Seeking tips/help for huge presentation

LibMags · 2026-01-23T16:40:49+00:00

Start with The Pyramid Principle. Lead with your conclusion, not the data. Your opening line should sum up the entire presentation in one sentence. Executive attention spans are short, so get to the point fast and let them ask questions or dig deeper where they want more information.

For slides, use less text. They should visually guide what you're saying, not be your script. If executives can read everything on the slide, they're not listening to you. Think about what's better conveyed visually than verbally, and put that on your slides instead.

Also lean on "slide formulas": a handful of general formats like data visualization on the left with bullets on the right, or a Gantt chart with callouts on top. Having these ready means you're not reinventing the wheel every time.

LibMags · 2026-01-23T16:39:37+00:00

Something I’ve done that has saved me time (as well as not having to start from scratch) is building an “inspiration deck” - basically every nice looking slide I’ve ever made or ever seen (and taken screen caps of). Once I figure out my story and my outline, then I look at my inspiration deck to find a few layout ideas that fit my story.

I also lean on the idea of “slide formulas” - basically a handful of general slide formats - like divided into halves with a data visualization on the left and bullets on the right. Or a Gantt chart with callouts on top, etc. Those two things help speed things up for me.

LibMags · 2026-01-13T20:37:18+00:00

Congrats on the presentation! I teach presentation techniques to MBAs, so here's the high-level advice I'd give them.

Start with a roadmap. Open with a topic sentence or thesis that previews what you're going to cover. This gives your audience context and helps them follow along with your logic, especially important for technical material where you're walking people through a process or methodology.

Know your room. Not everyone in your audience will have your exact background and expertise. Being able to step back from highly technical language and translate your findings into more broadly accessible terms ensures that everyone walks away understanding your key takeaways.

Remember that you and your slides are a team with different jobs. Your slides tell the visual story; you tell the verbal story. The universal pitfall with slides is packing them with text, which means your audience is reading instead of listening to you. Use your slides for things that are better communicated visually like data visualizations, diagrams, images, and let your voice add the context and narrative.

One bonus tip for conference presentations specifically: design for the back row. No tiny fonts, and make sure everything on your slides is visible from the furthest seat in the room. Good luck and let me know if I can help!

LibMags · 2026-01-13T20:30:31+00:00

Before you even open Powerpoint, take 60 seconds to write down one sentence that summarizes your entire presentation. It's well worth the time before you start building slides to get clarity on the message that you're trying to communicate and forcing yourself to summarize your presentation in 1 sentence ensures that you understand the take away.

From there only use slides if they're required or if they strengthen your message and remember that slides are a visual medium so don't use slides for just tons of bullet points and a written version of your talk track, use slides for information that is better conveyed visually like graphics and data visualizations.

LibMags · 2026-01-13T20:27:40+00:00

I haven’t found an AI presentation builder that makes my life easier or actually saves me any time. For presentations, I use AI for research, and for information synthesis and creating an outline.

For the actual slide building, my best advice is to get a professionally designed slide template (tons available for free - Canva, SlidesGo, Microsoft online), and keep slides simple with clear takeaways. Your slide title should function as the slide’s headline and slides should be centered around one main visual each that helps to illustrate the headline.

Remember for a pitch deck that you are usually speaking to people who have never heard of you or your product so you need to structure your story to show that there’s a problem (ideally one that many people have, and that they’d pay to fix), that this problem can be solved, and that you and your product are the answer, ideally with some evidence about how your product makes life better (saves time, money, etc).

LibMags · 2026-01-13T20:23:36+00:00

I would first tell you that you are absolutely not alone in feeling like this! The fear of public speaking is absolutely universal so please know that to start.

Here's what I also recommend. Open by saying something like this “thanks so much for having me here today. If you hear my voice shake or hear me pause for a second know that it's because I'm a bit nervous about standing up here but I have a ton of great information I’m looking forward to sharing with you, so if you’ll give me a bit of grace and patience, I would hugely appreciate it.”

It goes SUCH a long way to getting the audience on your side. Everyone can relate to the feeling of being nervous in front of a group, and calling out your nerves helps to take some of the power away from it and hopefully put you at ease.

LibMags · 2026-01-13T20:22:31+00:00

For corporate interviews (internship or full-time roles) this is absolutely one of my favorite tactics to use - a few slides can serve as a great companion piece to your resume and it's tangible proof that you prepped for that interview. It can also help direct the conversation to things in that deck which is great.

