How to Make a Good Presentation — A Complete Step-by-Step Guide

How to make a good presentation — where to start?

You are facing the task of preparing a presentation and don't know where to begin. Maybe it's a presentation for a class, a conference talk, a quarterly report for the board, or a pitch for investors. You open PowerPoint or Google Slides, see a blank slide — and feel stuck.

This is one of the most common problems students, employees, and entrepreneurs face. The question how to make a good presentation is typed into search engines by tens of thousands of people every month. And no wonder — presentations accompany us at every stage of education and career, yet no one formally teaches us how to prepare them.

As a result, most presentations look the same: too much text on slides, random colors, no clear structure, and a speaker who reads from the screen. The audience gets bored, the message gets lost, and the author doesn't understand why their work didn't make an impression.

This article solves that problem. You will find a complete guide here — from the definition of a good presentation, through specific steps for creating slides, to a ready-made template for immediate use. Everything is described in plain language, with practical examples.

What makes a good presentation

A good presentation is one that achieves its goal. If the goal was to convince the board to invest — the board agrees. If the goal was to earn a top grade at university — the instructor is impressed. If the goal was to present a report — participants understand the data and draw conclusions.

It sounds simple, but in practice it means combining several elements. A good presentation is not simply "pretty" or "short." It is well-thought-out, readable, and tailored to the audience.

Three pillars of a good presentation

• Clear structure — the audience knows where the presentation is heading. Each slide logically follows from the previous one. There is no sense of chaos or jumping between topics.
• Readable design — slides are visual support, not a wall of text. Colors, fonts, and layout help comprehension rather than hinder it.
• Audience alignment — the language, level of detail, and examples match who the audience is and what they need.

A bad presentation is the opposite of the above principles: chaotic structure, overloaded slides, no connection with the audience. Often a bad presentation is the result not of a lack of knowledge, but a lack of method. When you know how to make a good presentation step by step, the process becomes repeatable and predictable.

When you need a good presentation

Presentations accompany us in many situations — and each one has slightly different rules. Understanding the context helps you choose the right tone, length, and slide style.

School and university. Reports, group projects, thesis defenses. Teachers or professors evaluate both the content and the presentation style. There is often a time limit (10–15 minutes) and a set topic. Key factors: clarity, factual accuracy, and the ability to synthesize.

Business and corporate. Quarterly reports, project summaries, client presentations. What matters here is specifics, numerical data, and conclusions. The audience is busy and has no time for long introductions. Key factors: brevity, data visualization, professional appearance.

Conferences and public speaking. Presentations before a large audience, often with elements of storytelling. Slides serve as visual background, and the main carrier of content is the speaker. Key factors: large fonts, minimal text, strong visual impact.

Thesis defense. A specific situation where the presentation summarizes months or years of research work. The committee knows the topic — what matters is the ability to synthesize and defend your claims. Key factors: methodological structure, precise data, confidence during questions. You can read more about this topic in the article thesis defense presentation.

Pitch deck and investor meetings. A presentation on which your project's funding depends. It must convince in 10–20 minutes that your idea is worth investing in. Key factors: problem, solution, market, business model — in a strictly defined order.

How to make a good presentation step by step

Below you will find five specific steps that lead from a blank screen to a finished presentation. This method works regardless of whether you use PowerPoint, Google Slides, Keynote, or Canva.

Step 1: Define your goal and audience

Before you open any tool, answer two fundamental questions:

1. What is the goal of the presentation? — What should the audience do, know, or feel after your presentation? Try to express it in one sentence: "After my presentation, the audience will know that..."
2. Who is the audience? — What is their level of knowledge about the topic? What do they expect? What might bore them? How much time do they have?

These answers determine everything: presentation length, level of detail, language choice, number of slides, and visual style. A presentation for the board requires different choices than a presentation for a university seminar.

Write down your goal and audience profile on a piece of paper or in a notebook. Refer back to them with every design decision. If a slide doesn't bring you closer to your goal — remove it.

Step 2: Prepare your content structure

Now it's time for the skeleton of the presentation. Don't open PowerPoint yet — work in a notebook or on paper. List the key points you want to cover and arrange them in a logical order.

