and with few words. Visual aids are supposed to be for the audience. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 1

Things You'll Need

• Blue or black pen
• Colored highlighters
• Index cards

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://pac.org/content/speechwriting-101-writing-effective-speech
• ↑ https://wrd.as.uky.edu/sites/default/files/1-Shitty%20First%20Drafts.pdf
• ↑ http://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/speeches/
• ↑ https://open.lib.umn.edu/publicspeaking/chapter/10-2-keeping-your-speech-moving/
• ↑ https://www.unr.edu/writing-speaking-center/student-resources/writing-speaking-resources/editing-and-proofreading-techniques
• ↑ http://www.washington.edu/doit/presentation-tips-0
• ↑ https://examples.yourdictionary.com/keyword-outline-examples.html
• ↑ http://academics.umw.edu/speaking/resources/handouts/preparing-speaking-notes/
• ↑ https://www.ted.com/participate/organize-a-local-tedx-event/tedx-organizer-guide/speakers-program/prepare-your-speaker/rehearsals
• ↑ https://www.student.unsw.edu.au/speaking-audience

About This Article

Public speaking can be scary, but using notes can increase your confidence and make it a little easier. To prepare notes for public speaking, begin by writing your speech. Once you’ve written the first draft, read the speech out loud and make any necessary changes so it sounds smooth. When you’re happy with your speech, translate it into notes by highlighting keywords to mark where each new idea begins. Then, write one keyword per notecard. Make sure your writing is clear so you can read it easily as you speak! If you need to remember specific details or statistics, include these on your notecards. For example, you could write ”75%” in your notes if you need to tell the audience how many people pass a class. When you’ve finished making your notes, number each one to avoid getting them mixed up. For more information from our Public Speaking co-author, like how to practice your speech, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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How to Prepare for a Paper Presentation at an Academic Conference

 In my previous post, I laid out a timeline for choosing an academic conference.  This post will lay out four steps to help you successfully prepare for a paper presentation at an academic conference.

Pay attention to the deadline for proposals . 

Your proposal outlines the paper you are going to write, not a paper you have written . You may treat your proposal as a commitment device to “force” you to write the paper, but the final paper may well differ from your original intention.

The Claremont Graduate University Writing Center offers some good examples of proposals here .

Write a winning abstract to get your paper accepted into the conference. 

Abstracts are an afterthought to many graduate students, but they are the what the reviewer looks at first. To get your paper accepted to a conference, you’ll need to write an abstract of 200 to 500 words .

The emphasis should be on brevity and clarity. It should tell the reader what your paper is about, why the reader should be interested, and why the paper should be accepted.

Additionally, it should:

• Specify your thesis
• Identify your paper fills a gap in the current literature.
• Outline what you actually do in the paper.
• Point out your original contribution.
• Include a concluding sentence.

Academic Conferences and Publishing International offers some additional advice on writing a conference abstract  as you prepare for your paper presentation at an academic conference.

Pay attention to your presentation itself.

In order to convey excitement about your paper, you need to think about your presentation as well as the findings you are communicating.

Note the conference time limit and stick to it. Practice while timing yourself, and do it in front of a mirror. I also recommend practicing in front of your peers; organizing a departmental brown bag lunch could be a great way to do this. As you are preparing, keep in mind that reading from notes is better than reading directly from your paper.

Once you arrive at the conference, check the location of the room as soon as you can before the event. Arrive early to make sure any audiovisual equipment you plan to use is working, and be ready to present without it in case it is not.

Always stand when giving your paper presentation at an academic conference. Begin by stating your name and institution. Establish eye contact across the room, and speak slowly and clearly to your audience. Explain the structure of your presentation. End with your contribution to your discipline. Finally, be polite (not defensive) when engaging in discussion and answering questions about your research.

By focusing on (a) making sure your work contributes something to your field (b) adhering to deadlines and convincing conference organizers that your paper is worth presenting and (c) creating a compelling presentation that aptly highlights the content of your research, you’ll make the most of your time at the conference.