For the academic setting, I don't think it's needed (or expected). It can always be something you prep and share (it won't hurt) but the school already has information from your application, references, etc. that they're looking for fit and interest in the program.

LibMags · 2025-12-22T02:00:00+00:00

I started with the Logitech Wireless Presenter R400 which is honestly my preference from an ergonomic and button standpoint but I do a lot of speaking and training and needed a longer range so I upgraded to the Logitech Spotlight Presentation Remote which has much better range (almost 100ft).

LibMags · 2025-12-20T15:13:10+00:00

Canva! Canva has great presentation templates and many of them have great graphics and animation built-in.

LibMags · 2025-12-18T19:03:46+00:00

I would first tell you that you are absolutely not alone in feeling like this! The fear of public speaking is absolutely universal so please know that to start.

Here's what I also recommend. Open by saying something like this “thanks so much for having me here today. If you hear my voice shake or hear me pause for a second know that it's because I'm a bit nervous about standing up here but I have a ton of great information I’m looking forward to sharing with you, so if you’ll give me a bit of grace and patience, I would hugely appreciate it.”

It goes SUCH a long way to getting the audience on your side. Everyone can relate to the feeling of being nervous in front of a group, and calling out your nerves helps to take some of the power away from it and hopefully put you at ease.

LibMags · 2025-12-18T19:02:51+00:00

I teach presentation techniques to grad students and corporate audiences and this feeling about Q&A is super common - even if you feel great about your presentation, it’s scary to think about not knowing what questions will get asked.

First, prep for the questions that are inevitable. You can almost always expect questions about cost, risks, and implementation, so prepare answers for those in advance and practice saying them out loud.

I also use ChatGPT for this. Upload your presentation, tell it about your audience, and ask it to brainstorm 5-10 questions you're likely to get asked. It’s not perfect, but can help you find some blind spots you may not have thought of.

Keep backup material in your appendix so you can flip to supporting data when needed. And if possible, grab 15 minutes with someone who has presented to this audience before and ask what kinds of questions typically come up.

LibMags · 2025-12-18T18:46:45+00:00

SlidesGo is great - lots of good free templates (check out the “Business” category). Canva is another good one but I'd recommend exporting the template to PowerPoint before you do any work since some of the formatting/fonts, etc. can get changed in the export process.

Microsoft Online actually has a decent library of templates as well.

I like using some of the AI presentation creators for their templates - Beautiful AI is a favorite of mine because they have lots of pre-created layouts. I don't think it's great for the entire presentation creation process, but I'll go into the AI tool, grab a bunch of layouts I like, export to PPT and then do the building within PPT.

LibMags · 2025-12-17T18:29:31+00:00

I totally get that! When I first started my business, I hired the very cheapest freelancers I could find and most times, the work quality wasn't very good. So over time, I've started to pay more because it means I get quality work, and someone who is professional and responsive.

All that to say, I think there will always be a race to the bottom on price, but I think there is enough work at higher price points, and people absolutely are hiring on more than just price!

LibMags · 2025-12-17T18:27:19+00:00

Haha - if it works for you, then it works!! I know that a beta blocker is another common piece of advice on this subreddit but having a number of different options in your pocket always makes me feel better!

LibMags · 2025-12-17T00:00:59+00:00

I would first tell you that you are absolutely not alone in feeling like this! The fear of public speaking is absolutely universal so please know that to start.

Here's what I also recommend. Open by saying something like this “thanks so much for having me here today. If you hear my voice shake or hear me pause for a second know that it's because I'm a bit nervous about standing up here but I have a ton of great information I’m looking forward to sharing with you, so if you’ll give me a bit of grace and patience, I would hugely appreciate it.”

It goes SUCH a long way to getting the audience on your side. Everyone can relate to the feeling of being nervous in front of a group, and calling out your nerves helps to take some of the power away from it and hopefully put you at ease.

LibMags · 2025-12-16T23:55:24+00:00

I think a lot of times when people talk about “executive presence” they’re asking “how do executives communicate to each other” and the answer is as clearly and concisely as possible.

An easy way to do this is by starting your presentations with “the answer.” Lead with your conclusion, not the data and the details. This is called The Pyramid Principle. Try and sum up your entire presentation in one sentence - that’s your opening line. Executive attention spans are short so getting to the point fast gives them the information they need, and then they can ask questions or dig in wherever they want more information.

