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How to Summarize Presentations

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Does your audience seem lost during your long presentation? You can see this happening when you ask them to recall a point and they look blank.

Do they find it difficult to put your information in context?

Chances are you may not be summarizing your points frequently enough. We will see how you can summarize your presentation effectively to enhance audience retention.

Let’s start by asking a simple question:

When should you summarize your presentation?

Did I hear you saying, “Towards the end”?

Wrong! You would’ve lost your audience by then.

An effective presentation habit is to summarize at the end of every major point. It’s all the more important to do so, if your presentation is long and content-rich.

The logic behind summarizing your points:

Do you remember building a tower with playing cards when you were a child? Every time you added a new card on top, you carefully adjusted and aligned all the other cards under it. It helped you build a tall and stable tower.

The principle applies to your presentations as well. Every new point puts a strain on memory of what was covered earlier. Unless you summarize periodically, your audience can’t remember your points beyond a point (pun intended).

How to summarize your presentation in a structured way?

This simple structure allows you to refresh the memory of your audience periodically. It helps your audience to place new information in the right context. It lays the foundation for an effective ‘call to action’. Remember, the call to action and WIIFM has been set right at the start.

Example of an effective presentation summary:

A good summary is short and quick. Here is an example of a sales presentation summary:

“I understood that your main requirements in choosing a home loan are – interest rates, long tenure and high loan amount. So far, we saw how our scheme offers you a highly competitive rate and the longest tenure for your age. Now, we’ll talk about loan amount.”

This summary gives you a chance to showcase your main benefits over and over again- in a reassuring way. It maximizes your opportunity to win business in a sales presentation.

Some creative ways to summarize your presentations:

Here are 3 creative ways to summarize your presentations.

1. Use a quiz format to summarize a training presentation:

There can be many variations to this. Some presenters choose to show just the title and ask the participants to recollect the content. Some choose to use fill in the blanks format or true/false format to test the memory. Whichever way you choose, summarize your training presentations frequently.

We have found Quizzes to be an extremely effective way to summarize in a training. That is why we put together 45 different types of PowerPoint Quiz templates in a pack. Just select the type of quiz and add your questions. You can find out more about the Quiz pack and download it here:

2. Use a mid-session Q & A to summarize your business presentation:

We’ve seen presenters disguise their summary like – “We’ve covered Point A, Point B, and Point C – are there any questions in what we’ve covered so far?”

This helps them recollect their main benefits without sounding repetitive or pushy.

3. Repeat some key images and terms from earlier points to serve as memory hook:

Repeating images and key terms on your slides help you recount your points automatically. So, constantly referring to your earlier segments is a useful practice.

Finally, to summarize this article on ‘How to Summarize’ your presentation…

Summarize at the end of every major point.
Use your agenda slide to serve as guidepost.
Let your summary be quick and short
Explore creative ways to recall your key points

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How to Summarize a PowerPoint Presentation: A Step-by-Step Guide

Summarizing a PowerPoint presentation is a skill that can come in handy in various situations. Maybe you’ve just watched a colleague’s presentation and need to report back to your team, or perhaps you’re studying for an exam and want to condense the material. To summarize a PowerPoint effectively, you’ll need to identify the key points, understand the presentation’s purpose, and distill the information into a concise format. By mastering these steps, you’ll be able to communicate the essence of any presentation to your audience efficiently.

Once you’ve summarized the PowerPoint presentation, you’ll have a handy reference that captures the main ideas and supporting details without the fluff. This summary can serve as a study aid, a quick refresher, or a tool to brief others who may not have the time to go through the entire presentation.

Introduction

Let’s face it, sitting through a lengthy PowerPoint presentation can sometimes feel like a chore, especially when all you need are the highlights. Maybe you’re a busy professional with back-to-back meetings, a student juggling multiple assignments, or just someone who values efficiency. Whatever the case, being able to summarize a PowerPoint presentation is a valuable skill that can save you time and keep you informed.

Why is this ability so important? For starters, it helps you to quickly sift through information and focus on what’s essential. In our fast-paced world, time is of the essence, and being able to distill a lengthy presentation into a few key points can be a game-changer. Moreover, it’s not only about personal convenience; summarizing skills are crucial when you have to convey the gist of a presentation to others. Whether you’re briefing a colleague, preparing notes for a study group, or delivering a report to a client, a well-crafted summary can make all the difference. So, let’s dive into the how-to of summarizing a PowerPoint presentation, shall we?

Step by Step Tutorial: How to Summarize a PowerPoint Presentation

Before we jump into the steps, let’s establish what we’re aiming for. A good summary of a PowerPoint presentation should capture the main ideas, the supporting details, and the presenter’s intended message, all while being brief and easy to understand.

Step 1: Review the Entire Presentation

Start by going through the entire PowerPoint presentation.

Reviewing the presentation in its entirety allows you to get a sense of the overall flow and the key themes. Pay attention to the title slides and the concluding slides, as they often contain the main message and summary points.

Step 2: Identify the Key Points

Look for the main ideas in each slide.

Each slide usually focuses on a single main idea. Look for bullet points, bolded text, or headings as clues to what the presenter considers important. Make note of these points as they will form the backbone of your summary.

Step 3: Understand the Purpose

Determine the purpose of the presentation.

Understanding why the presentation was created helps to frame your summary. Was it to inform, persuade, or instruct? Knowing the intent will guide you in deciding what details are crucial for your summary.

Step 4: Condense the Information

Condense the information into a concise format.

Now that you have the key points and the purpose, start writing your summary. Aim to express the ideas as simply and clearly as possible, without losing the original meaning. If a slide’s content can be said in one sentence instead of three, do it.

Step 5: Review and Edit

Review your summary and refine it.

Go through your summary to ensure it’s coherent and that it accurately reflects the presentation’s content and purpose. Edit out any redundancies or unclear statements.

Benefit	Explanation
Saves Time	Summarizing a presentation can significantly cut down the time required to understand its content, freeing up valuable time for other tasks.
Enhances Understanding	By focusing on the main points, a summary helps to clarify the presentation’s message, making it easier to grasp and remember.
Improves Communication	Summaries can be shared with others, providing a quick and efficient way to convey the presentation’s key information without overwhelming them with details.

Drawback	Explanation
Potential for Oversimplification	Summing up complex presentations may result in oversimplified summaries that omit crucial nuances or context.
Risk of Misinterpretation	The act of summarizing involves interpretation, which carries a risk of misrepresenting the presenter’s original intent or meaning.
Dependent on Note-Taker’s Skill	The quality of a summary largely depends on the summarizer’s ability to discern and articulate the main points effectively.

Additional Information

When summarizing a PowerPoint presentation, it’s essential to keep the audience in mind. Who will be reading your summary? What do they need to know? Tailoring the summary to the needs of your audience can make it more effective. Additionally, consider using visual aids from the original presentation, such as charts or graphs, if they help illustrate a point more clearly.

Remember, a good summary is not just a list of points but a coherent mini-version of the presentation. It should flow logically and be engaging to read. Lastly, practice makes perfect. The more you practice summarizing presentations, the better you’ll become at capturing the essence of the content. So next time you sit through a PowerPoint, why not give it a try?

Review the entire PowerPoint presentation.
Identify the key points in each slide.
Understand the purpose of the presentation.
Review and edit your summary.

Frequently Asked Questions

What if the powerpoint presentation is very long.

Start by breaking it down into sections, and summarize each section before attempting to summarize the whole presentation. This will make the task more manageable.

Can I include quotes from the presentation in my summary?

Yes, but use them sparingly and only if they emphasize a key point effectively.

Should I use the same slide titles in my summary?

You can, but it’s not necessary. The aim is to capture the main ideas, not to replicate the presentation’s structure.

Is it okay to leave out examples used in the presentation?

If the examples are used to illustrate key points, briefly mention them. Otherwise, focus on the main ideas and leave out specific examples.

How long should my summary be?

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, but a good rule of thumb is to make it as brief as possible while still covering all key points.

Summarizing a PowerPoint presentation is an art and a skill that can be honed with practice. Whether you’re a student, a professional, or simply someone who values brevity, being able to condense information efficiently is incredibly valuable. Remember, the goal is to capture the essence of the presentation, not to replicate it.

Use your judgment to determine what’s essential and what can be left out. With the steps and tips outlined in this article, you’re well on your way to becoming an expert summarizer. So next time you’re faced with a lengthy presentation, don’t despair. Embrace the challenge and flex those summarizing muscles!

Matthew Burleigh has been writing tech tutorials since 2008. His writing has appeared on dozens of different websites and been read over 50 million times.

After receiving his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Science he spent several years working in IT management for small businesses. However, he now works full time writing content online and creating websites.

His main writing topics include iPhones, Microsoft Office, Google Apps, Android, and Photoshop, but he has also written about many other tech topics as well.

Read his full bio here.

5 Tips to Help You Write the Most Amazing Presentation Summary

Before we delve into the article, I want you to imagine a conference room filled with eager attendees waiting for the company’s marketing executive to deliver a presentation . Armed with an array of data, the executive steps up to the podium to present the latest market analysis. The audience listens attentively, jots down notes, and absorbs the wealth of information being presented.

As the presentation draws to a close, the executive concludes with a dynamic summary. She highlights the top trends and reiterates the strategies to gain a competitive edge. She runs a recap of the critical data points, showcasing the impressive growth achieved in the previous quarter and the ambitious targets set for the following year. The audience, now fully engaged, feels a sense of excitement about the company’s prospects and leaves with a stunning impression.

Thus, the summary plays an extremely crucial role in solidifying the impact of the presentation and empowering the audience to retain and act upon the information presented. By providing a condensed and memorable snapshot of the presentation’s main points, the summary becomes a valuable resource that extends the presentation’s influence beyond the confines of the conference room.

A well-crafted summary presents the information coherently and logically, ensuring that the main concepts are effectively conveyed. It allows the audience to quickly review their understanding of the material, making it an invaluable tool for retaining and applying the knowledge shared during the presentation.

Here are some tips to help you craft a mind-blowing presentation summary.

1. Begin by Summarizing the Key Takeaways

The purpose of a presentation summary is to deliver the message clearly and reinforce ideas in the audience’s minds. But before you begin to write it, start by answering a few questions-

What is the central theme of my presentation?
What are the problems and threats that I am addressing?
Can I talk about the causes and underlying issues?
Are there any potential solutions that I can include?
What does my audience expect to learn from this presentation?

Let us understand with the help of an example. Consider you’re delivering a presentation about your Business Plan. The entire presentation includes critical information such as details about the competitors, prospects of growth, market analysis, case studies, etc. However, to sum it up and make an impact on your investors, you must conclude it in a single slide and mesmerize your stakeholders. But how can you sum up a dozen slides and fit them into one?

Well, begin by answering the questions above, and you will realize that half of your summary is already done. You can then tailor the material accordingly and use a pre-designed Executive Summary template to communicate the same effectively.

2. Use Graphs and Charts to Showcase Numbers

If you want to increase the impact of your summary, you must incorporate visuals such as graphs and charts, as they provide a clear and concise way to present complex numerical data. Instead of overwhelming the audience with rows of numbers and statistics, these graphical elements convert the information into easily digestible visuals. They enable viewers to grasp critical insights at a glance, enhancing their retention.

By visually illustrating trends, patterns, and comparisons, graphical elements can bring the numbers to life and add a compelling narrative to the presentation. When used strategically, they can emphasize key points, highlight significant findings, and back your arguments.

For instance, if you want to showcase the comparison of your project’s increasing revenue over different quarters, you can use a bar graph. It will make the information much more pleasing to look at, and rather than having to fathom through digits of numbers, the graph can show the audience an upward trend in the blink of an eye and prove your point.

3. Include Roadmaps and Timeline to Showcase Milestones

Roadmaps and timelines offer a structured and organized representation of the project’s or plan’s progress over time. They provide a precise visual sequence of events, milestones, and goals, enabling the audience to comprehend the project’s development at a glance. This visual clarity helps the audience stay on track and follow the presentation’s flow, making it easier to grasp the project’s scope, timeline, and major achievements.

They serve as excellent tools for setting expectations and managing stakeholders’ understanding of the project’s timeline and progress. By displaying key milestones and expected completion dates, these visuals enable stakeholders to see the project’s trajectory and better align their expectations with the proposed timeline. This helps avoid misunderstandings and facilitates effective communication between the presenter and the audience.

They transform abstract concepts and ideas into a tangible and relatable story by visually showcasing the journey from the project’s inception to its anticipated completion. This engagement is particularly crucial in presentations involving long-term planning or complex processes. Such use of visuals inspires and motivates the audience to be invested in the project’s success.

4. Harness the Power of Icons and Illustrations

Summaries are quite tedious when they are overloaded with information. Rather than using separate texts for each element, it is much better to harness the power of self-explanatory illustrations and icons . They can inject creativity and personality into the slides, and a touch of artistry can make the content more engaging and relatable.

One of the most important factors is that visuals have a universal language that transcends linguistic differences, making them particularly valuable in presentations with an international or diverse audience . While text-heavy slides may pose challenges for non-native speakers or those unfamiliar with technical terms, icons and illustrations can bridge the gap and ensure that the main points are communicated effectively.

This inclusivity allows the presentation summary to reach a broader audience and ensures that the message is accessible and comprehensible to everyone.

For instance, if you want to talk about the details of a board meeting in your summary slide, you can use an expert-designed template and add a touch of life to your slides instead of writing every point and detail. This template includes all necessary details, such as the meeting agenda, time, goals, location, etc., and can be used to make your presentation inclusive and stand apart.

Such visually pleasing illustrations can help break chains of monotony and reduce clutter. They also improve the audience’s comprehension by serving as visual anchors for specific points, helping them quickly identify key topics and understand the relationships between different elements.

5. Include a Compelling Call to Action

A compelling call to action at the end of your presentation summary is crucial in motivating your audience to take the desired next steps. To ensure effectiveness, it’s essential to be specific and concrete, leaving no room for ambiguity.

Clearly state what you want your audience to do, whether it’s signing up for a service, scheduling a meeting, making a purchase, or investing in a project. Emphasizing the benefits of taking action is equally important, as it helps your audience understand how it will positively impact them or solve their problems. By presenting a persuasive case for the value they’ll gain, you increase the likelihood of a positive response.

Additionally, instilling a sense of urgency can prompt immediate action. Mentioning limited-time offers, upcoming deadlines, or time-sensitive elements related to your presentation encourages your audience to act promptly.

Providing clear and accessible contact information facilitates the follow-up process, boosting your audience’s confidence in taking the desired action. Including a strong closing statement that reiterates the main message and connects it back to the call to action leaves a lasting impression and reinforces the significance of the action you’re proposing.

Lastly, confidently and enthusiastically delivering your call to action makes your audience more receptive and eager to embrace the proposed action. A well-crafted call to action turns your presentation from a passive experience into an active and transformative one, yielding positive results for you and your audience.

A presentation summary is a valuable asset that every presenter must use. Not only does it maintain a flow of thoughts and connects the dots between multiple topics, but it also keeps the audience engaged .

By crafting a concise and well-structured summary, presenters can ensure that the main concepts and takeaways remain at the forefront of the audience’s minds long after the presentation.

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Home Blog Presentation Ideas The Best Ways for Summarizing Business Presentations

The Best Ways for Summarizing Business Presentations

Two things are the easiest to lose when delivering business presentations. The first is the context, and the second follows very closely, to that, in the interest of your audience. The best way to avoid death by PowerPoint during a business presentation is to summarize your content smartly, in what we call a presentation summary . This article will explain some of the best ways to summarize business presentations using several methods.

Table of Contents

What is a Presentation Summary?

Why should you summarize business presentations, what should be included in the presentation summary, how to summarize business presentations, methods of summarizing different types of presentations, examples of presentation summary, final words.

A presentation summary is an essential part of a talk, providing a brief and clear overview of the main points and key takeaways for the audience. It condenses the speaker’s ideas and any critical conclusions or recommendations, so the audience can easily understand and remember the presentation.

You want to add a summary slide for your presentations for the following reasons:

A presentation summary emphasizes the core message of a talk that you want your audience to take away.
Presentation summaries provide clarity on complex information.
A presentation summary allows you, the speaker, to refresh your audience’s memory and improve retention.
Lastly, a presentation summary is a helpful reference for the audience to review the presentation’s key points.

Overall, a well-crafted presentation summary is a valuable tool for ensuring that the audience fully grasps and appreciates the presentation’s key messages.

Summarizing presentations, especially business presentations, can be a great way to connect with your audience by sticking to what matters and avoiding losing the translation context. Summarizing presentations can also have many other benefits that can really help you shine as a presenter and take off some of that public speaking anxiety. Below are a few reasons why you should summarize your business presentations.