Nigel Ashford

Previous post should i get a phd 5 questions to ask yourself before you decide, next post how to choose and prepare for academic conferences as a graduate student.

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Advanced Research Methods

• Presenting the Research Paper
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Writing an Abstract

Oral presentation, compiling a powerpoint.

Abstract : a short statement that describes a longer work.

• Indicate the subject.
• Describe the purpose of the investigation.
• Briefly discuss the method used.
• Make a statement about the result.

Oral presentations usually introduce a discussion of a topic or research paper. A good oral presentation is focused, concise, and interesting in order to trigger a discussion.

• Be well prepared; write a detailed outline.
• Introduce the subject.
• Talk about the sources and the method.
• Indicate if there are conflicting views about the subject (conflicting views trigger discussion).
• Make a statement about your new results (if this is your research paper).
• Use visual aids or handouts if appropriate.

An effective PowerPoint presentation is just an aid to the presentation, not the presentation itself .

• Be brief and concise.
• Focus on the subject.
• Attract attention; indicate interesting details.
• If possible, use relevant visual illustrations (pictures, maps, charts graphs, etc.).
• Use bullet points or numbers to structure the text.
• Make clear statements about the essence/results of the topic/research.
• Don't write down the whole outline of your paper and nothing else.
• Don't write long full sentences on the slides.
• Don't use distracting colors, patterns, pictures, decorations on the slides.
• Don't use too complicated charts, graphs; only those that are relatively easy to understand.
• << Previous: Writing the Research Paper
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Preparing presentation notes

Good notes are key to a successful presentation. 

The following information is arranged to show you how GOOD speaking notes should look.  DO NOT WRITE FULL SENTENCES IN YOUR NOTES. 

If you have full sentences, you may be very tempted to READ the notes instead of  telling  the audience the information.  Reading an oral presentation sounds robotic and does not lead to audience engagement. 

Good presentation notes are written in short phrases and key words (see below).  They are arranged in a way that helps you remember the main ideas and details, and prompt you along as you TELL the audience your information.

Introduction Body of presentation Conclusion

Introduction

Give your thesis:

• Example:  According to The Book of Lists, what is the greatest human fear in North America?
•  Speaking before a group!

Some anxiety is good because . . . But too much anxiety causes problems . . .

To control anxiety and give a good talk, do 2 things (thesis)

•  Prepare your material.
•  Practice your delivery. 

This presentation….= Prepare your materials (outline of presentation)

• Select a topic.
• Determine purpose.
• Analyze audience.

Body of presentation

Pepare you material:.

• Select a topic and a clear purpose - Here's how . . .
• Brainstorm a list of topics that you know and care about.
• Choose a topic from the list. If topic is too broad, narrow it down. Brainstorm questions your audience might have.
• Determine purpose: to inform/teach or persuade/convince.
• Write it down = purpose statement …specific: I want to teach my audience how to make a very good oral presentation by breaking the process down into easy steps.

Analyze the audience - keep their needs in mind as you design your talk:

• Find out who they are.
• Determine their attitude to the topic and to you (positive/negative?).
• Estimate their knowledge about the topic (novice/expert?).
• Gather ideas on topic to meet audience's needs and your purpose.
• Organize ideas in chunks of information (main points).
• Categorize and label ideas.
• Develop a few main points relating to purpose (3-5).
• Map or outline ideas in a hierarchy (tree).
• Write out introduction and conclusion. Intro should create interest, reveal topic, and preview main points.

Sum up and give implications:

Good preparation = confident and =  a good talk…also reduces your anxiety!

• Choose a topic and get started early.
• Determine a clear purpose and plan to fulfill it.
• Know your audience and keep them in mind as you gather ideas and organize them.
• Rehearse your talk often using a speech outline.
• DO NOT read your presentation; tell the information.
• Sum up by repeating main points + suggesting implications or action for the audience.

Prepare a speech outline similar to this model:

• Write main points clearly with lots of space in between.
• Consider breaking up talk on numbered file cards (do not write full sentences; continue  with notes with indenting and spacing even though you are using cards).
• Highlight important points and add instructions for delivery.