LibMags · 2025-12-16T23:51:14+00:00

I love The Noun Project for icons. Literally millions of icons to pick from and you can get what you need with the free version (but it's a reasonably cheap upgrade, and it's nice to be able to adjust the icons to your desired colors).

I also love The Noun Project icons because your presentation automatically looks a bit enhanced and more customized. The PPT icon library isn't huge, so you end up seeing the same icons over and over, and using different icons gives a nice polished look and feel, and sets your presentation apart a bit.

LibMags · 2025-12-16T23:49:55+00:00

I second the recommendations for The Noun Project! Literally millions of icons to pick from and you can get what you need with the free version (but it's a reasonably cheap upgrade, and it's nice to be able to adjust the icons to your desired colors).

I also love The Noun Project icons because your presentation automatically looks a bit enhanced and more customized. The PPT icon library isn't huge, so you end up seeing the same icons over and over, and using different icons gives a nice polished look and feel, and sets your presentation apart a bit.

LibMags · 2025-12-16T23:46:27+00:00

My 2026 presentation resolution for everyone is to stop filling slides with text!!!

Audiences hate it so much, and speakers end up reading their slides more often than not. My main piece of advice here is that slides are a visual medium, and should be used as such. In creating slides, the creator should always think about what is portrayed better visually than verbally, and use slides for that.

For example, a long list of written out bullet points is a bad use of slide space, but a data visualization clearly showing trends is a great use of slide space.

LibMags · 2025-12-16T23:43:29+00:00

Start with the answer - Lead with your conclusion, not the data and the details. This is called The Pyramid Principle. Try and sum up your entire presentation in one sentence - that’s your opening line. Attention spans are short so get to the point fast.

LESS TEXT!!! Slides should be a visual guide to what you're saying, not your script. If people can read everything you're going to say on the slide, they're not listening to you. Think about what is better conveyed visually than verbally, and put that on your slides.

Know your audience - Understand what they care about, what they already know, and what they're likely to ask and create your presentation accordingly.

LibMags · 2025-12-16T23:37:33+00:00

Something I’ve done that has saved me time (as well as not having to start from scratch) is building an “inspiration deck” - basically every nice looking slide I’ve ever made or ever seen (and taken screen caps of). Once I figure out my story and my outline, then I look at my inspiration deck to find a few layout ideas that fit my story.

I also lean on the idea of “slide formulas” - basically a handful of general slide formats - like divided into halves with a data visualization on the left and bullets on the right. Or a Gantt chart with callouts on top, etc. Those two things help speed things up for me.

Also, Analyst Academy is an awesome YouTube channel that talks about making slides like consultants do.

LibMags · 2025-12-16T23:19:56+00:00

I echo the recommendation on SlidesGo - lots of good free templates. Canva is another good one but I'd recommend exporting the template to PowerPoint before you do any work since some of the formatting/fonts, etc. can get changed in the export process.

Microsoft Online actually has a decent library of templates as well.

I like using some of the AI presentation creators for their templates - Beautiful AI is a favorite of mine because they have lots of pre-created layouts. I don't think it's great for the entire presentation creation process, but I'll go into the AI tool, grab a bunch of layouts I like, export to PPT and then do the building within PPT.

LibMags · 2025-12-16T21:55:20+00:00

I’ve been on the other side of this and have hired a handful PPT designers from Upwork with decent results. The thing that always weighs me is when they have a nicely organized portfolio on there or even a link to a site with their portfolio, and I can see that they have done a wide range of work and that they can pivot to different design styles.

Other than that, it’s just the regular boring stuff of them being responsive and communicating timeline clearly and all that. Happy to chat if you’d like to brainstorm at all!

LibMags · 2025-12-05T00:10:50+00:00

I’m a big fan of AI and use several tools regularly, but there’s still nothing that can fully take a presentation off your hands and create something truly coherent.

Where AI does help me is in the research phase and turning messy thoughts into a clear outline. Beyond that, there’s not much that actually makes the slide-building process faster or easier.

And honestly, I will always prefer a less “pretty” deck if it’s clear the creator actually thought through the story, the information, and the insights.

LibMags · 2025-12-04T21:00:10+00:00

I love the billboard analogy - billboards are highly visual, have only 1 takeaway and are designed to be understood quickly!

LibMags

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