To Make Content Easier to Explain

Every now and then, we see a presenter who likes to create text-heavy slides and a confusing monotone. Summarizing a presentation can help prevent some of these issues. While some people might have issues due to fear of public speaking, making things easier to explain can’t hurt your chances of delivering a presentation without alienating your audience.

To Make Content Easier to Follow

When a topic is too complex for an audience, it does not help to use jargon outside their area of expertise. This happens more often during business presentations than presenters tend to realize. For example, a presentation discussing a new production process might not be easy to understand for people from the finance or sales department. To make the presentation easy to follow for everyone, a diagram or summary of the process might be easier to explain.

Summarizing business presentations, be it in the form of bullet lists, highlighted keywords in small paragraphs, or focusing on visual aids, can be a great way to make your content easier to follow for your audience. To make your presentation have the required impact, such a summary might actually be necessary rather than an option. Otherwise, you may end up with death by PowerPoint.

To Avoid the Context from Getting Lost in Translation

It is arguably easier to follow a summarized version of the context rather than information that might be too much to handle for an audience. Something that many presenters can tend to forget is the attention span of the audience. Research suggests that the average audience attention span has greatly reduced over the past few years amidst a digitized world. A 2015 research by Microsoft highlighted how the audience could lose interest as quickly as 8 seconds. A second less than the goldfish! More recent research has produced similar results, blaming social media for declining attention spans.

Understanding the need to keep your audience interested can help a presenter summarize their slides to avoid losing the context. This is not necessarily linked only to attention spans, as presentations that are lengthy, dull, and lack stimulation can produce the same negative result. Therefore, it is necessary to summarize your context and keep your audience interested using eye-catching visuals, interactive presentation sessions, and at times, short breaks.

Here are the essential components of a good presentation summary.

1. Key Points of the Presentation

The purpose of a summary in a presentation is to reinforce the key message or messages you want your audience to take with them. Since this slide will serve as a quick reference to the main points of your talk, you want to condense the key points of your presentation into bullet points.

2. Call to Action

A call to action in the presentation summary can help solidify the main points and key takeaways of the presentation while also motivating the audience to take action. It is especially important if the goal of the presentation is to inspire change or promote a product or service. Without a clear call to action, the audience may forget about the presentation and not take any further steps.

If you’re presenting complex information, adding visual aids may help simplify your message to something your audience understands and remembers. Studies have shown that people remember and understand information better in visual formats such as graphs, charts, or images. You could even create a video summarizing the main points of your presentation in a visually captivating way.

4. Contact Details of the Presenter

Including your contact details in a presentation or summary has many benefits. It makes it easy for the audience to get in touch with you after the presentation and shows that you are willing to engage with them. It may help strengthen your brand.

Now that you know why let’s take a look at how to summarize business presentations in a manner that can help keep your audience interested. To create a presentation summary, you can:

Identify the Main Points of Your Presentation

The central idea of the presentation’s summary slide should be the key message or takeaway that the presenter wants the audience to remember. To identify the essential points of a presentation, you can ask yourself:

What is the problem my presentation is trying to address?
What is my goal in delivering the presentation?
What insights do I want to leave my audience with?

By considering these questions and analyzing the presentation’s content, you can determine the central idea or main point you should highlight in the summary slide.

Create an Outline

It is best to start by collecting your thoughts and outlining what you intend to present. You can take notes and create a sequence that best suits your presentation context. This will also make it easy for you to make your presentation. Starting from the basics to the conclusion. You can use a tool like ChatGPT, which relies on generative AI technology , to create your summary too.

Use Key Highlights in Slides

If you are confused about what content to include in your presentation summary slides, you can pick the key highlights of your presentation. For example, when discussing a business forecast, you can discuss the key trends briefly in your slides. A chart, diagram, or table with basic information can help explain the context quickly and easily.

Emphasize Important Bits of Data, Trends & Analysis

There are some ways you can highlight key aspects of your slides. This can include bullet lists, diagrams, or using a different color for important bits of text. For the latter, you can highlight the names of areas, important financial figures, or other important keywords or phrases to make it easy to present and explain your context. Doing so can also help you quickly recall important information and focus on it, without the need to read your slide to remember where to discuss next.

Use Self-Explanatory Visuals

In economics, students are taught the fundamental concept of unlimited wants and limited resources, often by visualizations. You might see a sketch of a dragon about to eat the whole planet in his hands, with the dragon labeled as ‘wants’ and the planet labeled as ‘resources.’ Visuals like these can help explain complex ideas in a single image. Presenters can use similar visualizations with the help of visual slides or infographics . Not only can such images be downloaded from various websites offering stock images, but you can also use readymade PowerPoint templates to edit and create something similar by labeling infographics and diagram slides.

Casual Team Meeting Summarizing Team Meeting PPT Template

Use Appropriate Layouts that Support Your Content

A presentation discussing critical issues, losses, and failure can fall on deaf ears if the severity of the issue isn’t explained with a bit of emphasis. Not only does the presenter need to ensure this in his/her tone but also in visuals. Using layouts with colors in red or graphics indicating danger or loss can be a way to edge the message in your audience’s minds visually. Similarly, when discussing rosy prospects, a layout that gives calming visuals can be effective.

Many presentations related to improving the environment and reducing pollution use green layouts to encourage the audience to adopt something visually depicted as desirable and healthy. Similarly, presentations about vacations and tourism often have visuals of sandy beaches, water bodies, and people having fun. The use of relevant visuals and layouts can help support your context without saying too much.

Use Speaker Notes to Support Your Presentation

If you’re worried about losing sight of important information without cramming text in your slides, you can use speaker notes. These are hidden notes that the presenter can see when presenting their presentation. You can learn more about using this feature from our guide about using and printing speaker notes in PowerPoint .

There are a number of methods to cut down on text to summarize your slides. Different types of presentations might need various techniques to do this effectively. Here are a few suggestions to help you summarize different types of presentations using various methods.

Dashboards for Data-driven Presentations

A little-known gem for presenters is the use of Dashboard slides. With Dashboard PowerPoint Templates , you can design data-driven presentations by adding various bits of information in a single slide. This might include tables, charts, diagrams, and clipart in a single slide, divided into various sections.

Quizzes for Informative Presentations

Making your context memorable for an audience can be easier by using interactive sessions. If you’re a teacher, trainer, coach, or giving a product demo, looking to help your audience remember important parts of information, you can use quizzes. The use of quizzes can also help keep your audience attentive and make the session fun for them.

Infographics for Depicting Trends and Complex Data

Infographics can help sum up complex information with visual aids. A diagram about user preferences over the past decade in the form of stats might seem boring. However, the same presentation summed up using infographics can help explain the trends easily. For this purpose, a PowerPoint Template with Infographics can be a great way of quickly designing slides with relevant information.

Timelines and Roadmaps

Timelines and roadmaps are often used to discuss project progress, historical context, and forecasts. Using them can be a good way to summarize lengthy details in the form of a few milestones, dates, and labels.

Business Diagrams that can Help Summarize your Slides.

Business diagrams can be another tool to summarize your presentation. Be it a SWOT or PESTEL analysis, sales funnel, or other business diagrams, you can easily incorporate the entire analysis or discussion using a single visualization.

Making Content Memorable

In a previous article about presentation tips , we mentioned the rule of three. This is an age-old rule implying that anything used three times is ‘perfect’ or memorable. You can use this rule by mentioning key highlights at the start, the middle, and the end of your presentation. Such as perhaps something that triggers a call to action. Similarly, you can repeat a word or phrase three times to make it memorable for your audience. Other techniques that you can use include the use of Rhetorical Triangle and the Zeigarnik Effect .

Sales Summary

Here’s an example of a basic presentation summary for sales, which discusses the sales performance of a diet food manufacturer.

The important figures are highlighted using a graph, which clearly shows the company’s sales trends within a year. Below the graph are the conclusions or the key contributing factors to the success.

The speaker also acknowledged the audience (the employees and stakeholders) and left them with a call to action by encouraging them to innovate more.

Customer Journey Summary

Here’s an example of a customer journey summary for presentations. The horizontal map presents each stage of the customer journey, allowing the audience to quickly grasp the overall flow of the service experience.

The conclusions, on the other hand, highlight the critical lessons from the customer journey example. They provide actionable insights for optimizing processes from marketing to product delivery.

Business Proposal Summary

Here’s an example of a summary slide for a business proposal presentation . It encapsulates the prospect’s pain points with visualizations to create urgency.

The presenters’ implementation plan quickly follows, outlining key strategies and activities to be undertaken. There are also quantifiable expected results, which add credibility to the proposal.

The summary slide ends with a polite encouragement for further discussions, leaving the prospect with the specific contact person.

Project Launch Summary

This slide shows what a project/product launch summary looks like. Using a simple three steps diagram, it maps out the timeline of the website development project. The summary slide includes the project’s key milestones — from its early stage and project launch date down to the evaluation — giving the audience a quick reference of the entire process.

Including the project goal sets a clear expectation for the stakeholders and encourages them to explore opportunities for the future.

When summarizing presentations, it’s good to consider what questions to raise or what pattern to follow to make your presentation sequential and memorable. You can look at the potential good questions to ask, and paraphrase to summarize content while using relevant visualizations and layouts. Whether you’re someone afraid of public speaking or an experienced presenter, knowing that your presentations are brief and to the point can give you a sense of calm. It can also help boost your confidence as you look to grab the valuable attention of your audience while keeping them awake amidst short attention spans and critical details tied to what you are presenting.

1. Key Takeaways Concept Slides for PowerPoint

Use this eye-catching template to summarize the key takeaways from your PowerPoint Presentation.

Use This Template

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How to write an effective executive summary like a mckinsey or bcg consultant.

Key components of an effective executive summary, an in-depth look at each component of the executive summary (with examples), some practical tips and tricks, the bottom line.

Management consultants at firms like McKinsey, BCG, and Bain are renowned for their ability to present complex ideas in a clear, concise manner that is easy to digest and understand. A key component of this process is the executive summary slide – often presented as the first part of a presentation deck on a given topic or problem.

An executive summary aims to provide the audience with an overview of the subject at hand or a snapshot of the key points that will be discussed in greater depth. It should serve to quickly get the main messages and conclusions across and motivate audiences to dive deeper into the details.

In this post, we will outline the essential components of an effective executive summary using techniques from McKinsey, BCG, and Bain. We will also provide tips on how to craft a compelling executive summary in practice and give examples of best practices.

For a broader view on how to create consultant-style presentations take a look at our blog post 'How McKinsey Consultants Make PowerPoint Presentations' .

A good executive summary provides all the key information in one slide. The goal is to communicate as much information in as few words as possible.

To achieve this goal, you should focus on the following key components when crafting an executive summary slide:

[optional] Objective: Clearly state the purpose and objective of the presentation.
Situation: Provide relevant background information to set the context for the problem or opportunity being addressed.
Complication: Define the complication (problem or opportunity) the presentation addresses in simple, to-the-point sentences. This includes identifying the root cause of the problem or opportunity and its implications for the organization.
Resolution: Present the recommended solution or solutions to the complication in a clear and concise manner. This should be based on data-driven insights and analysis.
[optional] Benefits: Articulate the benefits of implementing the recommended solution. These benefits should be linked to the organization's strategic objectives.
Call to Action: Provide a clear call to action outlining what the organization needs to do to implement the recommended solution. This should be actionable and linked to the organization's strategic objectives.

This structure is similar to the SCQA (situation-complication-question-answer) framework.

Craft effective executive summaries for your consulting presentations .

Let's take a closer look at each component of the executive summary and how it can be used to craft an effective executive summary deck using the McKinsey/BCG/Bain methodology.

1. Objective

The objective of the executive summary should succinctly define the purpose of the presentation and why it is important for the audience to understand the key points.

To craft an effective objective, you should consider the following:

Who is the target audience?
What are the key points that the audience needs to understand?
What is the purpose of the presentation?
Why is it important for the audience to understand the key points?

An effective objective should be brief, clear, and focused on the needs of the audience. It should be written to clearly communicate what the presentation will cover and why it matters.

Example: "This presentation will provide an overview of the current state of the industry and highlight key trends and opportunities for growth."

2. Situation

The background or situation section of the executive summary provides relevant context to the audience to help them better understand the problem or opportunity being addressed.

This section should include:

Relevant background information on the industry, market, or organization.
Any key trends or developments that are important to the problem or opportunity being addressed.
Any relevant historical information that helps to explain the current situation.

Some questions to ask when crafting the background section include:

What is the context for the problem or opportunity being addressed?
What are the key factors that have led to the current situation?
What are the relevant historical or industry-specific factors that are important to understanding the problem or opportunity?

An effective background section should be concise and focused on the most important information. It should provide enough context for the audience to understand the problem or situation being addressed without overwhelming them with unnecessary information.

Here are some examples from McKinsey and BCG:

Executive Summary example from McKinsey presentation

3. Complication

The complication section of the executive summary clearly and concisely defines the reason the situation requires action, either because there is a serious problem or there is a good opportunity. This includes identifying the root cause of the problem or opportunity and its implications for the organization.

What is the problem or opportunity that the presentation is addressing?
What are the root causes of the problem or opportunity?
What are the implications of the problem or opportunity for the organization?

An effective complication section should be short and to-the-point, focusing on the most important aspects of the problem or opportunity. The root cause of the complication should be clearly identified, along with the most relevant data or evidence that supports this analysis. In addition, the implications of the problem or opportunity for the organization should be clearly articulated, highlighting why it is important for the audience to understand the problem/opportunity and its impact and why it requires action.

Executive Summary example - complication

Enhance your proposal writing with our Consulting Proposal template , or explore our collection of 10 Real Consulting Proposals .

4. Resolution

The resolution section of the executive summary presents the proposed solution or strategy for addressing the complication. This should include a brief overview of the approach and any relevant supporting information or evidence.

What is the proposed approach for addressing the problem or opportunity?
What are the key elements of the strategy?
What are the expected benefits or outcomes of the approach?
What evidence is there to support the proposed solution or strategy?

An effective resolution section should provide enough detail for the audience to understand what is being proposed and why without overwhelming them with unnecessary detail. The proposed approach and any relevant supporting information or evidence should be clearly outlined. In addition, the expected benefits or outcomes of the approach should be highlighted, as this helps to emphasize why it is important for the audience to understand and support the proposed solution.

Executive Summary example BCG - Resolution

5. Benefits

The benefits section of the executive summary presents a brief overview of any expected benefits or outcomes from implementing the proposed solution. This section is optional, and sometimes included as a bullet point under the resolution section.

What are the primary benefits or outcomes of implementing the proposed solution?
What are the secondary benefits or outcomes?
How will these benefits impact the organization and its stakeholders?

An effective benefits section should provide a clear and concise overview of any expected benefits or outcomes from implementing the proposed solution. The primary benefits should be highlighted, as well as any secondary benefits that are relevant to the audience. Emphasis should be on quantifiable benefits.

In addition, the impact of these benefits on the organization and its stakeholders should be emphasized, highlighting why it is important for the audience to understand and support the proposed solution.

Example: "The proposed approach will generate an incremental $10 million in revenue, reduce costs by 5%, and increase customer satisfaction by 10%. This will help to improve profitability, create new growth opportunities, and strengthen our competitive position in the sector."

6. Call to Action

The call to action section of the executive summary presents a brief overview of key proposed actions or decisions that need to be taken by the audience in order to implement the proposed solution. This section is also sometimes a bullet point under the resolution section.

What are the proposed actions or decisions that need to be taken?
Who needs to take these actions or make these decisions?
What is the timeline for implementing the proposed solution?

An effective call to action/recommendation section should provide a clear and concise overview of any proposed actions or decisions that need to be taken by the audience. The proposed actions or decisions and who needs to take these actions or make these decisions should be clearly outlined.

In addition, the timeline for implementing the proposed solution should be highlighted, ensuring that the audience understands when and how these actions or decisions need to be taken.

Executive Summary example McKinsey - Call to action

Apply these summary techniques in your Business Strategy template .

Consultants typically communicate in a 'top down' or pyramid fashion, starting with the conclusion and then providing the supporting information.
Write the most important takeaway of each section as the bolded text and follow with numbers and other supporting facts as bullet points.
Read through the bolded text and see if the story makes sense.
Spend the majority of the executive summary focusing on the solution/recommendation, rather than the situation and supporting analysis.
The executive summary is not a play-by-play summary of a project. Instead, it is a decision document for your audience to understand the proposed solutions they have to decide on, and just enough information to set the solution in context and grasp the expected outcomes.
Read through your executive summary and remove anything that is not directly relevant to deciding/agreeing with your proposed solution.
Try to keep the executive summary as a single slide (sometimes two).
Eliminate unnecessary words and sentences, and make sure that each sentence adds value to the overall message.