Practice your delivery:

• Rehearse your talk using your cue cards.
• Practice your talk aloud until you really know it (but do not memorize it!).
• Practice out loud and practice with your PowerPoint slides.
• Practice it before friends or family.

© Concordia University

Presentation Guru

What do you think about having notes when you present.

We’ve published a few articles on presentation preparation , but we’ve never addressed the use of notes when presenting. It’s exactly the kind of issue that the Guru was set up to tackle. Should a presenter use notes? What will the audience think? What is the best kind of note? How should we use them? So many unanswered questions about such a small, but important element of the presenter’s life, especially for the less experienced speaker. Here, Amy gives us five simple but effective tips for using notes effectively, while maintaining a solid engagement with our audience. 

“What do you think about having notes?”

We get this question a lot.

Can I have notes? Where do I put them? What should I put on them? Are there do’s and don’ts?

These questions trigger flashbacks of high school when we got proficient in writing as tiny and as clear as possible because of the ‘one notecard’ policy for tests or speeches. Better yet, blowing on your hand for the ink to dry before go-time. Pretty early on in our presentation experiences we learned to rely on notes. Our sacred safety net.

There are a few reasons we did this then and we still do this now.

First, if you don’t know your content well, you will desperately want/need notes. That’s a lose-lose situation. Very few people feel comfortable winging content (disclaimer: if you do¸ don’t be so sure you’re good at it). When you feel unsure of your content, you will be nose in your notes – which is audience’s number one pet peeve of presenters. You’re uncomfortable. They’re annoyed. Lose-lose.

Secondly, maybe you’ve worked hard on your content but feel immense pressure to get it just right. Maybe it’s a demanding executive with genius curve ball questions or the haunting memory of bombing the last (unpracticed) presentation. Regardless, the mounting pressure to perform can be paralyzing. This inevitably leads to dependency on notes, or better yet, a slide deck that reads like a teleprompter.

Once you become familiar with your content, try these tips for using notes appropriately.

1) Skip note cards

Note cards don’t work for two simple reasons: your text will be too small to glance at quickly (keyword quickly ) and you have to hold them in your hands. If you’re feeling extra nervous, your hands will likely shake, waving those notecards around like a white surrender flag. Even if there’s no visible shaking, most people exhibit nervous behavior with their hands which may mean you start curling the card, moving it back and forth between hands etc. Pretty simple solution: print notes out on standard paper.

2) Put them to the side

Your notes should be placed where you can easily read or see them within a glance but not sitting on a podium in front of you. Podiums or speaking stands are bulky and keep you distant (literally) from your audience. Although many of us may find comfort hiding behind this blocking mechanism, there’s too much temptation to read your notes verbatim when they’re under your nose. Find a thin stand or pull over a small table to your left or right for your notes.

3) Make it an outline

Ditch your script. I know… some of you want to get the words just right. But when you script it word-for-word you put way too much pressure on yourself. It’s extremely difficult to be present, authentic and engaging as a presenter when you’re concerned about staying to the script. The minute you get off by a word or two, or God-forbid a sentence or paragraph, you feel the panic. Your heart rate spikes. You stumble over your words. And any perception of confidence and competency is lost. Stick to the essence of your ideas. Don’t be concerned about specific wording (unless it’s legal jargon and you might get sued!).  Instead, make your notes in outline form: concise opening, clear main points, supportive points, story cues, transitions, succinct summary but keep your notes simple.

4) Make them bigger

Now that you haven’t scripted your talk, and they’re not below your nose or in your hands, you’ll need to make the font slightly larger. Now you can glance over, spot where you are, see what’s next, and truck along without those long awkward ‘oh no the speaker looks like they lost their spot’ moments. Increase the font!

5) Trust what you know

Ultimately, if you’ve prepared and own your content, you need to trust what you know. Lengthy notes, verbatim scripts, and strategically-placed teleprompters can make us doubt ourselves. I’ll never forget coaching a TEDx speaker who was glued to the teleprompter in her dry run. After a short pep talk about trusting what she knew, she did it again, unsure at first, but finding a confident stride as she realized she didn’t need her safety net much at all. It was liberating for her.

