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How to Make a Good Presentation: 15 Tips That Actually Work

Bad presentations waste everyone's time. Good presentations change minds, close deals, and get standing ovations. The difference isn't talent — it's technique.

These 15 tips are based on what actually works in boardrooms, classrooms, and conference stages in 2026.

Part 1: Structure & Content

1. Start with One Core Message

Every great presentation has one takeaway. Not five. Not ten. One.

Before you open PowerPoint, answer: "After this presentation, what is the ONE thing I want my audience to remember?"

Board presentation: "We should invest $2M in Product X"
Sales pitch: "Our tool saves 10 hours per week"
Lecture: "Evolution works through natural selection"

Build every slide to support that one message.

2. Follow the 10-20-30 Rule

Guy Kawasaki's classic framework still works:

10 slides maximum for formal presentations
20 minutes of speaking (leave time for questions)
30pt font minimum (forces conciseness)

For longer presentations (lectures, workshops), scale proportionally but keep the spirit: fewer slides, less time, bigger text.

3. Hook in the First 30 Seconds

You lose your audience in the first minute if you start with "Today I'm going to talk about…"

Instead, start with:

A surprising statistic: "73% of presentations are forgotten within 24 hours."
A question: "When was the last time a presentation changed your mind?"
A story: "Last month, a client told me their team spent 40 hours making a deck nobody read."
A bold statement: "Everything you know about slide design is wrong."

4. Structure: Problem → Solution → Impact

The most persuasive structure for business presentations:

Problem (pain your audience feels) — 2-3 slides
Solution (what you're proposing) — 3-4 slides
Evidence (proof it works) — 2-3 slides
Impact (what changes if they act) — 1-2 slides
Call to Action — 1 slide

This works for sales pitches, project proposals, budget requests, and investor decks.

5. End with a Clear Call to Action

Don't end with "Thank you" or "Questions?" — end with what you want them to do:

"Let's schedule a pilot by Friday"
"Sign the budget approval by end of week"
"Try the tool free at sharayeh.com"
"Read Chapter 3 before next lecture"

Part 2: Visual Design

6. One Idea Per Slide

The single most impactful design tip. If a slide has two ideas, split it into two slides.

Bad: A slide with company overview AND financial projections
Good: Slide 1: Company overview → Slide 2: Financial projections

More slides with less content is always better than fewer slides crammed with text.

7. Use the 6×6 Rule for Text

Maximum 6 bullet points per slide
Maximum 6 words per bullet point

If you need more text, you need more slides — or a document, not a presentation.

8. Choose Consistent Fonts

Use two fonts maximum:

Heading font: Bold, impactful (Montserrat, Poppins, Bebas Neue)
Body font: Clean, readable (Open Sans, Inter, Roboto)

Minimum sizes:

Title: 32-44pt
Body text: 18-24pt
Captions: 14pt (absolute minimum)

If your audience can't read it from the back of the room, it's too small.

9. Master Color Contrast

Dark background + light text OR Light background + dark text
Never place text on busy images without a semi-transparent overlay
Use 3-4 colors max: primary, secondary, accent, text
Use your brand colors or pick a palette from coolors.co

10. Use High-Quality Visuals

Replace bullet points with:

Photos — Full-bleed, high-resolution
Icons — Simple, consistent style
Charts — Clean, with clear labels
Diagrams — Process flows and relationships

Where to find free visuals:

Unsplash, Pexels (photos)
Flaticon, Phosphor Icons (icons)
Or use AI image generation (see Tip #14)

Part 3: Delivery & Performance

11. Practice the 3-Sentence Rule

For each slide, prepare exactly 3 sentences of spoken commentary. This:

Forces you to know the content (no reading from slides)
Keeps you on time (3 sentences ≈ 1-2 minutes per slide)
Makes you sound confident and prepared

12. Use Presenter View

Always use PowerPoint's Presenter View (or equivalent):

See your speaker notes on your screen
See the next slide preview
Track elapsed time
Audience only sees the slide

Never present without it.

13. Handle Q&A Like a Pro

Repeat the question before answering (for the audience)
"That's a great question" is overused — just answer directly
If you don't know: "I'll look into that and follow up by email"
Set a time limit: "We have 5 minutes for questions"

Part 4: AI Shortcuts (2026)

14. Generate Slides with AI

Skip the blank slide. Use AI to generate a first draft in 30 seconds:

From a topic: AI Presentation Maker — Type your topic, get slides
From a document: Word to PowerPoint — Upload doc, get slides
From ChatGPT output: ChatGPT to PowerPoint — Research then convert
From a PDF: PDF to PowerPoint — Convert any PDF

Then spend your time on the 20% that AI can't do: personal stories, specific data, and your unique perspective.

15. Use AI to Redesign Bad Slides

Inherited a deck with terrible design? Upload it to Redesign PowerPoint with AI — it keeps your content and transforms the visuals in 30 seconds.

Skip Hours of Slide Design

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Quick Reference: Presentation Checklist

One clear core message defined
Hook in the first 30 seconds
One idea per slide
6 bullets max, 6 words max per bullet
Minimum 24pt body text
Consistent fonts (2 max) and colors (3-4 max)
High-quality images, no clip art
Clear call to action at the end
Practiced 3x with timer
Presenter View enabled
Backup copy on USB or cloud

Frequently Asked Questions

How many slides should a 10-minute presentation have?

5-10 slides. The rule of thumb is 1-2 minutes per slide. For a 10-minute presentation with Q&A, aim for 7-8 content slides plus a title and closing slide.

What's the best font for presentations?

Sans-serif fonts are best for screen readability: Inter, Open Sans, Montserrat, or Poppins for body text. For headings, slightly bolder options like Bebas Neue or Raleway work well.

How do I make a boring topic interesting?

Start with a relatable story or surprising fact
Use visual metaphors instead of bullet points
Add data visualization instead of numbers in text
Include audience interaction (polls, questions)
Keep it short — boring topics become worse when long

Should I use animations?

Minimal animations only:

Yes: Subtle fade-in for bullet points (builds suspense)
No: Spinning text, bouncing images, star wipes

PowerPoint animations should be invisible — if the audience notices the animation, it's too much.

Related Tools

AI Presentation Maker — Generate slides from text
Redesign PowerPoint with AI — Fix ugly slides
Text to Slides AI — Any text to slides
ChatGPT to PowerPoint — Research and convert
Compress PowerPoint — Reduce file size for sharing

Related Guides

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How to Make a Good Presentation — 15 Expert Tips That Actually Work (2026)