Creating executive summary slides like a McKinsey consultant can have a significant impact on the success of your communication and decision-making efforts. Although it seems simple and many people treat the executive summary like an after-thought, it should in fact be one of the slides you spend the most time on in any presentation.

A well-crafted executive summary helps you structure your entire presentation by making you focus on the solution you are proposing and only keeping in analyses and arguments that help explain the why, what, and how of that solution.

By following the essential components and strategies outlined above you can create a clear, concise, and compelling executive summary that effectively communicates complex ideas and drives action.

Cheat sheet

What is an executive summary exactly?

A short summary of the key messages and conclusions in a longer presentation, focused on actionable solutions or recommendations. In McKinsey and BCG consulting presentations the executive summary is typically one or two slides, but sometimes executive summary can also refer to a short deck.

What does an executive summary include and how do I write one?

See our 'How to' guide in this post.

Does an executive summary come before or after the table of contents?

Typically before the table of contents, as the first (or one of the first) slides after a title page.

Is there a good executive summary slide example?

Yes, you can download some examples from McKinsey and BCG here . You can also see full presentations from BCG and McKinsey here and here .

Or take a look at our full Business Strategy template or our Business Case template for real-life client examples.

Should I include visuals?

Generally McKinsey and BCG executive summaries do not include visuals, except perhaps icons to make the summary more visually appealing.

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Roadmap Slides function like a map, laying out the key milestones, goals, activities, and timelines for achieving a particular objective. In this post, we will explore various roadmap slides and offer a few tips and tricks for building your own.

Apr 25, 2024

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How To Write Consulting Executive Summary Slides [BCG Example]

Table of contents.

If you’re anything like me, then y ou build all of the main body slides in your slide decks, sharpen the text , perfect your visualizations … and then quickly throw together an executive summary slide.

The problem? The executive summary slide is the first impression of your deck and the only place that the reader can get a complete overview of your argument.

Therefore, executive summary slides shouldn’t be an afterthought. In fact, it’s important to spend significant time writing a strong executive summary that clearly articulates your argument and inspires your reader to act.

What is an executive summary slide?

An executive summary is a written overview of the main points or arguments of a larger document, memo or other report.

Strategy consultants also write executive summaries for their presentations or slide decks.

An executive summary slide is the first slide in your presentation that fully summarizes the argument, storyline, and supporting evidence of the body slides.

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Looking for slide inspiration? Download 120+ consulting slide decks from top strategy consulting firms, such as McKinsey, BCG and Bain!

Why do you need executive summary slides?

As a reader, it’s so easy to get lost in a PowerPoint slide deck. You need to keep previous slides and messages in your mind, follow the line of argument, and somehow put everything together into a coherent story that you can make sense of.

Executive summary slides help the reader “follow along” with your slide deck. There are a few main benefits:

Executive summaries provide context to help the reader understand why the topic of the slide deck is important.
Executive summaries communicate the high-level argument before the reader gets into the body of the slide deck. This helps the reader understand your more detailed body slides.
Executive summaries are a “map” that the reader can reference back to if they start losing the line of argument in the body of the deck.

How to write executive summary slides

To understand the best practices of writing executive summary slides, we’re going to break down a BCG executive summary.

In doing so, we’re going to learn the simple framework for writing executive summary slides that is used by strategy consultants, such as McKinsey & Co, Bain, and BCG.

Below you can see an example of a BCG executive summary. This slide deck is a BCG report on “Melbourne as a Global Cultural Destination” and can be downloaded here .

Here are the two main executive summary slides:

These BCG executive summary slides are a great example of an executive summary done well. So we’ll use them to describe best practices.

Best practice #1: Bold text for summary sentences, bullet points for supporting data

One of the first things you’ll notice about the BCG executive summary is the bold-bullet structure.

The bold sentences denote key statements or claims, and the bullet points support those statements (usually with data).

If there was no evidence to support their claims — or if the evidence was buried deep in the slide deck — then the reader could quite easily doubt the validity of the claim, and ultimately the end conclusion of the slide deck.

So one of the key aspects of strategy consulting slide decks is that no claim is made without evidence. And that includes the executive summary.

Let’s zoom in on one example:

The key statement in this part of the executive summary is “there are weaknesses in Melbourne’s cultural and creative offer”.

This claim is supported by a bunch of data points, such as 90% of agencies and thought leaders believe the cultural offer is not clearly articulated.

Best practice #2: Bold summary sentences can be read alone to tell a story

Executives are busy people and many of them aren’t interested in diving into the supporting bullet points. They will simply read through your bolded summary sentences to understand the high-level argument and recommendations.

This means that your executive summary should be “skimmable by design”.

In other words, your bolded summary sentences should tell a complete and logical story without requiring the supporting data in the bullet points below.

Let’s read just the bolded sentences in our BCG executive summary:

Melbourne has a compelling creative and cultural offer; the city attracted >10m Australian and international visitors in 2015. Cultural visitors and creative industries drive significant economic benefits; cultural tourism projected to grow further. However, Melbourne’s position as Australia’s cultural and creative capital is being challenged. On a global index of cultural and creative cities, Melbourne ranks first in Australia, third in Asia and 12th globally. Melbourne has clear strengths to build on as a cultural and creative city. However, there are some weaknesses to address to further improve Melbourne’s cultural and creative offer. These findings suggest five strategic priorities to improve Melbourne’s position as a global cultural and creative destination, which may lift Melbourne’s position on the Performance Index.

It reads just like a narrative!

Despite ignoring all the bullet points, we can still fully understand the argument that BCG is making in their executive summary (which is also reflected in the body of the slide deck).

Best practice #3: The executive summary should reflect the ‘SCR storyline’ structure of the slide deck

It’s not good enough to just “tell a story”, you need a tell the story using a particular structure.

The structure used by strategy consulting firms, such as McKinsey & Co, Bain, and BCG, is the ‘situation, complication, resolution’ structure.

As an aside, you can learn more about how to craft a compelling argument and SCR storyline for your slide deck in our Complete Guide To Building Strategy Presentations . If you haven’t read that guide, you should check it out.

Let’s take a look at how the SCR storyline applies to your slide deck:

What baseline knowledge do people need to have before they understand our argument?
How did this problem come about?

Complication

What is the problem we need to solve?
Why is this particular problem important to solve?
How do we respond / solve the problem?
What are the specific recommendations and/or next steps?

Your executive summary slide should communicate the complete storyline in your slide deck. And thus it should also follow the situation, complication, resolution structure.

In our BCG example, you can clearly see the SCR structure in action:

BCG Executive Summary: Situation, Complication, Resolution

It’s important to set the context with the situation, as there’s no guarantee that all of you readers will have the background knowledge to understand your argument. It also gives you the opportunity to explain the causes of the problem that you’re addressing in the slide deck.

Then, in the complication section, you should succinctly define the problem and why it is important to solve. Some people suggest that you use a question format, for example “How can Melbourne improve its position as a global cultural and creative destination?”, although that’s really just a matter of style.

Finally, you need to clearly articulate your proposed resolution or “answer” to the problem. You’ll note that most of the executive summary real-estate is spent on the resolution component. From a reader’s perspective, the recommendations are the most important part of the slide deck.

Executive summary slide examples

Below you’ll find examples of executive summary slides from consulting firms like Bain & Co, BCG, L.E.K. Consulting, Oliver Wyman, and others.

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How to Write a Summary | Guide & Examples

How to Write a Summary | Guide & Examples

Published on November 23, 2020 by Shona McCombes . Revised on May 31, 2023.

Summarizing , or writing a summary, means giving a concise overview of a text’s main points in your own words. A summary is always much shorter than the original text.

There are five key steps that can help you to write a summary:

Read the text
Break it down into sections
Identify the key points in each section
Write the summary
Check the summary against the article

Writing a summary does not involve critiquing or evaluating the source . You should simply provide an accurate account of the most important information and ideas (without copying any text from the original).

When to write a summary, step 1: read the text, step 2: break the text down into sections, step 3: identify the key points in each section, step 4: write the summary, step 5: check the summary against the article, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about summarizing.

There are many situations in which you might have to summarize an article or other source:

As a stand-alone assignment to show you’ve understood the material
To keep notes that will help you remember what you’ve read
To give an overview of other researchers’ work in a literature review

When you’re writing an academic text like an essay , research paper , or dissertation , you’ll integrate sources in a variety of ways. You might use a brief quote to support your point, or paraphrase a few sentences or paragraphs.

But it’s often appropriate to summarize a whole article or chapter if it is especially relevant to your own research, or to provide an overview of a source before you analyze or critique it.

In any case, the goal of summarizing is to give your reader a clear understanding of the original source. Follow the five steps outlined below to write a good summary.

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The AI-powered Citation Checker helps you avoid common mistakes such as:

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You should read the article more than once to make sure you’ve thoroughly understood it. It’s often effective to read in three stages:

Scan the article quickly to get a sense of its topic and overall shape.
Read the article carefully, highlighting important points and taking notes as you read.
Skim the article again to confirm you’ve understood the key points, and reread any particularly important or difficult passages.

There are some tricks you can use to identify the key points as you read:

Start by reading the abstract . This already contains the author’s own summary of their work, and it tells you what to expect from the article.
Pay attention to headings and subheadings . These should give you a good sense of what each part is about.
Read the introduction and the conclusion together and compare them: What did the author set out to do, and what was the outcome?

To make the text more manageable and understand its sub-points, break it down into smaller sections.

If the text is a scientific paper that follows a standard empirical structure, it is probably already organized into clearly marked sections, usually including an introduction , methods , results , and discussion .

Other types of articles may not be explicitly divided into sections. But most articles and essays will be structured around a series of sub-points or themes.

Now it’s time go through each section and pick out its most important points. What does your reader need to know to understand the overall argument or conclusion of the article?

Keep in mind that a summary does not involve paraphrasing every single paragraph of the article. Your goal is to extract the essential points, leaving out anything that can be considered background information or supplementary detail.

In a scientific article, there are some easy questions you can ask to identify the key points in each part.

Key points of a scientific article
Introduction	or problem was addressed?
Methods
Results	supported?
Discussion/conclusion

If the article takes a different form, you might have to think more carefully about what points are most important for the reader to understand its argument.

In that case, pay particular attention to the thesis statement —the central claim that the author wants us to accept, which usually appears in the introduction—and the topic sentences that signal the main idea of each paragraph.

Now that you know the key points that the article aims to communicate, you need to put them in your own words.

To avoid plagiarism and show you’ve understood the article, it’s essential to properly paraphrase the author’s ideas. Do not copy and paste parts of the article, not even just a sentence or two.

The best way to do this is to put the article aside and write out your own understanding of the author’s key points.

Examples of article summaries

Let’s take a look at an example. Below, we summarize this article , which scientifically investigates the old saying “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.”

Davis et al. (2015) set out to empirically test the popular saying “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Apples are often used to represent a healthy lifestyle, and research has shown their nutritional properties could be beneficial for various aspects of health. The authors’ unique approach is to take the saying literally and ask: do people who eat apples use healthcare services less frequently? If there is indeed such a relationship, they suggest, promoting apple consumption could help reduce healthcare costs.

The study used publicly available cross-sectional data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Participants were categorized as either apple eaters or non-apple eaters based on their self-reported apple consumption in an average 24-hour period. They were also categorized as either avoiding or not avoiding the use of healthcare services in the past year. The data was statistically analyzed to test whether there was an association between apple consumption and several dependent variables: physician visits, hospital stays, use of mental health services, and use of prescription medication.

Although apple eaters were slightly more likely to have avoided physician visits, this relationship was not statistically significant after adjusting for various relevant factors. No association was found between apple consumption and hospital stays or mental health service use. However, apple eaters were found to be slightly more likely to have avoided using prescription medication. Based on these results, the authors conclude that an apple a day does not keep the doctor away, but it may keep the pharmacist away. They suggest that this finding could have implications for reducing healthcare costs, considering the high annual costs of prescription medication and the inexpensiveness of apples.

However, the authors also note several limitations of the study: most importantly, that apple eaters are likely to differ from non-apple eaters in ways that may have confounded the results (for example, apple eaters may be more likely to be health-conscious). To establish any causal relationship between apple consumption and avoidance of medication, they recommend experimental research.

An article summary like the above would be appropriate for a stand-alone summary assignment. However, you’ll often want to give an even more concise summary of an article.

For example, in a literature review or meta analysis you may want to briefly summarize this study as part of a wider discussion of various sources. In this case, we can boil our summary down even further to include only the most relevant information.

Using national survey data, Davis et al. (2015) tested the assertion that “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” and did not find statistically significant evidence to support this hypothesis. While people who consumed apples were slightly less likely to use prescription medications, the study was unable to demonstrate a causal relationship between these variables.

Citing the source you’re summarizing

When including a summary as part of a larger text, it’s essential to properly cite the source you’re summarizing. The exact format depends on your citation style , but it usually includes an in-text citation and a full reference at the end of your paper.

You can easily create your citations and references in APA or MLA using our free citation generators.

APA Citation Generator MLA Citation Generator

Finally, read through the article once more to ensure that:

You’ve accurately represented the author’s work
You haven’t missed any essential information
The phrasing is not too similar to any sentences in the original.

If you’re summarizing many articles as part of your own work, it may be a good idea to use a plagiarism checker to double-check that your text is completely original and properly cited. Just be sure to use one that’s safe and reliable.

If you want to know more about ChatGPT, AI tools , citation , and plagiarism , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

ChatGPT vs human editor
ChatGPT citations
Is ChatGPT trustworthy?
Using ChatGPT for your studies
What is ChatGPT?
Chicago style
Paraphrasing

Plagiarism

Types of plagiarism
Self-plagiarism
Avoiding plagiarism
Academic integrity
Consequences of plagiarism
Common knowledge

A summary is a short overview of the main points of an article or other source, written entirely in your own words. Want to make your life super easy? Try our free text summarizer today!

A summary is always much shorter than the original text. The length of a summary can range from just a few sentences to several paragraphs; it depends on the length of the article you’re summarizing, and on the purpose of the summary.

You might have to write a summary of a source:

As a stand-alone assignment to prove you understand the material
For your own use, to keep notes on your reading
To provide an overview of other researchers’ work in a literature review
In a paper , to summarize or introduce a relevant study

To avoid plagiarism when summarizing an article or other source, follow these two rules:

Write the summary entirely in your own words by paraphrasing the author’s ideas.
Cite the source with an in-text citation and a full reference so your reader can easily find the original text.

An abstract concisely explains all the key points of an academic text such as a thesis , dissertation or journal article. It should summarize the whole text, not just introduce it.

An abstract is a type of summary , but summaries are also written elsewhere in academic writing . For example, you might summarize a source in a paper , in a literature review , or as a standalone assignment.

All can be done within seconds with our free text summarizer .

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

McCombes, S. (2023, May 31). How to Write a Summary | Guide & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved June 24, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/working-with-sources/how-to-summarize/

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How to Write an Executive Summary and Translate It Into a Presentation

An executive summary is a crucial document that summarizes the essence of a business proposal, plan, or project. It is the first thing an investor, partner, or executive reads to determine if a project is worth investing in. Because they’re looking for high level updates, it should be concise, clear, and convincing.

It’s one thing to write a killer executive summary and another to translate it into a presentation that keeps your audience engaged and interested. In a presentation, an executive summary is usually a “too long, didn’t read” slide at the end of the deck (although it can be an entire presentation, too). If your summary is effective, executives should be able to pick up the key takeaways from the presentation in just a few points.

In this blog post, we'll explore the key elements of a winning executive summary and how you can include it in your deck.

How to write an effective executive summary

If an executive summary is foreign to you, let’s start with how to write one. Keep these 3 things in mind when writing your next executive summary.

Understand your audience

The first step to crafting an effective executive summary is to understand your audience. Who are they? What are their interests, goals, and challenges? Pinpointing what they care about most, and answering those questions, will help you tailor your summary to their needs. If you're presenting to investors, for example, you'll want to highlight the financial benefits of your proposal. Similarly, if you're presenting to executives, you'll want to focus on the strategic implications.

Focus on the biggest wins

Your executive summary should highlight the biggest wins or benefits of your proposal or project. Think of it as a high level overview— or sparknotes— of your story. What's in it for your audience? What problem does it solve, or what opportunity does it create? Highlight these wins upfront and organize them in a logical and compelling way. You might opt for bullet points, graphics, or charts to emphasize key points and make them easier to digest.

Keep it simple and clear

A good executive summary should be concise and easy to understand. After all, the whole point is to summarize your content. To keep things simple, avoid jargon, technical terms, or complex charts that may confuse your audience. Remember, your goal is to communicate effectively and get to the point quickly, not to impress your audience with your vocabulary.