Let’s say you’re ready for your presentation, you know your stuff, but as soon as you hit your stride, you suddenly lose your train of thought.

How do you use your notes in these moments without looking like you’re desperate for them?

• Stop talking. Once you sense you’re on that rabbit trail to nowhere, find the control to stop at the end of a sentence.
• Grab for a water bottle strategically placed by your notes. Take a second to sip, glance down at your outline and identify what talking point you’re moving on to.
• As soon as you set your bottle down, shift away from your notes, re-engage with long eye contact and move on.

People won’t think twice about a presenter stopping a few seconds for water as long as you re-engage with confidence. The beauty of long eye contact is that it builds the perception of confidence even if you don’t feel it yet! Once you move on, don’t look back. Don’t relive those moments. Don’t dwell on them afterwards. Have grace with yourself and let it go.

Getting away from our safety net, one that we’ve learned to rely on since middle school, can feel terrifying. The next time you practice your presentation, try using your slides (that don’t look like a verbatim teleprompter!) as quick visual cues and see how much you can actually remember. If you need notes the first few tries that’s fine but rehearse a few more times. Develop trust in yourself.

Once you realize you really do know your stuff, your notes will become nice-to-haves and not must-haves.

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• What Do You Think About Having Notes When You Present? - 10th November 2016

John Zimmer

13th November 2016 at 7:45 pm

A good post about an issue that is relevant for many speakers, especially novice speakers. Many of the points that Amy raises dovetail with the points that I raised in a post on the same topic several years ago: https://mannerofspeaking.org/2009/08/05/a-noteworthy-idea/

I particularly appreciated her final point that speakers need to trust what they know. We see the same phenomenon with people who have cluttered PowerPoint slides. They get pulled into them. But if you turn the screen black, speakers will almost always be able to speak about the subject perfectly well without the slides.

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• Start the presentation and see your notes in Presenter view Article
• Add speaker notes to your slides Article
• Rehearse and time the delivery of a presentation Article
• Record a slide show with narration and slide timings Article
• Print your PowerPoint slides, handouts, or notes Article
• Create a self-running presentation Article

Start the presentation and see your notes in Presenter view

Using Presenter view is a great way to view your presentation with speaker notes on one computer (your laptop, for example), while only the slides themselves appear on the screen that your audience sees (like a larger screen you're projecting to).

If you're using a newer version of PowerPoint, just connect the monitors and PowerPoint automatically sets up Presenter View for you.

If Presenter view appears on the wrong screen, you can swap the display quickly .

Turn off Presenter view if you prefer not to use it.

Start presenting

On the Slide Show tab, in the Start Slide Show group, select From Beginning .

Use the controls in Presenter view

To move to the previous or next slide, select Previous or Next .

To view all the slides in your presentation, select See all slides .

Tip:  You’ll see thumbnails of all the slides in your presentation (as shown below), making it easy to jump to a specific slide in the show.

To view a detail in your slide up close, select Zoom into slide , and then point to the part you want to see.

For more details on zooming in, see Zoom in to part of a slide .

To point to or write on your slides as you present, select Pen and laser pointer tools .

Press the Esc key when you want to turn off the pen, laser pointer, or highlighter.

To hide or unhide the current slide in your presentation, select Black or unblack slide show .

You can use PowerPoint on your smartphone as a remote control to run your presentation and view your speaker notes. See Using a laser pointer on your smartphone when presenting in PowerPoint for more information, including a brief video.

Swap the Presenter view and Slide view monitors

To manually determine which screen shows your notes in Presenter view and which shows only the slides themselves, on the task bar at the top of Presenter view, select Display Settings , and then select Swap Presenter View and Slide Show .

What the notes look like in Presenter view

Tip:  You can add notes either while you’re presenting, directly from Presenter view, or as you’re editing your presentation. For information on how to add speaker notes to your presentation see  Add speaker notes to your slides.