A proven structure for most presentations looks like this:

• Introduction (10–15% of the time) — grab attention, introduce the topic and the presentation's goal
• Body (70–80% of the time) — 3–5 main points with arguments, data, and examples
• Conclusion (10–15% of the time) — summary, takeaways, call to action

For each main point, write down: what you want to say, what data or examples support it, and what the key takeaway is. Only when you have a complete content plan should you move on to creating slides.

Step 3: Design your slides

Open PowerPoint, Google Slides, or Canva and start building the presentation based on your prepared structure. At this stage, keep a few principles in mind:

• One slide = one idea. If a slide has more than one key point, split it into two slides.
• Maximum 5–6 bullet points per slide. Each point is a phrase, not a full sentence. You provide the details verbally.
• The slide heading should communicate the conclusion, not the topic. Instead of "Q3 Results" write "Sales up 23% in Q3."
• Use a maximum of 2 fonts — one for headings, one for body text. Sans-serif typefaces (Inter, Roboto, Open Sans) work best on screen.
• Limit the color palette to 3–5 colors. A primary color, accent color, and neutral background. Maintain consistency throughout the entire presentation.

If you have no design experience, use a ready-made template in PowerPoint or Google Slides. A professional template solves the problem of colors, fonts, and layout for you. You can find more about choosing colors and fonts in the article presentation colors and fonts.

Step 4: Add visuals and data

Dry numbers in a table don't convince anyone. A chart that shows a trend at a glance — that does. At this stage, replace as much text as possible with visual elements:

• Bar charts — comparisons between categories (e.g., revenue across regions)
• Line charts — trends over time (e.g., user growth)
• Pie charts — shares of a whole (max 5–6 segments)
• Icons and pictograms — instead of describing a process with words, show it visually
• Photos and illustrations — high-quality images attract attention and build emotion

Every chart should have a clear title and labeled axes. Highlight the key element with color or size to draw the audience's attention. If a chart requires more than 5 seconds of analysis, it is too complicated.

Step 5: Rehearse and refine

A finished presentation is only half the battle. Now you need to rehearse it. Here is a proven process:

1. Go through the whole thing out loud — standing, with the presentation on screen, timing yourself. You will check whether you fit within the time limit and which parts sound awkward.
2. Record yourself — with your phone or laptop camera. Watching yourself is unpleasant, but extremely instructive.
3. Fix problematic spots — shorten sections that are too long, rephrase unclear explanations, smooth out awkward transitions between sections.
4. Rehearse 2 more times — the first time you will stumble. By the third time — you will feel confident.
5. Prepare for questions — think about what you might be asked and prepare brief answers.

Plan for 80% of the available time. If you have 20 minutes, prepare a 16-minute presentation. Leave a buffer for questions, technical issues, and a naturally slower pace than during practice. This is a key element of knowing how to make a good presentation — not just the slide itself, but also how it is delivered.

Most common presentation mistakes

Knowing the most common mistakes makes them easier to avoid. Here is a list of problems that ruin even content-rich presentations:

1. Too much text on slides. This is mistake number one. Slides are not a script — they are visual support. If the audience can read everything from the screen, why do they need a speaker? Limit text to key phrases and bullet points.
2. No clear structure. A presentation that jumps between topics without a logical flow disorients the audience. Always start with a plan that includes an introduction, body, and conclusion.
3. Reading from the screen. A speaker who stands with their back to the audience and reads slides word for word loses credibility and the listeners' attention. Slides are notes for the audience — your notes should be in the presenter view.
4. Inconsistent design. Different fonts on every slide, random colors, mixed styles — this looks chaotic and unprofessional. Establish a color and typography scheme at the beginning and stick with it throughout the entire presentation.
5. Going over time. If you have 15 minutes and speak for 25 — you communicate a lack of respect for the audience's time. Always practice with a timer and plan a time buffer.
6. Not preparing for questions. The presentation ends, a question comes up — and the speaker doesn't know what to say. Prepare answers to the 5–10 most likely questions.
7. Ignoring the audience. A technical presentation for a non-technical audience, or the opposite — too simplified for experts. Always match the language and depth to who is in the room.

By avoiding these mistakes, you automatically put yourself above most presentations. This is a fundamental part of knowing how to make a good presentation — sometimes what to avoid is more important than what to add.

Ready-made presentation structure — a template to use

Below you will find a ready-made template for a 12-slide presentation that you can adapt to almost any topic. Each slide has a defined function. Copy this structure into PowerPoint or Google Slides and fill it with your content.