Adding an executive summary to your presentation

Now that you know the basics of how to write an executive summary, let’s add it to your presentation.

As we mentioned, you should limit your executive summary to one slide and only include the most important and meaningful information. Usually, this slide will live at the end of the deck so your audience can refer back to it for a quick recap of the presentation when they need to make a decision.

Tell a compelling story

Imagine your audience skimmed through the entire deck and is relying on the last slide to tell them exactly what they need to know— will it make sense? Even though an executive summary is short and sweet, it should still maintain a nice flow.

People love stories, so use that to your advantage. Compile your key takeaways in a compelling story that captures the essence of your proposal or project. Use anecdotes, examples, or data that demonstrate its value and impact. You might also include one or two visuals, or videos, that bring your story to life and grab the attention of your audience.

Practice and prepare

As with any presentation, practice makes perfect. But chances are, if you’re including an executive summary, you’re presenting to a powerful audience and the stakes are high. Take the time to rehearse your presentation in front of a mirror or a friend to eliminate any kinks. Pay attention to your body language, tone of voice, and timing.

You’ll also want to ensure your presentation is well-organized, and your visuals or videos are working correctly. Lastly, be prepared to answer questions or objections and have backup data or evidence to support your claims in your executive summary.

Jordan Turner

Jordan is a Bay Area writer, social media manager, and content strategist.

How to structure, design, write, and finally present executive summary presentation?

What is a powerpoint executive summary.

An executive summary is a much shorter version of a longer document, while an executive summary in PowerPoint is a visual summary with facts from an extensive piece of content. If you have a 30-40 page presentation, what is the one page that summarizes your key message? Sounds small, but this amount keeps you within boundaries and up to a point.

You might have a bunch of data and really interesting information, but the executives you present to are limited in time, so they will appreciate your concise and professional presentation design to grasp data easily. Remember that every time you cannot summarize your presentation’s takeaway in a couple of seconds, you look unprofessional and unable to share with your audience specific things.

What Is the Value of Presentation for Businesses/Students?

1. it clarifies your thinking.

Some presenters pull together different slides with plenty of charts, tables, and quotes but do not compile a cohesive story within executive summary ppt slides. Thus, your exam or report has no clear and concise message. If you only have 30 seconds with this audience, what do you want to convey or deliver?

2. It gives your audience what they’re looking for

The purpose of the executive summary ppt is to move your audience from point A to point B with attractive visuals that grasp and retain their attention.

3. It provides flexibility

By presenting your whole presentation on the executive summary, you can easily skip certain sections and jump directly to slides that are of value for the specific moment, question, or audience generally.

What Are the Features of Executive Summary Presentation?

The executive summary presentation is directed at executives like the top-level managers and decision-making parties, so the included facts must be relevant.

Executives use the summary to decide whether or not to move forward on the proposal, so the presentation must be convincing.

The executive summary for the PowerPoint presentation contains the same slides as sections of the full proposal, so it reads like the longer proposal, but each section must be condensed to main points and key evidence.

The 10% rule applies here, so a summary must not exceed 10% of the actual proposal length. If your proposal has 20 sections, the word document should be 2 pages. And the presentation should include no more than 20 slides (better 10).

What Should Be Included in Executive Summary Slides and What Should Not?

1. the most important slide.

The executive summary can be one slide in the presentation. When preparing, e.g., a 10 slides presentation for executives, make sure to include a 1-page opening slide. Sometimes, it becomes not possible to present the whole material. Thus, it’s better to present key takeaways.

2. Purpose of report

This slide or slides should state the investigated problem and purpose of the report in a concise format using the present tense. We advise using bullet points, heading/subheadings, SmartArt figures, and other graphic elements to design the text attractively .

This slide should report data only in summary form. There is no need to include dozens of tables even though they are so well-made. Provide key findings from each report table or appendices.

4. Findings and conclusion

This section is also summarized without reference to supporting tables or appendices.

5. Recommendations

Recommendation or advice for a specific proposal is better presented in bullet-list format.

How to Design and Present Executive Summary Slides?

Put minimum text.

We advise a maximum of five first-level bullets and sub-bullets. If you put too much information on one slide in a great room, people won’t remember or even see anything. You lose their attention whenever they do not see or understand the text.

Focus on insights

Every slide, no… EVERY SLIDE must include the answer, results, insights, and other ‘so what’s’ that add impeccable and fundamental value. For instance, you can provide one context sentence at the top of each slide.

Choose neutral colors and background

The executive summary slide design has to be attractive and visible from every room angle. Also, don’t waste space on your slides with unnecessary background messages that make it impossible to read the text. Choose neutral and calm colors that do not drag audiences’ attention from words. If you hesitate on your design choices, feel free to contact professional pitch deck design services and get top-notch assistance.

A good summary presentation summarizes or synthesizes what you want your audience to leave with on one slide. Your presentation’s success isn’t measured by the number of slides you’ve designed and presented. The only purpose of the executive summary ppt is to give the audience the key messages you want them to leave with. Having all on one or few slides makes conveying all information attractive and ensures that your audience hears your messages.

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How to Create the Perfect Executive Summary Slide [Examples and Templates]

Most business communication necessitates a quick overview – a precis of the information that follows. While it is called an executive summary, even personnel in non-executive positions benefit from this summary. They are commonly used in business settings but are also used in scientific discussions, education, projects, and so on.

Getting the design of the executive summary template for PowerPoint and ensuring its clarity can be pretty challenging. After all, it is the abridged version of the business document that follows, and yet, it has to impress the viewer and convey the message properly. We can guide you if you’re worried about creating a good executive summary slide.

Check out our collection of PowerPoint templates for executive summary slides here.

What is an Executive Summary?

It is simply a summary of business documents like whitepapers, business plans, or annual reports, which provides the important points of discussion in a concise preview of the main document. This helps the audience understand the contents to follow before they dive headlong into the details.

A more detailed definition is provided by The University of Arizona, which says that an executive summary should:

Reiterate the aim of the following document.
Emphasize the important points of discussion and crucial facts.
Mention prominent outcomes, suggestions, or conclusions.

Much effort goes into creating the ideal executive summary as you have to squeeze in a great deal of information in a short space.

Executive Summary Examples

Almost all documents have executive summaries, and some are structured and presented in a better manner than others. Here are some of the most effective executive summary slide examples we collected:

Executive Summary Format

There isn’t any single format that can be touted as ideal for an executive summary slide. It all depends on the type of document to be presented, the purpose behind it, and what it contains. However, there are certain norms it needs to follow, like conveying important information at a single glance, offering a preview of the main document, highlighting outcomes and suggestions, and so on. Most readers or viewers expect to see these on the first page as it is.

An executive summary should ideally have these sections:

A generic introduction and explanation of the important points to be discussed
A statement of the main issue
Handpicked outcomes, recommendations, etc.
The importance of the points discussed.

You are likely to present this summary to other stakeholders. It may be a good idea to keep this structure as a bulleted list. You can then move the important ideas to your executive summary in PowerPoint slides.

You also need expertise in PowerPoint to ensure that your executive summary looks appealing – eye-catching, neat, and clear. It is important to make good use of white space. You can use icons and other minor visual elements to reduce text blocks; use crisp headings and subheadings to make the slide look leaner. If you’re unsure how to do this, check out the templates listed in this article.

Length of your Executive Summary

Ideally, an executive summary should be one page, or about 500 words maximum, depending on the font, of course. If the document to be presented is voluminous, you could have a two-page summary, but it is always better to be brief. Think of an executive summary as a trailer for a movie: you reveal just enough to pique the reader’s interest.

The need for Executive Summary Slides

Your audience can easily lose interest in a PowerPoint slide deck, or lose interest in it. After all, you need to remember the information presented in the previous slide and follow the argument presented, and then link everything into a narrative that makes sense to you.

This is where executive summary slides help:

They provide the reader with context and explain the importance of the topic of the PowerPoint slide deck.
They convey the high-level argument prior to the reader getting into the details, which allows the reader to understand your slide deck and its details.
These slides function like a map for the viewer to refer to in case they lose the trail of the argument or report in the slide deck.

Executive Summary Slide Templates

There is no ‘perfect’ look for an executive summary slide; presenters use custom slides to align with the content they want to project. However, there are some universal examples like these below:

How to Write an Executive Summary for a Presentation

Here are some ideas we collected from various sources that can help you create a solid draft executive summary for a presentation:

1. State the Problem

Your first paragraph is akin to the first slide of a presentation, which means you need to create an impact and convey the agenda – set the scene, so to speak. This can be achieved by stressing the urgency of the matter, showcasing the importance of the issue to be discussed, or explaining the background behind the research. You can then go on to convey the chief goals of the report or other document.

2. Talk About the Main Discussion Points

Expand the points or the report scope to fulfill the audience’s expectations. For example, utilize the subheads in the report as the main points of discussion; you can even create more descriptive and appealing statements. Here are some tips:

Break down big blocks of text into bullet points.
Use figures for the most important findings.
Be sure to clarify the scope of the report and what it does not include.
Talk about the resources and methods of research used.
If space permits, include a summary of the findings as a conclusion, or keep it as a featured quote to catch the viewer’s attention to critical information.

3. List the Next Steps

Towards the bottom of the page, dedicate a small paragraph to stress the outcomes and deductions and what follow-up action you expect your viewer to take. Finally, summarize what you found during your research and if there’s any solution or action you have recommended.

When this is done, get feedback from team members who have not seen the report to be presented, and ask if they can say what is included in the report after reading the summary. For example, does it pique their interest, and can they understand it without getting additional context? Use their feedback to make necessary improvements.

Tips to Make the Summary Engaging

1. use a consistent tone.

Ensure you continue with the same voice tone and choice of words in the summary slide as you have in the main document. Significant differences in the tone and terms between the presentation and the summary can cause your audience to get confused and lose interest.

2. Tell a Story

Your audience will get time to read the report in its entirety; when you present it before them, you need to focus on getting them to pay attention to the most critical issues, highlight the value contained within the report, and get them interested enough to go through the entire document later. The summary must thoroughly outline the whole communication with a proper starting, middle, and ending. Most people tend to focus their summaries on the data or observations without a proper introduction or conclusion – and you can lose the audience this way. Formulating a clear narrative in your mind at the outset is important.

3. Use Bullet Points

We’ve already touched on this point briefly. People today prefer snippets of information; with attention spans dwindling, short sentences and phrases are preferred. Trim your text and resist the urge to overload your audience with information. Bulleted lists present information crisply and quickly.

4. Cut Down on Data

While figures and data visualizations are great, going overboard with data slides does not create a bigger impact – in fact, the opposite happens. You should convey what the data means, rather than the data itself. By showcasing a lot of numbers, you won’t be able to convince your audience as they cannot process all those figures. Stick to a couple of important data points in the executive summary slide – and maybe you can elaborate on why these are depicted here.

5. Give an attention-grabbing slide title

The title or heading is where anyone’s attention naturally gravitates to at first; use this to your advantage. The title must clearly state the important takeaway and set the stage for the rest of the slide.

6. Ensure it can be scanned

Even summary slides can have tons of information, making them difficult to go through; you can make it easy for your audience to consume such a slide by cutting it up into sections that can be easily noticed. For example, you could put graphs and related text in the same group. You can also use text headings for every section so that any person who is skimming through for a few seconds will get the important points. You can also do the same for visuals – like bar charts, for example.

To Conclude

As your executive summary is the very first page or slides your audience will see, it is critical to perfect it. Now, with these tips and tricks, we’re sure it’s no longer a problem! Do you have any more tips for creating a compelling executive summary slide? Let us know.

At SlideBazaar, we help you create engaging and memorable presentations. Choose from our collection of professional templates or opt for our custom design services for a personalized touch. Your presentations deserve to be elevated to new heights, and we’re here to help you achieve just that!

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Everything You Need To Know About Writing a Summary

Wondering why summary writing is important? Knowing how to compose one is an essential skill not just for students but for anyone who wants to understand and communicate complex ideas clearly. In this post, we’ll provide five easy steps and more to teach you how to write a summary.

White text over yellow background reads "How To Write a Summary."

What is a summary, how to write a summary in five easy steps, example of a summary, tips on writing a good summary.

Mastering the art of summary writing is crucial, but do you know why? Well, you might be surprised to learn that knowing how to craft one can help you become a better learner and communicator. If you have yet to sharpen this skill set, don’t worry. Below, we’ll go through five easy steps to write a good summary , complete with examples and tips.

Let’s begin!

Graphic shows illustration of an anthropomorphized piece of paper, alongside a paperclip, with text that reads "Writing a Summary."

A summary is a concise distillation of a larger body of work that briefly but thoroughly encapsulates its main ideas and essential points. It is designed to give the reader a clear understanding of the original project without needing to read it in full.

Being able to restate in your own words what you’ve just read is a sign that you’ve truly absorbed and understood the information. In contrast, merely memorizing facts is not a good indication of comprehension. In other words, if you can’t concisely summarize something, you haven’t fully grasped the concept.

The word summary is a noun that refers to the “concise but comprehensive rewriting of an original body of work.”

I had to write a summary of one of Mark Twain’s stories.

The verb form of this word is to summarize , which means “to provide a summary of something.”

She missed the presentation, so I summarized it for her.

Now that we’ve reviewed what a summary entails, let’s get to the fun part: writing one!

Keep in mind that summaries can encompass a wide range of subjects, including books, articles, movies, meetings, and more. Also, a summarization isn’t necessarily always confined to writing; you can verbally summarize something, too. However, the steps below are designed to help you compose a written summary.

1. Read and take notes.

First things first: Read or watch the original work you’ll be summarizing. While you do, take brief pauses and explain to yourself what you just read or watched. As the main ideas start becoming clear to you, take notes. This will make the writing process easier.

2. Start with an introductory sentence.

In academic and formal contexts, summaries typically begin with an introductory sentence that states the work’s title and author. This sets the stage for the reader by immediately identifying what is being discussed. However, if the work has already been identified, it may not be necessary to start with the title and author. For example, if you’re in a class that is currently discussing Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, then you may not need to include that information in the introduction.

3. Explain the main points.

Identify and elaborate on the main arguments or messages, and seek supporting evidence, topic sentences, or thesis statements .

It’s also a good idea to focus on the what, how, and why:

What are the key ideas or events?
How do they develop throughout the work?
Why are they important to the work’s overall message?

Remember, be selective in what you include. Summaries are about the bigger picture, not the small details.

4. Organize your summary to ensure a smooth flow.

Your summary should be coherent and easy to read. Therefore, you should use transition words to ensure logical progression from one idea to the next. It’s best to structure your summary similarly to the original work. Despite being a condensed version, it should still stand on its own as a cohesive piece of writing. In other words, ensure that there is a clear beginning, middle, and end.

5. Conclude by restating the author’s thesis.

Finish your summary with a clear statement that effectively captures the author’s main argument or purpose. Keep in mind that the conclusion of a summary should not introduce new information but instead provide a sense of closure. This will leave the reader with a comprehensive understanding of the original text.

Illustration shows summary of the steps to writing a summary.

Imagine you’re taking a class on Shakespeare, and you’re assigned to write a one-paragraph summary of Romeo and Juliet. It should be similar to the following example:

“Romeo and Juliet” is a tragic play that tells the story of two young, star-crossed lovers. It begins with a street brawl between servants from the wealthy Montague and Capulet families and ends with two shocking deaths that ultimately reconcile a long-time feud. Romeo, a Montague, falls in love with Juliet, a Capulet, at a masquerade ball. Despite their families’ conflict, they marry in secret. After Romeo is banished for avenging the death of his friend, Juliet fakes her death to be with him. The plan goes awry, leading to Romeo and Juliet’s actual deaths. When the families learn of the tragic sequence of events, they decide to end their bitter feud once and for all.

It’s important to note that the length of the summary depends on the assignment’s instructions. It is possible to write a longer summary of Romeo and Juliet, if needed, by providing some more details and elaborating on the play’s themes.

How Long Should a Summary Be?

Some guidelines suggest that summaries should be 10%-30% of the original work, so it often depends on the complexity of the text and the intended purpose. If you’re writing a summary for school and are unsure how long it should be, ask your instructor for clarification.

As you work on your summary, keep the following tips in mind:

Take notes as you read.

We already mentioned this, but it’s worth reiterating. Taking notes as you read the original work is an easy way to simplify the summary writing process. The notes don’t have to be extensive; they just have to help you remember the important points.

Use your own words.

Don’t just copy and paste from the original work. Instead, analyze it and restate it. Imagine you and a friend just read an article. You understand it, but your friend doesn’t. You wouldn’t just reread it, hoping that a second reading would miraculously become clearer, right? No, you’d reword it. That’s precisely what you have to do when writing a summary.