The notes appear in a pane on the right. If you need to add or delete something, simply click in the text box to edit it. The text wraps automatically, and a vertical scroll bar appears if necessary. You can change the size of the text in the Notes pane by using the two buttons at the lower left corner of the Notes pane:

To change the size of the panes in Presenter View, point your mouse at the vertical line that separates them, then click and drag.

Tip:  If you don't need to see the current slide in Presenter View at all, and would like your notes to be larger, drag that vertical separator line all the way to the left.

Turn off Presenter view

If you want Presenter view turned off while you are showing your presentation to others:

On the Slide Show tab of the ribbon, clear the check box named Use Presenter View .

Keep your slides updated

If you're working with a team of people to create your slide deck it may be that changes are being made to the slides right up to the last minute. Traditionally once you've started your presentation your slides wouldn't update. If you're using PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 you have the option to let your slides be updated by your team even as you're presenting so that you always have the up-to-the-minute changes.

You can turn this on by going to the Slide Show tab of the ribbon, selecting Set Up Slide Show , and checking the box for Keep slides updated .  

If you've already started your presentation and you want to make sure that setting is on, you can do that from Presenter view. Select the More slide show options button (which looks like three dots) and on the menu make sure Keep Slides Updated is checked.

Using a laser pointer on your smartphone when presenting in PowerPoint

To start using Presenter view, select Slide Show > Presenter View .

To move to the previous or next slide, select the Previous or Next arrow.

To turn off the pen, laser pointer, or highlighter, press the Esc key.

To make the screen black or to un-black the screen, Press b on the keyboard.

Extend your Mac desktop to the second monitor

On the Apple menu, select System Preferences .

Open the Displays app.

Click the Arrangement tab in the dialog box.

Clear the Mirror Displays check box.

By doing this process, you now have a two-monitor setup. You can present a PowerPoint slide show on one screen while having other applications open on the other screen, keeeping those other apps private to yourself.

To manually determine which screen shows your notes in Presenter view and which shows only the slides themselves, on the task bar at the top left of Presenter view, select Swap Displays .

When your computer is connected to a projector and you start Presenter View, it appears on your computer's screen, while only the slides appear on the projector screen.

The notes appear in a pane on the right:

The text wraps automatically, and a vertical scroll bar appears if necessary.

You can edit the text in the Notes pane.

You can change the size of the text in the Notes pane by using the two buttons at the lower left corner of the Notes pane:

You can adjust the size of the current slide, and notes and next slide panels, by using your mouse to grab and drag the vertical line that separates the two panels.

Turn off Presenter view before a presentation begins

On the PowerPoint menu, select Preferences .

In the PowerPoint Preferences dialog box, under Output and Sharing , click Slide Show .

In the Slide Show dialog box, clear the Always start Presenter View with 2 displays check box.

Close the dialog box.

Turn off Presenter view during a presentation

At the top of the Presentation view window, click Use Slide Show .

This button closes Presenter view. As a result, both your personal computer screen and the projector screen show the slide show.

If you're working with a team of people to create your slide deck it may be that changes are being made to the slides right up to the last minute. Traditionally once you've started your presentation your slides wouldn't update. If you're using PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 for Mac you have the option to let your slides be updated by your team even as you're presenting so that you always have the up-to-the-minute changes.

You can turn this on by going to the Slide Show tab of the ribbon, and checking the box for Keep Slides Updated .  

Create a self-running presentation

Record your slide show

Keep slides updated

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How-To Geek

How to print a powerpoint with notes.

Create a physical copy of your slides with your notes included.

Quick Links

How to add notes to powerpoint, how to print slides with notes on windows, printing powerpoint with notes on mac, key takeaways.

To print a PowerPoint with notes on Windows, click File > Print and "Notes Pages" in the Layout drop-down box. Then, select "Print." On Mac, go to File > Print. In the Layout drop-down box, choose "Notes" then "Print" to finish.

Do you want a hard copy of your PowerPoint slideshow that includes your speaker notes ? Maybe you want a physical copy to review on your own or with others. We'll show you how to print your PowerPoint with the notes attached.