1. Title slide — presentation title, author's name, date, company or university logo. It should look clean and professional — this is the first impression.
2. Agenda / table of contents — 4–6 bullet points with the main sections of the presentation. The audience immediately knows what to expect and how long it will take.
3. Context / problem — describe the situation, problem, or question the presentation addresses. Start with something the audience can relate to.
4. Presentation goal — clearly state what the audience will gain or learn. One sentence, large font, no unnecessary embellishments.
5. Main point 1 — the first key argument, data, or thematic section. Max 4–5 supporting bullet points.
6. Main point 2 — the second key argument. If you have numerical data, place a chart here.
7. Main point 3 — the third key argument. You can use a case study, example, or comparison.
8. Data and visualization — a slide dedicated to a key statistic or chart. One large number or one readable chart with a clear conclusion.
9. Comparison or juxtaposition — a table, diagram, or two-column layout (e.g., "before/after," "problem/solution," "option A vs. option B").
10. Conclusions — 3–4 most important takeaways from the presentation in the form of short bullet points. This is the essence of what the audience should remember.
11. Recommendations / next steps — what should the audience do after the presentation? Specific, measurable actions.
12. Closing slide — contact information, invitation for questions, thank you. May include a key summary statement.

This template works for both academic and business presentations. Adjust the number of "main point" slides to your topic — for shorter presentations, 2 points are enough; for longer ones, you can add 4–5. This is a universal answer to the question of how to make a good presentation while maintaining a professional structure.

How to speed up presentation creation

Manually creating a presentation following the steps above works, but it takes time. Preparing a good 12-slide presentation from scratch typically requires 2–4 hours of work: planning the structure, writing content, choosing colors and fonts, creating charts, polishing the design.

In many situations, you simply don't have that time. A presentation due tomorrow, a sudden request from your boss, a report that needs to be ready in an hour. The traditional approach doesn't scale under such conditions.

This is where artificial intelligence comes in. AI tools can automate the most time-consuming stages of presentation creation:

• Generating structure — AI analyzes the topic and proposes a logical division into sections and slides
• Writing slide content — concise bullet points, headings that communicate conclusions, appropriate language
• Choosing colors and fonts — professional color schemes selected automatically
• Creating charts and visualizations — numerical data transformed into readable charts
• Visual consistency — a uniform style throughout the entire presentation, without random inconsistencies

AI won't replace your subject-matter expertise or your public speaking skills. But it drastically shortens the time needed to go from an idea to a finished presentation. Instead of 3 hours of work — you get a solid foundation in a matter of seconds, which you then refine.

This is a natural extension of the manual process described above. You know the principles of a good presentation — AI helps you apply them faster.

How to use an AI presentation generator

Prezentacje AI is a generator that creates ready-made presentations based on a topic description. Here is how to use it in practice:

1. Go to the website Prezentacje AI and describe the presentation topic in the chat field. The more details you provide (goal, audience, number of slides, style), the better the result.
2. Wait for the presentation to be generated. AI analyzes your description, creates a structure, writes content, and selects the design. The entire process takes anywhere from a few seconds to about a minute.
3. Review the result and edit. The generated presentation is a solid starting point. Review each slide, modify content, add your own data, and adapt it to your specific situation.
4. Export the presentation. You can download the finished result in PPTX format (PowerPoint) and continue editing in any program.

The generator works best when you know how to make a good presentation and want to speed up the process. Knowing the principles described in this article, you can more easily evaluate the AI's output and make accurate improvements. This combination of automation and human knowledge produces the best results.

If you want to learn more details, read our step-by-step guide to creating presentations with AI.

Summary

Knowing how to make a good presentation is a skill that pays dividends throughout your life — from school, through university, to your professional career. The key elements are a clear structure, readable slides, audience alignment, and presentation practice.

Remember the most important rules: start with a goal and a plan, limit text on slides, maintain visual consistency, rehearse the presentation out loud, and never go over time. The ready-made 12-slide template from this article can be copied and used as a starting point for every future presentation.

If you want to explore the topic further, read our related articles: storytelling in presentations, presentation colors and fonts, and how to create a presentation with AI. And if you need a presentation right now — try Prezentacje AI and generate a ready-made presentation in a matter of seconds.