10 Presentation Tips That Actually Work (Tested in Real Meetings)
Practical presentation tips I've learned from 200+ client presentations. No generic advice—just stuff that works.
TextDeck Team
Presentation Design
10 Presentation Tips That Actually Work (Tested in Real Meetings)
I've done probably 200+ client presentations in my career. Some bombed. Most went fine. A few crushed it.
Here's what I've learned—not from books, from actual meetings where money or decisions were on the line.
1. Start With What They Care About
Whoever told you to "start with an agenda slide" was wrong.
Start with the thing they came to learn. If you're presenting a proposal, start with the proposal. If you're sharing results, start with results. If you're pitching, start with what you do and why it matters.
Save the "today we'll cover" nonsense. They can see the slide deck.
2. One Point Per Slide. Actually.
You've heard this. You ignored it. Stop ignoring it.
I once watched a VP present a slide with 8 bullet points, each with 2-3 sub-bullets. Nobody read it. Nobody could follow the point. He talked for 6 minutes on one slide while everyone checked email.
If your slide has more than one main point, it's two slides. Make it two slides.
3. The "So What" Test
Every slide should pass this test: "So what? Why does this matter?"
If you can't add the "so what," cut the slide.
4. Pause After Big Points
When you say something important, shut up for 2-3 seconds.
It feels awkward. It looks confident. It gives people time to process.
New presenters fill every silence. Experienced presenters use silence deliberately.
5. Design for the Worst Display
Your laptop screen looks great. The conference room projector is washed out. The Zoom screen share compresses colors. Your coworker is watching on their phone.
This is where AI-generated presentations often beat manual ones—the AI applies these rules automatically. You don't have to remember them.
6. Don't Read Your Slides
I can read. So can your audience. If you're going to read the slide word-for-word, just email them the deck and cancel the meeting.
Slides are visual aids. Your job is to add context, emphasis, and insight that isn't written on the slide.
7. Cut 25%
However many slides you have, cut 25%.
I know it hurts. Some of that information feels important. But every slide you cut is a minute back. Every minute back is a minute for questions, discussion, or just ending early (which people love).
Nobody has ever complained that a presentation was too short.
8. Know Your First 30 Seconds Cold
The first 30 seconds sets the tone. If you stumble, fumble with slides, or say "um" twelve times, you've lost momentum.
Know your opening cold. Practice it out loud. The rest can be more flexible, but the opening should be smooth.
9. Questions Aren't Interruptions
When someone asks a question, that's the most engaged they'll be all meeting. Don't defer it to "the end"—address it now.
The only exception: "We'll cover that in 2 slides" is fine if it's genuinely coming.
"Let's take that offline" is code for "I don't want to answer this" and everyone knows it.
10. End With the Decision
Your last slide shouldn't be "Thank you!" or "Questions?"
End with the decision you need or the action you want:
Don't make them guess what happens after the presentation.
Bonus: Good Tools Make Good Slides Easier
The best presentations I've given had clear slides with clean design. Not because I'm a designer—because I used tools that made good design the default.
AI presentation tools like TextDeck apply design principles you'd otherwise forget: proper hierarchy, consistent spacing, appropriate text density. The result looks more professional than most manually-created slides.
Create your deck with TextDeck—it handles the design, you handle the message.