As a refresher, you can add speaker notes to PowerPoint to help you through your presentation. Your audience won't see these notes during the show, so it's helpful to include your talking points or additional details you want to share to expand on your slides.

Related: How to Use Speaker Notes in PowerPoint

You can  add speaker notes to your slides easily in PowerPoint on Windows or Mac one of these three ways.

• Click the Notes button in the Status Bar at the bottom of the PowerPoint window.
• Drag up from the area below the slide near the bottom of the window.
• Go to the View tab and select "Notes" in the Show section of the ribbon.

Then, type your text in the Notes section below the slide. You can use the font formatting tools on the Home tab to bold or color your text, add bullet points, or change the font size.

Open your PowerPoint presentation and go to File > Print. In the Layout drop-down box below the Slides text box, pick "Notes Pages."

You'll see the preview on the right with the slide at the top of the page and your notes below. You can use the arrows at the bottom to review each page if you like. This is a good way to see if any slides are missing speaker notes.

Adjust any other print options, such as the printer you want to use, the  slides you want to print , and the color. Then, click "Print" when you're ready.

Open your slideshow in PowerPoint on Mac and head to File > Print. When the print window opens, select "Show Details" on the bottom left if you see a condensed view of the print options.

On the right side, below Paper Size, you'll see a drop-down box. Make sure that "PowerPoint" is selected here. Next to Slides, choose the slides you want to print.

Click the Layout drop-down box and choose "Notes."

On the left, you'll see the print preview which displays the slide at the top of the page and the notes beneath it. You can use the arrows at the top to preview each page if you like.

Adjust any other print options you'd like and click "Print" when finished.

Related: How to Print Just the Speaker Notes for a PowerPoint Presentation

Printing a PowerPoint with notes is worth a few minutes if you want to review the presentation on paper. If you're wondering how to print notes in PowerPoint without the slides , check out our tutorial.

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Scrap paper notes, cute presentation template.

Free PowerPoint template and Google Slides theme.

This template features torn pieces of paper, washi tape and many different layouts for you to present or jot down your ideas..

This free presentation template looks like pages of a scrapbook and you can use for a number of different subjects.

If you wish to change its colors, check out this how to and customize it how you like.

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In-Text Citation or Reference List?

Handouts distributed in class and presentation slides such as PowerPoint should be cited both in-text and on the Reference list.

Your own notes from lectures are considered personal communications in APA style. They are cited within the text of your assignment, but do not get an entry on the Reference list.

Presentation Slides from a Website

Author, A. A. (Year, Month Date). Title of presentation  [Lecture notes, PowerPoint Slides, etc.]. Publisher. URL

Kunka, J. L. (n.d.). Conquering the comma [PowerPoint presentation]. Purdue Online Writing Lab. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/workshops/pp/index.html#presentations

Presentation Slides from WebCampus (Canvas)

Instructor, I. I. (Year Presentation Was Created).  Title of presentation  [PowerPoint presentation]. WebCampus. URL

Graham, J. (2013).  Introduction: Jean Watson  [PowerPoint presentation]. WebCampus. https://unr.instructure.com/login/canvas

Note : The first letter of the word Watson is capitalized as it is part of a person's name.

Class Handouts from WebCampus (Canvas)

Instructor, I. I. (Year Handout Was Created if known).  Title of handout  [Class handout]. WebCampus. URL

Magowan , A. (2013).  Career resources at the library   [Class handout]. WebCampus. https://unr.instructure.com/login/canvas

Class Handout in Print

Instructor, I. I. (Year Handout Was Created if known).  Title of handout  [Class handout]. University Name, Course code.

Wood, D. (2013).  Laboratory safety overview  [Class handout]. University of Nevada, Reno,  BIO173.

Class Lectures (Notes from)

Note : Your own notes from a lecture are considered personal communications in APA style. They are cited within the text of your assignment, but do not get an entry on the Reference list. Put the citation right after a quote or paraphrased content from the class lecture.

(I. I. Instructor who gave lecture, personal communication, Month Day, Year lecture took place)

"Infections are often contracted while patients are recovering in the hospital" (J. D. Black, personal communication, May 30, 2012).

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