Do not include opinions or interpretations.

A summary’s purpose is to restate the original text concisely. Avoid writing about your opinions or judgments about the work, and do not include elaborate interpretations.

Ensure proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

You can follow all the steps above and even ensure you abide by these tips. But if your summary is riddled with errors, it won’t be as effective. A simple way to ensure flawless spelling, grammar, and punctuation is to use LanguageTool as your personal writing assistant. Not only will it correct any mistakes, but it will also enhance your style. Plus, it supports more than thirty languages and dialects, so whether you’re writing in your native tongue or your second language, your instructors will be utterly impressed with your prose.

Go ahead and give it a try today!

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How to Summarize a Presentation: 5 Easy Steps

Table of Contents

Introduction

Different people have varying needs for summaries. For a student, summaries are a great way to keep notes. They help them during their exam preparations.

The reason presentations are used is that they can, paired with images and graphs, effectively utilize the least amount of text. However, even these need to be summarized frequently because the executives do not have a lot of time to go through an entire presentation.In this post, we will check out some ways to summarize presentations.

Using a Tool

They can use summarizing tools to generate succinct summaries of presentations or plans/strategies.

Summarizing tools are widely available on the internet. And a lot of them are free to use. A great text summarizer can summarize your content in the shortest possible time using the number of words you like. Some summarizers come with the option of condensing the source material into a paragraph or a series of bullet points. Since there are a lot of tools to pick from, you can try out a few and use the ones that suit your needs best.

By Hand/Manually

Read and understand the presentation, segment the material into sections, identify key points, write the summary, compare to the original and revise.

Summarizing can be a difficult task depending on what kind of topic is being talked about or who is doing the summarizing. Some people have a way with words and they are naturally able to say things in a concise manner, while others have to learn how to do so.

Summarizing is a skill that is required in presentations and speeches. These are both mediums using which information and possibly new concepts are provided to the audience. At the end of both, a summary is required to nicely round up the entire topic. Using summarizing tools is an easier way as compared to manually writing a summary since they save a lot of time and effort.

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3 Tips for Designing a Killer Summary Slide to Make Your Presentation Stand Out

February 14, 2023
Presentation & Slide Design tips

Last Updated on March 6, 2024 by Peter Z

When it comes to presenting information, one of the most important aspects is the ability to summarize insights effectively. A summary slide is a powerful tool that can help you conclude your presentation concisely while highlighting the most important aspects.

In this blog, we will share inspiration on how to create such a wrap-up slide that will make your presentations more impactful and memorable.

Three things to remember while creating the summary slide

A summary slide typically highlights the top 3 to 5 crucial points discussed during a presentation, while being visually appealing and attention-grabbing. Summaries aid in the recollection of critical details.

In our summary slide example, three key components can be identified: a header section, a section for a more detailed description, and an icon representing the content. Each summary point is an individual element enclosed in a simple arrow shape.

Proper differentiation of text is crucial, such as using a larger font size for headers and underlining them with colored borders (e.g. blue). Icons are overlaid on a background, which is preferably a thematically-related photo to the slide or presentation. The background should occupy roughly a quarter of the slide, rather than split it evenly. This design approach prevents slide overload and creates a visually appealing result.

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How to Summarize a Presentation

How to structure a presentation.

Summarizing a presentation provides the opportunity to leave a lasting impression on the audience. The concluding remarks of a presentation are what usually sticks in the audience's head. At one level, the concluding remarks of a summary are like sound bites. They are short and condensed version of the the presentation. If someone missed the actual presentation and only heard the summary, they should have a good idea about the essence of the presentation.

Tell the audience that you are concluding the presentation. This sets the context for the summary and prepares the audience members for your concluding remarks.

Briefly summarize the primary points of the presentation. Avoid digressing into new information, arguments or points of view. Also avoid running a point into the ground that you have already discussed in detail during the presentation. The point of the summary is to remind the audience about the essential core of the presentation. Concentrate on the major ideas and the argument you made that supported the ideas..

Inform the audience about future work that you are interested in pursuing. The subject matter of a presentation usually has room for growth,development or elaboration. It is impossible to cover all of the bases in the time span of a presentation.

Conclude the summary be thanking the audience for listening. Tell the audience that you would be happy to respond to any questions they may having that relate to the presentation.

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Robert Russell began writing online professionally in 2010. He holds a Ph.D. in philosophy and is currently working on a book project exploring the relationship between art, entertainment and culture. He is the guitar player for the nationally touring cajun/zydeco band Creole Stomp. Russell travels with his laptop and writes many of his articles on the road between gigs.

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Design Ideas for your Presentation Summary Slide

November 7, 2017 - Dom Barnard

As mentioned in this article , a summary slide will be more beneficial to your audience than a ‘Thank You’ slide. It gives the audience a chance to recap on the main points of the presentation and gives them areas to think about for any audience questions.

What should be included in the summary slide?

A summary slide should include the main points of your presentation which support the message you are trying to get across. You can also add your contact details, such as email address, as people are likely to photograph this slide which their mobiles to remind them of the presentation. Keep the summary slide up when you are going through the questions and answers session.

When going through the summary, briefly explain each point and if possible, highlight the summary point in a different colour when you are talking about it. This keeps it as simple as possible for the audience as their attention span will have reduced by end of your presentation .

Design and content tips

MS PowerPoint offers different well designed layouts for your summary slide, go to Home – Slides Panel – Layout and choose a suitable layout.

Another tip is to hyperlink the points in your summery slide, in case you are asked a question about one of the points and you want to quickly refer to that slide in more detail.

You can also include visual images in the summary if they were used earlier in the presentation. People are much better at remembering images than verbal information. When talking about a summary point, you can bring up an image from that section of the presentation to jog the audiences memory.

Some simple examples

Example summary slide for a presentaiton with contact information

Basic summary slide with main points and contact information on it. The key message of the presentation is highlighted on the right hand side.

Example summary slide for a presentaiton with an image

This summary slide is a little more visual, with the key points still mentioned on the slide.

Example summary slide for a presentaiton with a diagram

This diagram gives the audience a little more context to the information around it. The audience can see how this information leads to improving skills.

How to Create a Summary Slide in PowerPoint?

A powerpoint slide with a summary of key points

Creating a summary slide in PowerPoint is an essential part of putting together a presentation that grabs and holds your audience’s attention. Not only does it help to reinforce the key themes of your presentation, but it also serves as a powerful tool for summarizing complex information and data in an easy-to-understand format for your audience. In this article, we will explore the importance of a summary slide in PowerPoint presentations, how to plan and design an effective summary slide, and some best practices and tips for creating an engaging and informative summary slide.

Table of Contents

The Importance of a Summary Slide in PowerPoint Presentations

One of the key reasons why a summary slide is so important in PowerPoint presentations is its ability to reinforce the main themes and ideas of your presentation. By highlighting the most important points and takeaways, a summary slide can help to ensure that your audience remembers your presentation long after it is over. Additionally, a summary slide provides a clear and concise way to summarize complex data or information, helping to make your presentation more accessible and engaging for your audience.

Another benefit of including a summary slide in your PowerPoint presentation is that it can serve as a roadmap for your audience. By providing a clear overview of the topics covered in your presentation, a summary slide can help your audience to follow along and stay engaged throughout the entire presentation. This can be especially helpful for longer presentations or those that cover a lot of complex information.

Finally, a summary slide can also be a useful tool for reinforcing your call to action or key message. By summarizing the main points of your presentation and highlighting the key takeaways, you can help to ensure that your audience understands the importance of your message and is motivated to take action. This can be particularly important in business or marketing presentations, where the ultimate goal is to persuade your audience to take a specific action or make a purchase.

Understanding the Purpose of a Summary Slide in Your Presentation

Before you start creating your summary slide, it’s essential to understanding its purpose in your overall presentation. The summary slide is typically the last slide of your presentation, and it should summarize the most important points covered in your presentation along with a memorable final thought. For example, if you’re delivering a sales pitch, your summary slide should highlight the key benefits of your product or service and provide a clear call to action for your audience.

Another important aspect of a summary slide is that it helps your audience to remember the key takeaways from your presentation. By providing a concise summary of the main points, your audience is more likely to retain the information and be able to recall it later. Additionally, a well-crafted summary slide can also serve as a visual aid to reinforce your message and leave a lasting impression on your audience.

Planning Your Summary Slide: What to Include and What to Leave Out

When planning your summary slide, it’s important to strike the right balance between including enough information to summarize your presentation effectively while also avoiding overwhelming your audience with too much detail. Some key elements to consider including in your summary slide include the main themes and ideas covered in your presentation, key data points or statistics, any notable quotes or testimonials, and a final call to action. However, be sure to leave out any extraneous information that isn’t directly relevant to your main message or themes.

Another important factor to consider when planning your summary slide is the visual design. Your summary slide should be visually appealing and easy to read, with clear and concise text and graphics. Use a consistent color scheme and font throughout your presentation to create a cohesive and professional look. Additionally, consider using visual aids such as charts, graphs, or images to help illustrate your main points and make your summary slide more engaging for your audience.

Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Summary Slide in PowerPoint

Creating a summary slide in PowerPoint is a straightforward process that can be accomplished using a few simple steps. First, choose the template or design for your summary slide. Most PowerPoint templates include a suitable summary slide layout, so you don’t need to start from scratch. Next, consider the key message and themes of your presentation and decide what information to include in your summary slide. Be sure to keep your text concise and focused, and use bullet points or other visual aids to help keep things clear and easy to understand. Finally, add any relevant images, charts, or graphs to your summary slide, and make sure to use fonts and colors that are consistent with your overall presentation design.

It’s important to note that the summary slide should be the last slide in your presentation. This slide should provide a quick overview of the key points and takeaways from your presentation. It’s also a good idea to include a call to action or next steps on this slide, so your audience knows what to do next. Remember, the summary slide is often the slide that your audience will remember the most, so make sure it’s clear, concise, and visually appealing.

Designing an Eye-Catching Summary Slide for Your Presentation

While the content of your summary slide is essential, the design also plays a crucial role in creating an engaging and memorable summary slide. To design an eye-catching summary slide, consider using bold colors and fonts, incorporating relevant images or graphics, and using animations or slide transitions to help emphasize key points. Remember to keep your design consistent with your overall presentation theme and style.

Another important aspect to consider when designing your summary slide is the placement of information. You want to make sure that the most important information is prominently displayed and easy to read. This can be achieved by using larger font sizes or bolding key words. Additionally, consider using bullet points or numbered lists to break up information and make it easier to digest.

Finally, don’t forget about the importance of white space. A cluttered summary slide can be overwhelming and difficult to read. Leave enough space between elements to create a clean and organized design. This will not only make your summary slide more visually appealing, but it will also make it easier for your audience to understand and remember the information presented.

Tips and Tricks for Creating an Effective Summary Slide in PowerPoint

When creating your summary slide, there are a few tips and tricks that can help you to ensure its effectiveness. First, consider using a strong headline or tagline that sums up the main message or takeaway from your presentation. Second, use bullets or numbers to break down complex information into manageable chunks, making it easier for your audience to understand. Finally, use visuals like images or charts to help illustrate your key points, making them more memorable and engaging for your audience.

Another important tip to keep in mind when creating a summary slide is to keep it simple and concise. Avoid cluttering the slide with too much information or unnecessary details. Stick to the most important points and use clear and concise language to convey your message effectively.

Additionally, it can be helpful to include a call to action on your summary slide. This could be a request for feedback, a call to visit your website or social media pages, or an invitation to continue the conversation after the presentation. Including a call to action can help to keep your audience engaged and interested in your message beyond the presentation itself.

How to Customize Your Summary Slide with Animations and Transitions

PowerPoint offers a wide range of options for customizing your summary slide with animations and transitions. Animations can be used to bring attention to key points or data, while transitions can help to create a seamless flow between slides. When using animations and transitions, be sure to use them sparingly and consistently throughout your entire presentation.

Best Practices for Using Images and Graphics on Your Summary Slide

Images and graphics can be powerful tools for enhancing the impact of your summary slide. When using images and graphics, be sure to choose visuals that are relevant to your presentation and that help to reinforce your main message or themes. Additionally, use high-quality images and graphics that are visually appealing and easy to understand for your audience.

Adding Charts and Graphs to Your Summary Slide: A Comprehensive Guide

If your presentation includes complex data or information, charts and graphs can be an effective way to present it in a clear and easy-to-understand format. When adding charts and graphs to your summary slide, consider using simple designs and labels that are easy to read and interpret. Additionally, be sure to only include the most important data points or information on your summary slide, leaving out any unnecessary information that could confuse your audience.

Creating a Memorable Conclusion with Your Summary Slide

The last slide of your presentation should leave a lasting impression on your audience. To create a memorable conclusion with your summary slide, consider including a final call to action or memorable quote that reinforces your presentation’s main message. Additionally, use images, graphics, or animations to help emphasize your main points and leave a lasting impression on your audience.

How to Use a Summary Slide to Engage Your Audience

A summary slide can also be an effective tool for engaging your audience throughout your presentation. By previewing your summary slide at the beginning of your presentation, your audience will have a clear understanding of what to expect and will be more engaged and attentive throughout the rest of your presentation. Additionally, use your summary slide to encourage audience participation by asking questions or soliciting feedback on your key messages.

Examples of Amazing Summary Slides: Inspiration for Your Next Presentation

Looking for some inspiration for your next summary slide? There are plenty of examples of amazing summary slides that you can draw inspiration from. Some great examples include TED Talks and other presentations from thought leaders in your industry. Take note of how they use visuals, text, and other design elements to create engaging and memorable summary slides.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Creating a Summary Slide in PowerPoint

When creating your summary slide, there are a few common mistakes to avoid. These include including too much information or detail, using fonts or colors that are difficult to read, and failing to use visuals or other design elements effectively. Additionally, be sure to proofread your summary slide carefully to avoid any spelling or grammatical errors that could detract from your message.

Wrap Up: Final Thoughts on Creating a Perfect Summary Slide in PowerPoint

Creating an effective summary slide is a crucial part of any PowerPoint presentation. By following the tips and best practices outlined in this article, you can create a summary slide that not only reinforces the key themes and ideas of your presentation but also engages and informs your audience in a memorable and effective way.

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How to Make a “Good” Presentation “Great”

Guy Kawasaki

Remember: Less is more.

A strong presentation is so much more than information pasted onto a series of slides with fancy backgrounds. Whether you’re pitching an idea, reporting market research, or sharing something else, a great presentation can give you a competitive advantage, and be a powerful tool when aiming to persuade, educate, or inspire others. Here are some unique elements that make a presentation stand out.

Fonts: Sans Serif fonts such as Helvetica or Arial are preferred for their clean lines, which make them easy to digest at various sizes and distances. Limit the number of font styles to two: one for headings and another for body text, to avoid visual confusion or distractions.
Colors: Colors can evoke emotions and highlight critical points, but their overuse can lead to a cluttered and confusing presentation. A limited palette of two to three main colors, complemented by a simple background, can help you draw attention to key elements without overwhelming the audience.
Pictures: Pictures can communicate complex ideas quickly and memorably but choosing the right images is key. Images or pictures should be big (perhaps 20-25% of the page), bold, and have a clear purpose that complements the slide’s text.
Layout: Don’t overcrowd your slides with too much information. When in doubt, adhere to the principle of simplicity, and aim for a clean and uncluttered layout with plenty of white space around text and images. Think phrases and bullets, not sentences.

As an intern or early career professional, chances are that you’ll be tasked with making or giving a presentation in the near future. Whether you’re pitching an idea, reporting market research, or sharing something else, a great presentation can give you a competitive advantage, and be a powerful tool when aiming to persuade, educate, or inspire others.

Guy Kawasaki is the chief evangelist at Canva and was the former chief evangelist at Apple. Guy is the author of 16 books including Think Remarkable : 9 Paths to Transform Your Life and Make a Difference.

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5 quick tips on how to write a summary for a presentation

Table of contents, 5 quick tips on how to write a summary for a presentation.

Before writing a summary for a presentation , make sure to time your talk! You only have fifteen minutes to deliver your presentation . Creating effective notes will help you get your point across in a short time. Don’t write out your entire presentation – use your outline to create quick reminders of what you want to say. Make sure to make the text large enough for the audience to easily read.

Using A Non-Linear Writing Tool Like Milanote

If you have a lot of information to cover, you can write a summary for a presentation by using a tool that makes it easier to manage your ideas. It also helps you to keep notes organized . A non-linear writing tool such as Milanote can be used for this purpose. It allows you to make notes without following a traditional writing style.

