How to make great presentations | 10 powerful presentation tips
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Sketch a presentation outline before building slides, including topic, time limit, audience, and the single key takeaway.
Briefing
Great presentations start long before the first slide appears: a clear outline, a consistent visual design, and tightly controlled slide content make the delivery easier and keep audiences engaged. The most practical early step is to sketch an outline before building slides—deciding the topic, the time limit, and who will be listening. That outline should also define the key takeaway the audience should leave with, which then determines how many slides are needed, what the main headers will be, and how the story will flow.
Once the structure is set, visual coherence matters. Choosing a color palette helps unify the deck and make it look intentional; when possible, the palette should reflect the brand colors of the organization being presented (a college’s logo colors for academic talks, a company’s brand colors for business presentations). Typography also affects readability: the advice is to avoid serif fonts like Times New Roman for digital presentations because their letterforms vary in thickness and can be harder to read on screens. Instead, sans serif fonts with uniform thickness—such as Calibri, Arial, or Open Sans—are recommended.
The biggest content lever is clarity through restraint. Slide titles should be specific and attention-grabbing rather than generic labels like “Introduction,” “Data,” or “Results.” For example, a solar panels talk can use a header such as “What are solar panels?” rather than a vague opening. Text should be kept minimal using the 7x7 principle: no more than seven words per sentence and no more than seven sentences or lines total on a slide. The guidance goes further—avoid paragraphs and use bullet points made of short phrases rather than full sentences.
Strong visuals then carry the message. Instead of tables that cram information, the deck should use graphs like bar charts or pie charts for data. For images, the focus should be on quality—avoid low-resolution clipart, distracting watermarks, or poor-quality GIFs. Credibility matters too: when using images from sources other than one’s own work, the presenter should credit and cite them. Free image sources mentioned include Unsplash and Pixabay.
Delivery completes the package. Nervousness is common, but engagement depends on how the presenter speaks and where they look. The advice is to avoid reading from the slide deck or from paper on stage, since both reduce eye contact and cause audiences to lose interest. Instead, keep only key points on slides and elaborate while maintaining eye contact—starting with friendly faces and then scanning left, center, and right repeatedly. Body language is treated as a major communication channel: 55% of communication is attributed to nonverbal cues, so posture, eye contact, and purposeful hand gestures (or a steeple-hand pose for those uncomfortable gesturing) should reinforce confidence.
Finally, practice is non-negotiable. The tips only work if they’re rehearsed—standing in front of a mirror or recording oneself to spot mistakes and improve until confidence is earned. Apply these steps consistently and the result is a more readable deck, a more connected delivery, and fewer presentation-day surprises.
Cornell Notes
The core message is that strong presentations are built through preparation, design discipline, and rehearsal. Start by sketching an outline before creating slides so the deck matches the topic, time limit, and audience, with a clear key takeaway. Use a consistent color palette and a readable sans serif font (rather than serif fonts like Times New Roman) to improve visual coherence. Keep slide text lean using the 7x7 principle and favor specific, meaningful headers over generic ones. Deliver with engagement—maintain eye contact, use confident body language (including gestures), don’t read from slides or paper—and practice by recording or using a mirror to refine performance.
Why sketch an outline before designing slides, and what should it include?
How should color and font choices affect a presentation’s readability and cohesion?
What does “powerful headers” mean, and how does it differ from generic slide titles?
What is the 7x7 principle, and how should text be handled on slides?
What visual strategies improve credibility and audience focus?
What delivery behaviors most directly affect audience engagement?
Review Questions
- How would you redesign a slide titled “Introduction” to follow the guidance on powerful headers?
- What specific changes would you make to a slide that contains paragraphs and dense tables to comply with the 7x7 principle and the recommended visual approach?
- During delivery, what scanning pattern and body-language adjustments are suggested to maintain engagement when nervous?
Key Points
- 1
Sketch a presentation outline before building slides, including topic, time limit, audience, and the single key takeaway.
- 2
Choose a color palette that creates a unified theme, ideally aligned with the relevant brand colors.
- 3
Use sans serif fonts for screen readability; avoid serif fonts like Times New Roman in digital presentations.
- 4
Write slide headers that state the point in a few words, and avoid generic titles such as “Introduction,” “Data,” or “Results.”
- 5
Limit slide text using the 7x7 principle and prefer bullet-point phrases over paragraphs.
- 6
Use eye-catching, high-quality visuals—graphs for data and properly sourced images with credits when needed.
- 7
Deliver with engagement: maintain eye contact, use confident body language, avoid reading from slides or paper, and practice by recording or mirroring.