How to write a good presentation that works for your event

Tip one: Know your audience

One of the most important – and most overlooked – business presentation tips is understanding who you’re actually speaking to. A presentation that works well for a room of senior leaders may not work with a group of trainees, and vice versa.

Before you start writing, you should take some time to think about your audience. Consider their level of knowledge of the topics you are covering, their expectations, and what they’re hoping to get out of the session. This will help you cater the tone of your presentation, the examples you use, and how much depth you need to go into.

Audience size matters too. A small group allows for more discussion, flexibility and interaction, making it easier to respond to questions or adapt your content as you go. Larger audiences, on the other hand, tend to benefit from a clearer structure, simpler messaging and more deliberate pacing, as it’s harder to read the room or change direction once you’re underway.

Quick tip: If you’re unsure, ask the event organiser about audience demographics. Knowing who’s in the room is one of the most effective presenter tips for corporate events.

Tip two: Define your core message

When you’re writing a presentation, it’s easy to fall into the trap of trying to include everything you know about a topic. Background, context, detail, examples all feel important. However, strong presentations usually focus on one clear message.

You should start by asking yourself: what’s the one thing I want people to remember when they leave the room? Trying to cover too many ideas often leads to confusion or information overload. Instead, use a single core message to guide what stays in, and what gets cut out.

A simple way to do this is to write a one-sentence “message statement”. If you can’t sum up your presentation in one sentence, it’s probably trying to do too much. This approach is one of the most reliable tips for giving an effective business presentation.

Tip three: Structure your presentation

A clear structure helps your audience follow along and stay engaged. A simple and effective format you could use is:

Opening → Key points → Conclusion → Call to action or takeaway

The opening sets expectations, the key points deliver your message, and the conclusion reinforces what matters most. A short call to action or takeaway helps people understand what to do next.

Storytelling can also help create flow, even in corporate settings. This doesn’t mean telling a dramatic story – it might be as simple as walking your audience through a problem, a process, or a real-life example.

Make sure your slides or visuals follow the same structure as your spoken content, and use clear transitions so people know when you’re moving from one section to the next.

Tip four: Design engaging visuals

Good visuals should make your message easier to understand, not give your audience more work to do. Slides are there to support what you’re saying, not to replace it – and using them sparingly often makes a presentation feel clearer and more confident.

When designing slides, readability should always come first. Simple fonts, a consistent colour palette and good contrast make a big difference, especially in larger rooms or spaces with natural light. If something is hard to read at a glance, it’s likely to distract rather than help.

Images, charts and infographics can be really effective when they’re used with purpose. A strong image can set the tone or reinforce a point, while a clear chart can make complex information easier to digest. The key is to keep visuals focused, relevant and in alignment with your brand, rather than adding them for decoration.

One of the most common pitfalls is trying to fit too much onto a single slide. Long paragraphs, dense data or multiple ideas at once can quickly overwhelm an audience. As a general rule, if a slide needs explaining before it makes sense, it probably needs simplifying.

It’s simple really: well-designed visuals help your audience stay engaged with you.

Tip five: Make it interactive

Even the most polished presentation benefits from a bit of interaction. Simple moments of engagement help keep attention levels up and make the session feel more human, particularly during longer sessions or at points where energy tends to dip.

At conferences, interaction often works best when it’s light and low-effort. This might be a show of hands at the start to gauge experience, a rhetorical question that encourages people to reflect, or a quick poll to introduce a topic. These small moments help the audience stay engaged without slowing the pace or disrupting the schedule.

On training days, there’s usually more room for active participation. You might ask attendees to discuss a scenario in pairs, reflect on how a point applies to their own role, or complete a short exercise before moving on. These moments help reinforce learning and give people time to process information rather than just absorb it passively.

In both settings, timing matters. Interaction works best at natural pauses; for example, after introducing a key idea or before moving into a new section. Keeping it purposeful ensures it adds value rather than feeling like a distraction, and is one of the most effective presenter tips for corporate events where attention and time are both limited.

Tip six: Practice, timing, and flow

Practising your presentation aloud is one of the simplest ways to improve it. It helps you spot awkward phrasing, check your timing, and get comfortable with the flow of your content.

If possible, practise in the room or a similar setup, especially if you’ll be using a microphone or large screen. Make sure you’re comfortably within your allocated time and leave space for questions if needed.

Pay attention to pacing, tone and body language, and plan how you’ll handle interruptions or technical hiccups. Preparation like this is often what separates confident speakers from nervous ones.

Tip seven: Check your technology

Technology works best when you barely notice it. When it runs smoothly, it supports your presentation quietly in the background – but when it doesn’t, it can quickly become a distraction for both you and your audience.

Before the event, take time to test any AV equipment you’ll be using. This includes microphones, clickers, screens, videos and Wi-Fi. If possible, do this in the room itself, as acoustics, lighting and screen size can all affect how your content comes across. It’s also worth checking where you’ll be standing and how easily you can move around while presenting.
Backups are essential. Keep a copy of your slides on a USB stick, saved in the cloud, or exported as a PDF, so you’re not reliant on a single device or connection. If your presentation includes videos or animations, test them properly, and consider whether they’re still effective if something needs to be skipped.

For events with virtual or hybrid attendees, technology becomes even more important. Check how your content will be shared, whether the session will be recorded or streamed, and how questions will be handled from remote participants. If your session is being streamed or recorded, it’s worth remembering that the audience experience can differ slightly online. Clear visuals, good microphone use and repeating audience questions before answering them can help remote attendees stay involved. Understanding this in advance helps you present with confidence and ensures everyone, in the room or online, has the same experience.

Tip eight: Final touches

The final stage of preparing a presentation is often where small improvements make the biggest difference. Once your structure, visuals and timing are in place, it’s worth looking at the presentation as a whole.

Start by checking that your key takeaways are clear. What do you want people to remember once they leave the room? A brief summary at the end can help reinforce your main message and bring the presentation to a natural close. If there’s a clear next step, whether that’s a decision, an action, or further reading, make sure it’s easy for your audience to understand.
Consistency is another important detail. Review your slides for alignment in tone, language and design, and remove anything that feels repetitive or unnecessary. This final tidy-up helps the presentation feel considered and cohesive.

Before the event, it’s also worth asking a colleague or friend to review your slides or listen to a run-through. A fresh perspective can highlight areas that might need clarification or simplification, and can be particularly useful if the content is complex or unfamiliar to others.
These final checks help ensure your presentation feels confident, clear and ready for the room, and often make the difference between something that’s simply informative and something that truly suits your audience.