Using a non-linear writing app like Milanote can be helpful if you want to write a comprehensive, concise summary for a presentation . You can keep notes on the go with its free version and competitive pricing. However, if you’re not a creative type, you might consider using another tool such as Evernote, Simplenote, Genei, and Roam Research.

When writing a non-linear narrative, you can try using Milanote or Evernote to write a summary for a presentation . This tool lets you skip the traditional chronological order of events, making the story more engaging and exciting for the audience. When creating a non-linear story, be sure to use it only when it is necessary to drive the story forward. However, you might end up with an unresolved mess in the first draft. If you do this, you might surprise your audience with a twist that you didn’t see coming.

One advantage of using a non-linear writing tool like this one is that it allows you to create many points of reference in one document. This helps you avoid bad links and can help you spot mistakes. Another advantage of non-linear writing is that it’s much easier to edit and sift through large amounts of information, allowing you to whittle it down to the bare essentials.

Using A Presentation Template

There are several benefits to using a presentation template to write a summary for a presentation . It can make it easier to get your point across in a concise way. This is particularly useful if you are presenting a technical or business presentation. This way, you can make sure to include everything you need to include in your presentation. A good example of a template is a decktopus template. This presentation tool lets you create slides , create a summary for a presentation , and present your information in an organized and professional manner.

Using a template will help you to write a summary for a presentation that is more concise, comprehensive, and data-driven than your own. As the title of your document is often the first thing that an audience will look at, you must ensure it conveys the most important takeaway from your presentation. This will set the tone for the remainder of the document. It also makes it easier for you to highlight the main points and showcase the most important benefits.

Another advantage to using a template is that you can choose the color scheme that suits your presentation and target audience. For instance, if your presentation has a lot of graphics, you can use a color palette that is more appealing to your target audience. For the text on the presentation, you can use a font that has a higher contrast than your title slide. The same applies to the background color. A dark background might be better for a conference presentation, while a light background may be more appropriate for a corporate presentation.

Using a template for a summary for a presentation will give you the confidence you need to give an effective presentation. It will also help you create an attractive and visually appealing presentation that will keep your audience engaged. It also saves you time and helps you focus on the content of your presentation, rather than the presentation template itself. If you’re a beginner in creating a presentation, use a template and make changes as needed.

Avoiding Wordy Slides

During a presentation, the audience will read the text on the slides and any unspoken physical cues to determine if it is relevant. One of the most common mistakes that presenters make is using slides to write full-fledged essays. Instead of using the slides as a text-heavy substitute for the narrative portion of the presentation, draw out the most relevant and immediate information, and then feature those core ideas on the slides. Alternatively, some presenters use the “6×6 technique”: six bullet points or lines of text per slide.

Wordy slides can overwhelm the audience. Educators often fill their slides with wordy information, leaving no room for images or other visual media. This leads to collective information overload. The best approach is to use a limited number of words on each slide to support the overall message of the presentation. You can also add a few visual elements to the slides if you need to, but do not overload them.

Remember that people have limited memory capacity. Keeping your slides brief and to the point will make your audience more receptive to your content. It is also easier to recall and digest information if you use diagrams or other visuals to convey the main points. You should also remember that wordy slides are boring and unprofessional. To avoid this problem, use a short summary for a presentation or outline for each slide.

Instead of reading your slides, make sure to summarize your ideas verbally to a listener who doesn’t know the topic. Then, use a whiteboard to write down your points. Keep your slides simple and concise – use the 5×5 rule, and make use of images in your presentation. You may also need to practice your talk in front of an audience member to become more comfortable.

Keeping Eye Contact With The Audience

One of the best tips for a successful presentation is to keep eye contact with your audience throughout your speech. While it can be difficult to keep eye contact with every member of the audience, you should aim to make eye contact for as long as possible. While you may be tempted to glance away at your notes or props, this is actually a bad idea, and could make the audience feel uncomfortable. Instead, focus on the people in front of you.

While it may not be practical to maintain eye contact with your audience during a presentation, it’s important to remember that it’s important to make your words memorable. Eye contact is not just a conversation between you and your audience; it’s a way to communicate and establish rapport with your audience. So, while writing your summary for a presentation , be sure to maintain eye contact with your audience during key points like your opening, closing, and any critical lines.

Another way to make a connection with your audience is to keep your eye contact with them throughout your presentation. This is important because the more eye contact you maintain, the more your audience will be engaged with your speech and will respond positively. This will create a bond between you and your audience, and it will be easier to keep your audience engaged and interested. However, if you don’t make eye contact, you’ll lose your audience’s attention and your audience will feel ignored.

Another way to make eye contact is to show that you’re confident and prepared. When you are able to show confidence in yourself, your audience will be more engaged with your speech. Not only will they show nodding and smiling, but they’ll be more attentive and willing to participate in the speech. Maintaining eye contact with your audience will help you establish a personal connection with them and keep them interested in what you’re saying.

Using A Progress Bar To Indicate Where You Are In Your Presentation

A progress bar shows how much work is complete or in progress. This visual cue is useful for many purposes. It can indicate how much budget has been spent on a project and how long the presentation will take to complete. It can also serve as a visual cue of how many slides are currently on display. There are a number of ways to create a progress bar, and these methods all involve creating a shape that resembles a bar.

Using a progress bar to indicate where your presentation is in its completion is an easy way to keep the audience updated on the progress of the slides. You can also choose to show a percentage of the slides to show how much work is done in each slide. Progress bars can be visually appealing or simple and subtle, depending on how you decide to use them. It is important to keep in mind that a progress bar can make the presentation more enticing to your audience.

Another way to create a progress bar is to use a macro in PowerPoint. This macro automatically adjusts itself based on how many slides are in your presentation. Make sure to select the appropriate shape for the bar, and remember to enter a unique name for it. Using the keyboard shortcut CTRL+D, you can rotate the last shape in the progress bar 180 degrees and complete the bar.

If you are presenting a complex task, using a progress bar to indicate where you are can make it easier for your audience to follow along. Progress bars are particularly helpful when an operation is long, and they provide a visual indication of the time remaining. When used with a progress bar, it helps your audience to be aware of any failures or delays. If you do not have the time to provide accurate information, you can use a percentage of completion instead

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60 Effective PowerPoint Presentation Tips & Tricks (Giant List)

Here's a PowerPoint presentation tips and tricks guide that takes you through how to make a good PowerPoint presentation.

The best PowerPoint presentations shouldn’t be remembered. Instead, they should fall into the background to support you and the message you’re trying to get across.

Unlike good PowerPoint presentations , bad PowerPoint presentations are a distraction. You may remember them, but not in a good way.

You’ve seen them before. They might have millions of lines of text. Or a disjointed flow to the slides. Even worse, some slides feature ugly photos and poor design that detract from the message you’re trying to get across. That can even hurt your credibility as a professional or speaker.

This article will take you from finding your initial topic to learning how to make a great PowerPoint presentation. Our guide covers everything in between so that you learn how to present a PowerPoint like a pro.

These Microsoft PowerPoint presentation tips and guidelines are organized into sections. So cut straight to the advice you need and come back when you’re ready for the next steps.

Guide to Making Great Presentations (Free eBook Download)

Making Great Business Presentations eBook promo

Also, download our Free eBook: The Complete Guide to Making Great Presentations . It’s the deepest resource for learning effective presentation skills for a PPT.

This eBook covers the complete presentation process. It takes the PowerPoint tips and tricks you learn in this article further. Learn how to write your presentation, design it like a pro, and prepare it to present powerfully. It’s another great source for presentation design tips.

Master PowerPoint (Free Course): 15 Essential Tips

This article is full of helpful tips so you can build a powerful presentation. You can also find more PowerPoint tips in this video lesson:

To learn even more about how to make a PowerPoint look good, review the huge list of tips below.

What Makes a PowerPoint Presentation Effective?

Knowing how to use PowerPoint and work within it quickly is helpful. But more important is making a good presentation that hits all your goals. A great PowerPoint presentation is:

Prepared to Win . Research, plan, and prepare your presentation professionally. It helps you deliver an effective message to your target audience.
Designed Correctly . Your visual points should stand out without overwhelming your audience. A good PowerPoint visual shouldn’t complicate your message.
Practiced to Perfection . Rehearse your timing and delivery so that your points land as practiced with a live audience.
Delivered With Poise . Present with a relaxed inner calm and confident outward projection. Give your audience warmth, excitement, and energy.
Free From Mistakes . Avoid typos, cheesy clip art, and mistakes like reading directly from your slides.

Consider this your all-inclusive guide to how to make a good presentation. We’ll look at preparing your presentation and explore how to design it in PowerPoint. Plus, we’ll cover how to practice and nail your delivery successfully come presentation time.

We’ll also address what not to do in these tips for PowerPoint presentations—so you can sidestep any big mistakes. Now let’s dig into these tips for effective PowerPoint presentations.

Killer Presentation Preparation Tips to Get Started Right

Before even opening PowerPoint, start by addressing these things. These Microsoft PowerPoint tips and tricks will ensure that you’re prepared for your presentation:

1. Know Your Stuff

Your presentation isn’t about your slides alone. It’s about the message you want to get across. Before filling in stats, facts and figures, think about the narrative that’ll be discussed, why, and in what order.

2. Write It Out

Start in a Word or Google doc, and storyboard or script the entire presentation. This will give you an idea of how the information presented will flow and how viewers will see it in sequence. Learn the complete writing process .

3. Highlight What’s Most Important

A presentation covers the most crucial pieces only. Whatever you’ve been working on that led to this—a paper, a work project, a new product design—doesn’t need to be shared in its entirety. Pick key points and put the rest in an “Appendix” to refer to during the Q&A session at the end.

4. Know Your Audience

How you talk to a room full of medical professionals should be different from the way you address a room full of young entrepreneurs. Everything, in fact, is different: your topic selection, the language you use, the examples you give to illustrate points. The little bits of humor you include should be tailored specifically with your target audience in mind.

Understand your audience’s needs to create a successful PowerPoint presentation. Customize your content to meet their specific requirements.

5. Rehearse! (Yes, Already)

It’s never too early to get used to the rhythm of your presentation and take note of points you want to emphasize. While saying it out loud, you’ll start to develop a “feel” for the material. You’ll notice that some things work well, while others don’t and might need to be worked around.

6. Rewrite After You Rehearse

As you’re rehearsing your presentation, you’re bound to stumble over sections that don’t quite flow naturally. Instead of reworking your delivery, it might be time to consider the content and rewrite the areas that served as stumbling blocks.

“Editing is hard. ‘It’s good enough,’ is a phrase wannabes use. Leaders take editing seriously.” – Anthony Trendl

The most important part of creating a great presentation is the writing stage. The second most important stage is rewriting.

7. Share With a Friend

If the stakes are high for your presentation, it’s never too early to get feedback from those that you trust. Here’s an article that helps you collaborate as a team on a PowerPoint presentation. Get PowerPoint design tips from those that you trust when you collaborate.

Simple Tips to Design Your PowerPoint Presentation Better

Second only to you (the information you bring and how you present it) is your PowerPoint slides. If not designed well, a PowerPoint can be disengaging or distracting (regardless of the content quality). Here are some presentation design tips to make sure this doesn’t happen to you:

8. Keep Your Slides Simple

This is one of the most important PowerPoint presentation tips to follow when designing your slides. Keep in mind that less is more (effective.) A cluttered slide is distracting. It causes confusion for an audience: Which part of the slide should I focus on? Should I read the slide or pay attention to the presenter?

A simple, visually appealing slide will engage your audience, keeping them on track with your main points. Here’s an example of a simple slide that serves its purpose perfectly:

Minimalist slide templates like Nook can help you resist the urge to clutter your slides.

9. Limit Words on Your Slides

Piggybacking on the last point, less is more effective. If possible, avoid bullets altogether. Otherwise cut them to just a few simple words. The audience should be listening, not reading.

10. Use High-Quality Photos and Graphics

One of the most important tips for quality PowerPoint presentations is to use high-quality photos and graphics.

Earlier in this tutorial, you saw Envato Elements, an all-you-can-download service with PPT tips inside of templates. Those pre-built designs are a beginner’s best friend. They’re even better when paired with Elements’ unlimited library of stock photos .

People are more likely to take you seriously if your presentation is visually appealing. Users view attractive design as more usable. Similarly, they’ll view a more attractive PowerPoint as more effective.

11. Use Accurate and Relevant Charts and Graphs

Charts and graphs can also be distracting if they’re not used right. Make sure your information design is simple and clean so that the audience doesn’t spend the entire time trying to decipher what your X axis says. Learn more about PPT data presentation .

12. Use High-Quality, Fresh Templates

Have you seen the old PowerPoint template that looks like worn paper and uses ink splashes? Yeah, so has your audience. Templates can be distracting if they’re too basic or if the design feels dated. You need one with great design options.

Costs are always a concern. But when you use Envato Elements, you’ve got everything you need to create a great PowerPoint presentation . That’s thanks to the incredible all-you-can-download subscription package.

The best PowerPoint tips and tricks can hardly compare to the value of using a template while building your presentation.

On Envato Elements, there are thousands of PowerPoint design templates that are ready to use. Instead of designing a presentation from scratch, start with a template! Just add your specifics to the placeholders.

Templates like Galaxi are impressively designed and waiting for your slide specifics.

The best PowerPoint design tips save you time. And there’s no tip more powerful than this one: use a pre-built template . It helps you master how to present a PowerPoint without spending all your time in the app.

13. Choose Appropriate Fonts

Fonts are an important part of engaging your audience. Fonts and typography choices have a subconscious effect on viewers. They can characterize your company’s presentation and brand either positively or negatively. Make sure that you’re choosing fonts that are professional and modern.

14. Choose Color Well

Like font choice, colors cause specific subconscious reactions from viewers. Choosing an outdated color combination for your presentation will render it ineffective.

Below is an example of the Popsicle PowerPoint template , which has a modern presentation color choice:

The Popsicle PowerPoint template highlights how harmonized color palettes can create beautiful slides.

15. Clean + Simple Formatting Makes All the Difference!

We’ve got a full tutorial on how to make a good presentation slide . Give it a read through and review the accompanying video. Just remember, less is more. The focus is you and your message , not your slides.

16. Make Sure All Objects Are Aligned

A simple way to create a well-designed presentation is to make sure all items on a slide are intentionally aligned. To do this, hold down Shift and select all the objects you want to include. Then choose Arrange in the options bar and apply Alignment Type .

17. Limit Punctuation

This isn’t the place for exclamation points. Emphasize your points (while speaking). Don’t enlist punctuation to do this for you. (Leave these at home!!!)

18. Avoid Over-Formatting Your Points

This PowerPoint presentation tip is simple. There’s no need to have every word of every bullet point capitalized, or to have all your bullet points in title case. If possible, drop bullets altogether. Again, the simpler, the better!

Limit your text formatting, including reducing the use of bullets, underline, and other effects. Compare the before example on the left to the revised version on the right.

19. Combine Information With Graphics in PowerPoint

One of the most powerful presentation skills for PPT is using infographics. With the right type of visuals, slides come to life and reduce the text in favor of graphics.

Infographics help combine information with graphics. It’s easier to explain complex ideas when you use visual formats that are intuitive.

Practice Presentation Tips: Rehearse, Rehearse, Rehearse!

Delivery is probably more important than the actual content. Here’s how to become more aware of your own unique ticks, and how to present like a polished pro:

20. I’ll Say It Again, Rehearse!

Just do it. Again and again. Experiment with pauses, gestures, and body language. Practice around one hour for every minute of your speech.

21. Practice With a Timer

Consistency is key to an effective PowerPoint presentation. The timing should be similar (ideally the same) each time you rehearse. This one will especially pay off when it’s time to present in front of your audience.

22. Slow It Down

Many of the best speakers today intentionally speak slowly. You’ll have the chance to emphasize, appear more thoughtful, and make your information easier to digest.

23. Pause More Often

Like the prior tip, pausing more often allows your main points to be emphasized and gives time for information to sink in. You need to let key points breathe a little before rushing into the next section.

24. Record Yourself

Use your phone’s voice recorder. Assess and critique yourself. Consider:

Are your pauses too short or too long?
Are you speaking slowly enough? Too slow?
When you’re nervous, does your voice get high like the mice in Cinderella?

It’s always weird to hear your own voice recorded; don’t stress it. Use this as a time to adjust.

25. Choose Three Focal Points in the Room

If you stare at the same spot (or even creepier, the same person) the entire time, your presentation will be ineffective (and awkward.) People will be distracted by you, wondering what you’re staring at.

Try this: pick three points in the room (typically: left, center, right). Take time to direct your delivery toward each physical focal point in the room. Also, focus on the center when making your primary points.

26. Vary Your Sentence Length

This makes you sound more interesting, and it’s easier for your audience to follow. Think short and punchy. Or go long and complex for dramatic effect.

27. Modulate!

Don’t speak in monotone for your whole presentation. Be conscious of raising and lowering your voice tone. Otherwise, people will tune you out, and you’ll come across like the teacher in Charlie Brown.

28. Practice in Front of a Mirror

What you look like is as important as how you sound. Pretend you’re having a normal conversation, and allow your hands to move with your speech to emphasize your points. Just don’t get carried away! (I’m thinking Brene Brown or President Obama , not your Aunt Jamie after a few gin and tonics.)

29. Use “Present Mode” When Rehearsing

When you finally are ready to hit the Present button in PowerPoint, make sure you use the Present Mode option. This allows you (and only you) to view extra notes about each slide—just in case you forget something!

30. Practice With New Audiences

If possible, try doing a few real live test runs as a webinar or even at a local Toastmasters organization to get some feedback from a live audience.

31. Engage the Audience by Asking Questions

There’s no reason that a presentation should be one-sided. Why not invert the format and ask your audience a question?

To learn how to create a slide that kicks off a Q&A, use this article . These PowerPoint design tips help you create an engaging and exciting discussion.

Helpful Tips to Step Up and Deliver Come Presentation Time

When the actual day arrives, there are only a few last PowerPoint presentation tips and guidelines to keep in mind:

32. Take a Deep Breath

Deep breathing is proven to relieve stress. It’s simple, and it’ll help you remain calm and in the moment, even up to the last minute before starting.

33. Lighten Up Your Mood

Tell yourself a joke or watch a funny video clip. Do this before the presentation, of course. Research concludes that happy people are more productive. More productive is more focused and able to perform better.

34. Remind Yourself to Take It Slow

When we’re stressed or nervous (or both), we tend to speak faster. Consciously, take yet another deep breath and remind yourself to take it slow!

35. Read the Room

Every presentation room has a temperature. It’s your job as a speaker to gauge it and tailor your presentation to it.

Here’s a great example. Layoffs are coming at a company, and you’re asked to speak to an audience. Even if the audience isn’t personally affected by the actions, you’ve got to consider the morale of the workforce.

Skilled speakers have a knack for reading the energy of the room and adjusting their presentation on the fly.

The last thing that group will want to hear is how strong the economy is and why the company is the best place to work. That doesn’t mean that you’ve got to align to their uncertainty, but don’t go too far against the grain while presenting.

Robert Kennedy III is a master of bringing energy and aligning a speech to the audience. Here’s his advice for adjusting:

“It can be hard to wake up a “dead” crowd but go for it. Most of all, don’t take their energy personally. Focus on serving them with every bit of your fiber then leave empty.”

36. Fake It ‘Til You Make It!

Go forward with confidence. If you act confident, you’ll start to feel more confident. Move slowly with grace, speak clearly, smile, wear something nice. You’ll appear confident to all attendees (no matter how you feel internally).

PowerPoint Presentation Tips and Tricks to Help Avoid Mistakes (What Not to Do)

Most importantly, focus on what you can do to make your presentation better. There are a few important things not to do that we’ve got to address. Here are a handful of PowerPoint presentation tips and tricks to help you avoid missteps.

37. Stop With the Sound Effects

Sound effects are distracting and outdated. In most cases, avoid them. Add audio or music to your presentation to inject interest or highlight an important point, but it’s something to take extra care with. If you insert audio, then make sure your use really connects with your audience and has a fresh approach. Otherwise, it’s best to leave it out.

38. Don’t Use Flashy Slide Transitions

Again, this is distracting and outdated. Use transitions and subtle animations in your PowerPoint presentation. But you need to take care and do it right .

39. Beware of Clip Art

This PowerPoint presentation tip shouldn’t even have to be said. But please, please don’t use clip art. Use professional graphics instead.

40. Don’t Be Afraid to Be Afraid

The fear of public speaking is a real one. Many beginners think that if they’re feeling nervous that a presentation won’t go well or succeed. That might lead them to cancel the presentation.

Here’s a tip from expert Sandra Zimmer, who leads The Self-Expression Center on conquering your fears before you take the stage:

“Get out of your head and into your body. I do this through a grounding exercise that really works to calm nerves and bring you present in the moment.”

If you think that public speaking fears aren’t normal, you might never give your award-winning presentation. So don’t be afraid to be afraid, and acknowledge it’s part of the process!

41. Don’t Read Directly During Your PowerPoint Presentation

If you spend your entire presentation looking at the screen or your note cards, you’re sure to lose your audience’s attention. They’ll disengage from what you’re saying, and your presentation will fall flat.

Reading from your paper or screen also makes it look like you’re not prepared. Many people do it, but no one should. As a general rule, only present something you know well and have, at least mostly, memorized the main points of.

42. Don’t Miss Out on PowerPoint Customizations

Many new PowerPoint users often make significant mistakes when using Envato Elements designs.

The best way to see how to make a good presentation PPT is to start with designs from others. That means using a template, but that doesn’t mean you can’t customize them!

Don’t forget that PowerPoint templates are infinitely customizable. Think of them as guides with built-in presentation design tips.

To see more presentation tips that show you what not to do, make sure to check out our guide .

Work in PowerPoint More Effectively (Tips & Tricks to Level Up Your PPT Skills)

These PowerPoint tips will help you get the most out of the application to level up your next presentation. Let’s dive in.

43. Use the Visual Guides

When you’re designing your next PowerPoint presentation, it helps to create a sense of visual rhythm. Slides that have objects aligned and centered are more likely to resonate with an audience.

44. Use a Few Animations (Tastefully)

Animations in effective PowerPoint presentations are a slippery slope. We’ve all sat through presentations where there were so many objects in motion that it was easy to lose focus on the key ideas in the presentation.

But that’s why animations get an unfairly bad reputation. Use animations to create motion and hold an audience’s attention. Use them sparingly and on key elements on your slide, and you’ll capture that attention properly.

45. Stage Key Content With Animations

You just learned that animations should avoid being distracting. But there’s an important principle to using animations properly. It’s called staging content.

Staging content means that the content appears step by step. There’s nothing worse than overwhelming an audience with all your content at once. But when you stage content, bring it on step by step.

Take it from presentation pro Suzannah Baum :

“If you’re sharing a slide with lots of different points on it, using the animation to reveal those points one at a time is a way to keep the presenter’s content flowing smoothly.”

For more animation presentation tips and tricks, follow our guide .

46. Add a Video to Your PowerPoint

When you’re sharing a big idea in your presentation, it helps to share your perspective from a few different angles. Adding a video to supplement your content can do just that. Luckily, it’s easy to add and embed a YouTube video in your next PowerPoint presentation.

47. Add Charts & Graphs

Charts and graphs can help you tell stories with data. It’s easy for an audience to zone out when you throw a big data table or set of statistics at them.

instead, convert those to charts and graphs. Try out our tutorial to learn how to edit those graphs.

48. Build Your Own Infographics With SmartArt

Earlier in this tutorial, we gave you one of my favorite PowerPoint design tips: use infographic templates.

Here’s another. One of my favorite PowerPoint features is SmartArt, which allows you to build infographics right inside the app.

You don’t have to use another graphic design app like Photoshop or Illustrator to add visuals. Instead, try out SmartArt to help you build graphics that are easy to update.

49. Use Presenter View

Remember that when you use the PowerPoint, you’ re the presentation. The slides are just there to reinforce what you’ve got to say and support your speaking points.

That’s why I always recommend using Presenter view. More often than not, you’re going to have several displays. Presenter view shows your content on your screen, while your presentation is displayed on another screen.

50. Track Your PowerPoint Changes

One of my favorite PowerPoint design tips is to collaborate. Those who know you best will suggest compelling changes that are sure to help you succeed.

As you start collaborating on your presentation, it helps to keep track of proposed and included PowerPoint changes. Use this article to track changes made by others.

10 More Advanced PowerPoint Tips & Tricks

Really need to wow an audience with a good PowerPoint presentation? Give these tips a try to make an unforgettable impression:

51. Engage With an Interactive Quiz

A good PowerPoint presentation gets your audience involved. One of the best PowerPoint tricks is to do that with a quiz. By engaging audiences, a quiz makes your slides memorable.

MIDTEST - Education Quiz Powerpoint Presentation

By adding trivia, you’ll see how to present a PowerPoint in a way that people will love. Channel your inner game-show host today. MIDTEST is a good PowerPoint presentation with quiz slides.

52. Illustrate With Custom Image Masks

One of the top PowerPoint tips is to illustrate your slides. But you can go beyond simple, rectangular images on each slide.

The Burte template is full of PowerPoint tricks , including custom image masks. Image masks shape photos into unique works of art. And thanks to premium templates, you can style photos just like this. Masks overlay your photos onto geometric shapes, instantly elevating your style.

53. Print Handouts With Extra Notes

Wonder how to give a good presentation PPT that audiences will remember? Give them a piece of it to take home.

PowerPoint makes it easy to print handouts with room for notes on the page. This way, audiences can keep copies of your slides, along with their own notes. This is the perfect way to ensure everyone engages with and retains your content.

54. Make Bulk Edits With Master Slides

When you think about how to present a PowerPoint, consider your branding. That means keeping your logo front and center in the eyes of an audience. But if you’re working with a lengthy slide deck, this could seem daunting.

That’s where master slides come in. They’re common in premium layouts, and they’re a leading example of presentation skills for PPT. Master slides let you make bulk edits fast.

55. Shrink File Sizes for Sharing

Many of the top presentation tips involve making your slides more accessible. Often, that involves sharing them with audiences online.

You’ll often find that email clients and cloud services limit the size of files that you share. This can be a problem with large PPT slide decks. But there are a few quick steps you can take to reduce PPT file size. Cut graphics, scale down photos, and more.

56. Map Processes With Flowcharts

As you consider how to do a good PowerPoint presentation, think of ease of understanding. After all, you’re trying to explain something to your audience.

The Flowcharts in Infographics template seamlessly illustrates ideas and processes. A flowchart maps out a process in a visual way. Instead of resorting to endless narration, try a quick illustration like this. It saves you time and effort, and your audience is sure to thank you.

57. Use Brand-Specific Colors

Using presentation skills for PPT helps form an association between your message and branding. There’s no better way to do that than with your brand colors.

PowerPoint makes it easy to change color themes, adding your brand colors and logo to each slide. This is one of the top PowerPoint tricks for marketing presentations.

58. Build Social Media Posts in PPT

A good PowerPoint presentation doesn’t have to be shared through a projector. Use the app and templates to build amazing illustrations to use anywhere.

Soffee - Social Media CoffeeShop Presentations

A template like Soffee helps you learn how to present a PowerPoint easily with a pre-built design.

Try using PowerPoint to create social media posts. It helps you engage with your audience, with no need to design custom layouts from scratch.

59. Be Industry-Specific

One of the top presentation tips in 2024 is to be industry-specific. That means avoiding generic layouts and choosing something more customized.

This offers two key advantages. First, you save time by having layouts built for you. Second, you gain design inspiration for your specific topic. Themed templates are truly the best of both worlds.

The Medical and Health template is a good PowerPoint presentation with a set theme.

60. Design for Online (Virtual) Sharing

Last but not least in our list of PowerPoint tips comes virtual presenting. More and more often, slides will be shared with online audiences around the globe.

Why not design your slides for that very purpose? And then learn how to share flawlessly with a global team? It’s one of the top presentation tips for 2024. Embrace it today.

Discover More Top PowerPoint Template Designs From Envato Elements for 2024

You’ve just seen our favorite powerful PowerPoint presentation tips and guidelines to help you improve your speaking. We’ve also mentioned Envato Elements, an incredible all-you-can-download source for top PowerPoint designs .

Here are five of the best PowerPoint templates that you can use to create your best presentation yet:

1. Galaxi PowerPoint Template

Blast off to success with the help of this PowerPoint template! Think of the pre-built slide designs as pro PowerPoint design tips. They’re built by professional graphic designers. All the popular and modern slide styles that are perfect for your next presentation. Use Galaxi’s five styles and 30 designs to create a great presentation.

2. Masmax PowerPoint Template

We selected templates for this article that match the PowerPoint tips and tricks provided. Masmax fits the bill perfectly across its 234 unique slide designs. These slide designs are sure to align with the latest in design expectations.

3. STYLE Multipurpose PowerPoint Template V50

Style is subjective, but we can all agree that this template is stunning! The light and airy slide designs are built with fashion-focused designs in mind. But that doesn’t mean that it’s not perfect for most presentations. When learning to present a PowerPoint, remember that templates can be customized to suit your purpose.

4. Peachme Creative PowerPoint Template

Peachme has image-focused slides with splashy designs. The slides are colorful and perfect for a modern presentation. Don’t worry about remembering all the PowerPoint design tips because they’re included in the pre-built slides. Use Peachme’s designs for your presentation today.

5. Buizi Office Building Rent PowerPoint Template

Buizi markets itself as a real estate focused template. It’s ideal for that purpose because of the minimal, image-focused slide designs. But that also makes it a perfect choice for presentations in many fields.

We’ve just scratched the surface of PowerPoint design tips with these five options. Here are many more, bundled inside of the best roundups on Envato Tuts+:

How to Build a Good PowerPoint Presentation Quickly (In 2024)

You’ve already seen effective presentation skills PPT techniques. But you may be wondering exactly how to do a good PowerPoint presentation. It only takes a few clicks. Let’s learn how in just five steps.

For this mini-tutorial, we’ll use the Enjoy PowerPoint Template from Envato Elements. You’ll see that it’s a beautiful template that helps you learn how to present a PowerPoint by giving you every object and layout you need.

Let’s get started:

1. Choose Your Slides

As you can see, a template like Enjoy has dozens of unique slides inside. The key to how to give a good presentation PPT is to choose only the slides that you need.

One of the best PowerPoint tricks is to start by selecting slides you wish to use from your template.

In PowerPoint, scroll through the sidebar on the left to view different slide layouts. Right-click and choose Delete to remove unwanted designs. Plus, you can click and drag slide thumbnails to reorder them in the deck.

2. Add Text

Consider how to do a good PowerPoint presentation without investing a ton of time. That’s where premium templates come in.

One of our top presentation tips when working with a PPT is to lean on the pre-built text boxes for your content.

To add custom text, simply click and select the contents of any text box on your slide. Then, type in your own words. Repeat as needed throughout your slide deck.

3. Customize Fonts

With text selected, it’s easy to customize fonts on each slide. Find the Font section on PowerPoint’s Home tab. From there, you’ve got a variety of dropdown options.

Another of our top tips for presentation tricks is to use a custom font setting in your template.

Click to change the font, font size, and more. You can also use the buttons on the left to add bolds, italics, and more.

Need more custom font styles? As an Envato Elements subscriber, you’ve got instant access to thousands of custom fonts . Use them in your presentation with ease.

4. Insert Images

Slides like this one contain an image placeholder. That’s another advantage found only with premium templates. These make adding images a breeze.

Add images to your PPTX template for more visually interesting slides.

To get started, find an image file stored on your computer. Then, drag and drop it over the placeholder. PowerPoint will import it, sized and scaled for a perfect fit.

5. Change Colors

One of the top effective presentation skills is changing shape colors. This helps you control the look and feel of each slide.

With a shape selected, find the Shape Format tab on PowerPoint’s ribbon. Then, click on the Shape Fill dropdown. You’ll see a color chooser menu appear. Click on any thumbnail to apply it to the shape or browse through the Gradient and Texture options.

Start Putting These PowerPoint Presentation Tips & Tricks Into Use Today!

Learning to write, design, and present a PowerPoint presentation is an invaluable skill, no matter where you use it. If you’re a good communicator of important messages, you’ll never go hungry.

Luckily, improving PowerPoint presentations isn’t as hard as it seems. Follow these tips for PowerPoint presentations to design and deliver with greater confidence.

Remember: Less is more (effective) . Use PowerPoint presentation templates for better design and more effective visual impact. And you can customize a PPT template quickly , with the right workflow.

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As part of its broad-based teaching mission, the AHA develops and shares resources for educators and students. From regional teaching conferences and online programs to pathbreaking research projects, AHA initiatives foster a community grounded in our shared commitment to understanding the past. We support and convene people who share a love of history and historical thinking.

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The AHA strives to ensure that every K–12 student has access to high quality history instruction. We create resources for the classroom, advise on state and federal policy, and advocate for the vital importance of history in public education.

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Teaching and learning are at the foundation of the AHA’s mission to promote historical thinking in public life. What do students learn in undergraduate history courses? How and why are history majors so successful in a variety of careers?

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Many historians will pursue graduate training at some stage in their career. To meet the needs of both students and graduate programs, the AHA creates resources, provides platforms, and convenes conversations about student success from application to completion.

For Academic Departments

History department chairs are on the front lines of the discipline, defending historians’ work and supporting their professional lives at all stages of their academic careers. The AHA strives to strengthen this work and provide resources and opportunities that make chairs’ work easier and valued. The AHA provides resources and hosts a variety of events and opportunities to benefit department chairs and build community, including webinars, sessions at the annual meeting, and an in-person workshop.

Current Events in Historical Context

Essential, carefully researched resources by historians providing context for conversations about current events.

Regional Conferences on Introductory History Courses

What do students learn in introductory history courses? How can historical thinking support student learning and success across the curriculum? Our regional conferences endeavor to strengthen the community of practice focused on introductory history courses, both in secondary and higher education.

Standards & Guidelines

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June 10, 2024

Guidelines for Academic Tenure-Track Job Offers in History

June 9, 2024

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The AHA has made primary sources available for research purposes, along with AHA archival reports and documents.

Vetted Resources

Vetted Resources compiles in a central location materials and tools that have been professionally vetted by historians, offering instructors access to high-quality materials that meet professional standards

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16 Months to Sumter: Newspaper Editorials on the Path to Secession

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The History of Racism and Racist Violence: International Contexts and Comparisons

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The AHA brings together historians from all specializations and all work contexts, embracing the breadth and variety of activity in history today.

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Career Advice

How to Write a Resume Summary That Stands Out

Published: Jun 18, 2024

In the competitive job market, making a strong first impression is crucial. One of the most effective ways to do this is through a compelling personal summary at the top of your resume. A personal summary, also known as a resume summary, is a brief statement that highlights your key skills, experiences, and career goals. It serves as a snapshot of your professional identity, giving employers a quick overview of who you are and what you bring to the table.

A well-crafted summary not only grabs recruiters’ attention but also sets the tone for the rest of your resume. Here are six actionable tips for making your summary stand out.

1. Tailor your summary to each job

Customize your resume summary for each job application. Carefully read the job description and identify the key skills and experiences the employer is looking for. Then, highlight these in your summary. This shows that you’ve taken the time to understand the role and align your qualifications with the employer’s needs. For example, if a job posting emphasizes teamwork and project management, ensure these qualities are prominent in your summary.

2. Showcase specific achievements

Rather than just listing your skills, provide specific examples of your achievements. Quantify these achievements wherever possible. For example, instead of writing, “Experienced in social media marketing,” you could write, “Increased social media engagement by 50% through strategic content creation and audience targeting.” This helps demonstrate your impact and value to potential employers.

3. Highlight transferable skills

Include skills that are important to target employers, even if they come from different experiences. Many skills are transferable across various roles and industries. Identify these skills in your summary to show your versatility. For example, communication, leadership, and problem-solving are valuable in many fields. Highlighting these can make you a more attractive candidate.

4. Use dynamic and specific language

Action verbs and strong adjectives can make your summary more dynamic and engaging. Words like “led,” “developed,” “managed,” and “innovative” help convey your proactive and results-oriented nature. Avoid generic phrases and be specific about what you’ve accomplished. For example, “Developed a new project management system that improved team efficiency by 30%” is more impactful than simply stating, “Project management skills.”

5. Show the benefits you bring to employers

Your personal summary should not only highlight your skills and achievements but also explain how they benefit potential employers. Think about what makes you unique and how your experiences can add value to the company. For example, “Passionate about using data analysis to drive business decisions, leading to more informed and strategic company growth.” This approach helps employers see the direct benefits of hiring you.

6. Be specific

Avoid generic statements that could apply to anyone. Be specific about your skills and experiences to stand out. While it’s important to use industry-relevant terms, avoid overloading your summary with jargon that might confuse the reader. Employers are more interested in what you’ve achieved rather than just what you were responsible for. Highlight the impact of your specific actions to show your genuine interest and fit for the position.

Andrew Fennell is the founder and director of StandOut CV , a leading CV builder and careers advice website. He is a former recruitment consultant and contributes careers advice to publications like Business Insider, The Guardian, and The Independent.

Introducing Apple Intelligence, the personal intelligence system that puts powerful generative models at the core of iPhone, iPad, and Mac

MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro show new Apple Intelligence features.

New Capabilities for Understanding and Creating Language

A user opens the Writing Tools menu while working on an email, and is given the option to select Proofread or Rewrite.

Image Playground Makes Communication and Self‑Expression Even More Fun

The new Image Playground app is shown on iPad Pro.

Genmoji Creation to Fit Any Moment

A user creates a Genmoji of a person named Vee, designed to look like a race car driver.

New Features in Photos Give Users More Control

Three iPhone 15 Pro screens show how users can create Memory Movies.

Siri Enters a New Era

A New Standard for Privacy in AI

ChatGPT Gets Integrated Across Apple Platforms

An iPhone 15 Pro user enters a prompt for Siri that reads, “I have fresh salmon, lemons, tomatoes. Help me plan a 5-course meal with a dish for each taste bud.”

Text of this article

June 10, 2024

PRESS RELEASE

Setting a new standard for privacy in AI, Apple Intelligence understands personal context to deliver intelligence that is helpful and relevant

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today introduced Apple Intelligence , the personal intelligence system for iPhone, iPad, and Mac that combines the power of generative models with personal context to deliver intelligence that’s incredibly useful and relevant. Apple Intelligence is deeply integrated into iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia. It harnesses the power of Apple silicon to understand and create language and images, take action across apps, and draw from personal context to simplify and accelerate everyday tasks. With Private Cloud Compute, Apple sets a new standard for privacy in AI, with the ability to flex and scale computational capacity between on-device processing and larger, server-based models that run on dedicated Apple silicon servers.

“We’re thrilled to introduce a new chapter in Apple innovation. Apple Intelligence will transform what users can do with our products — and what our products can do for our users,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “Our unique approach combines generative AI with a user’s personal context to deliver truly helpful intelligence. And it can access that information in a completely private and secure way to help users do the things that matter most to them. This is AI as only Apple can deliver it, and we can’t wait for users to experience what it can do.”

Apple Intelligence unlocks new ways for users to enhance their writing and communicate more effectively. With brand-new systemwide Writing Tools built into iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia, users can rewrite, proofread, and summarize text nearly everywhere they write, including Mail, Notes, Pages, and third-party apps.

Whether tidying up class notes, ensuring a blog post reads just right, or making sure an email is perfectly crafted, Writing Tools help users feel more confident in their writing. With Rewrite, Apple Intelligence allows users to choose from different versions of what they have written, adjusting the tone to suit the audience and task at hand. From finessing a cover letter, to adding humor and creativity to a party invitation, Rewrite helps deliver the right words to meet the occasion. Proofread checks grammar, word choice, and sentence structure while also suggesting edits — along with explanations of the edits — that users can review or quickly accept. With Summarize, users can select text and have it recapped in the form of a digestible paragraph, bulleted key points, a table, or a list.

In Mail, staying on top of emails has never been easier. With Priority Messages, a new section at the top of the inbox shows the most urgent emails, like a same-day dinner invitation or boarding pass. Across a user’s inbox, instead of previewing the first few lines of each email, they can see summaries without needing to open a message. For long threads, users can view pertinent details with just a tap. Smart Reply provides suggestions for a quick response, and will identify questions in an email to ensure everything is answered.

Deep understanding of language also extends to Notifications. Priority Notifications appear at the top of the stack to surface what’s most important, and summaries help users scan long or stacked notifications to show key details right on the Lock Screen, such as when a group chat is particularly active. And to help users stay present in what they’re doing, Reduce Interruptions is a new Focus that surfaces only the notifications that might need immediate attention, like a text about an early pickup from daycare.

In the Notes and Phone apps, users can now record, transcribe, and summarize audio. When a recording is initiated while on a call, participants are automatically notified, and once the call ends, Apple Intelligence generates a summary to help recall key points.

Apple Intelligence powers exciting image creation capabilities to help users communicate and express themselves in new ways. With Image Playground, users can create fun images in seconds, choosing from three styles: Animation, Illustration, or Sketch. Image Playground is easy to use and built right into apps including Messages. It’s also available in a dedicated app, perfect for experimenting with different concepts and styles. All images are created on device, giving users the freedom to experiment with as many images as they want.

With Image Playground, users can choose from a range of concepts from categories like themes, costumes, accessories, and places; type a description to define an image; choose someone from their personal photo library to include in their image; and pick their favorite style.

With the Image Playground experience in Messages, users can quickly create fun images for their friends, and even see personalized suggested concepts related to their conversations. For example, if a user is messaging a group about going hiking, they’ll see suggested concepts related to their friends, their destination, and their activity, making image creation even faster and more relevant.

In Notes, users can access Image Playground through the new Image Wand in the Apple Pencil tool palette, making notes more visually engaging. Rough sketches can be turned into delightful images, and users can even select empty space to create an image using context from the surrounding area. Image Playground is also available in apps like Keynote, Freeform, and Pages, as well as in third-party apps that adopt the new Image Playground API.

Taking emoji to an entirely new level, users can create an original Genmoji to express themselves. By simply typing a description, their Genmoji appears, along with additional options. Users can even create Genmoji of friends and family based on their photos. Just like emoji, Genmoji can be added inline to messages, or shared as a sticker or reaction in a Tapback.

Searching for photos and videos becomes even more convenient with Apple Intelligence. Natural language can be used to search for specific photos, such as “Maya skateboarding in a tie-dye shirt,” or “Katie with stickers on her face.” Search in videos also becomes more powerful with the ability to find specific moments in clips so users can go right to the relevant segment. Additionally, the new Clean Up tool can identify and remove distracting objects in the background of a photo — without accidentally altering the subject.

With Memories, users can create the story they want to see by simply typing a description. Using language and image understanding, Apple Intelligence will pick out the best photos and videos based on the description, craft a storyline with chapters based on themes identified from the photos, and arrange them into a movie with its own narrative arc. Users will even get song suggestions to match their memory from Apple Music. As with all Apple Intelligence features, user photos and videos are kept private on device and are not shared with Apple or anyone else.

Powered by Apple Intelligence, Siri becomes more deeply integrated into the system experience. With richer language-understanding capabilities, Siri is more natural, more contextually relevant, and more personal, with the ability to simplify and accelerate everyday tasks. It can follow along if users stumble over words and maintain context from one request to the next. Additionally, users can type to Siri, and switch between text and voice to communicate with Siri in whatever way feels right for the moment. Siri also has a brand-new design with an elegant glowing light that wraps around the edge of the screen when Siri is active.

Siri can now give users device support everywhere they go, and answer thousands of questions about how to do something on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Users can learn everything from how to schedule an email in the Mail app, to how to switch from Light to Dark Mode.

With onscreen awareness, Siri will be able to understand and take action with users’ content in more apps over time. For example, if a friend texts a user their new address in Messages, the receiver can say, “Add this address to his contact card.”

With Apple Intelligence, Siri will be able to take hundreds of new actions in and across Apple and third-party apps. For example, a user could say, “Bring up that article about cicadas from my Reading List,” or “Send the photos from the barbecue on Saturday to Malia,” and Siri will take care of it.

Siri will be able to deliver intelligence that’s tailored to the user and their on-device information. For example, a user can say, “Play that podcast that Jamie recommended,” and Siri will locate and play the episode, without the user having to remember whether it was mentioned in a text or an email. Or they could ask, “When is Mom’s flight landing?” and Siri will find the flight details and cross-reference them with real-time flight tracking to give an arrival time.

To be truly helpful, Apple Intelligence relies on understanding deep personal context while also protecting user privacy. A cornerstone of Apple Intelligence is on-device processing, and many of the models that power it run entirely on device. To run more complex requests that require more processing power, Private Cloud Compute extends the privacy and security of Apple devices into the cloud to unlock even more intelligence.

With Private Cloud Compute, Apple Intelligence can flex and scale its computational capacity and draw on larger, server-based models for more complex requests. These models run on servers powered by Apple silicon, providing a foundation that allows Apple to ensure that data is never retained or exposed.

Independent experts can inspect the code that runs on Apple silicon servers to verify privacy, and Private Cloud Compute cryptographically ensures that iPhone, iPad, and Mac do not talk to a server unless its software has been publicly logged for inspection. Apple Intelligence with Private Cloud Compute sets a new standard for privacy in AI, unlocking intelligence users can trust.

Apple is integrating ChatGPT access into experiences within iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia, allowing users to access its expertise — as well as its image- and document-understanding capabilities — without needing to jump between tools.

Siri can tap into ChatGPT’s expertise when helpful. Users are asked before any questions are sent to ChatGPT, along with any documents or photos, and Siri then presents the answer directly.

Additionally, ChatGPT will be available in Apple’s systemwide Writing Tools, which help users generate content for anything they are writing about. With Compose, users can also access ChatGPT image tools to generate images in a wide variety of styles to complement what they are writing.

Privacy protections are built in for users who access ChatGPT — their IP addresses are obscured, and OpenAI won’t store requests. ChatGPT’s data-use policies apply for users who choose to connect their account.

ChatGPT will come to iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia later this year, powered by GPT-4o. Users can access it for free without creating an account, and ChatGPT subscribers can connect their accounts and access paid features right from these experiences.

Availability

Apple Intelligence is free for users, and will be available in beta as part of iOS 18 , iPadOS 18 , and macOS Sequoia this fall in U.S. English. Some features, software platforms, and additional languages will come over the course of the next year. Apple Intelligence will be available on iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, and iPad and Mac with M1 and later, with Siri and device language set to U.S. English. For more information, visit apple.com/apple-intelligence .

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Everything Apple Announced at WWDC 2024 in Nine Minutes

Apple crammed an overwhelming number of new features into its WWDC 2024 keynote event, introducing Apple Intelligence, iOS 18 , iPadOS 18 , macOS Sequoia , visionOS 2 , watchOS 11 , and tvOS 18. It was hard to keep up with everything that Apple highlighted, so we did a video of all of the new additions you won't want to miss.

Apple Intelligence

'Apple Intelligence' Personal AI Unveiled for iPhone, iPad, and Mac
Apple Unveils 'Image Playground' On-Device AI Image Generator
Siri Can Access ChatGPT Directly With iOS 18
Apple Intelligence Features Coming to iOS 18 Beta Testers This Summer
iOS 18 Apple Intelligence Feature Will Have Waitlist During Initial 'Limited Preview'

iOS 18 and iPadOS 18

Apple Announces iOS 18 With New Customization Features, Redesigned Photos App, and More
Apple Unveils iPadOS 18 With New Calculator App, Tab Bar, and More
iOS 18 Home Screen: Place Apps Anywhere and Dark Mode for Icons
iOS 18: New Control Center Features Multiple Customizable Screens
Apple Reveals New Head Gestures Coming to AirPods Pro Later This Year
Apple Unveils Calculator App for iPad With Math Notes, Apple Pencil Support
iMessage on iOS 18 Features Bold, Underline, Italics, and Text Effects
iOS 18's New 'Genmoji' Feature Lets You Create Your Own Emoji
Apple Releases New AirPods Pro 2 Beta Firmware With Support for iOS 18 Features
Apple Introduces Standalone 'Passwords' App
RCS Coming to Messages in iOS 18 for Improved Texts With Android Users
You Can Send Texts via Satellite in iOS 18
iOS 18 Lets You Swap Out Lock Screen Camera and Flashlight Buttons
iOS 18 Introduces More Charging Limit Options on iPhone 15 Models: 85%, 90%, and 95%
iOS 18 Brings New Insights, Widgets, and Health Integration to Apple's Journal App
iOS 18 Can Record and Transcribe Your Phone Calls
iOS 18 Lets You Lock and Hide Your Apps for Added Privacy
HomeKit in iOS 18 Includes Guest Access, Hands-Free Unlock, Electricity Usage Integration and More

macOS Sequoia

Apple Unveils macOS 15 Sequoia With iPhone Mirroring, Passwords App, More
macOS Sequoia and iPadOS 18 Drop Support for These Macs and iPads
iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia Add 'Rotate Wi-Fi Address' Option to Cut Down on Tracking
iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia Let Websites and Apps Automatically Update Existing Logins to Passkeys
Apple Previews watchOS 11 With New Health and Workout Features
watchOS 11 Drops Support for These Apple Watch Models
tvOS 18 Adds 'InSight' to Identify Actors and Songs in Apple TV+ Shows, Plus 'Enhanced Dialogue' Feature and More
tvOS 18 Compatible With Apple TV HD Released Nearly Nine Years Ago
Apple Announces visionOS 2 With Ultra-Wide Mac Virtual Display, Travel Mode on Trains, and More
Apple Launching Vision Pro in These 8 Countries by Mid-July

Other Announcements

WWDC 2024 Apple Event Live Keynote Coverage: iOS 18, Apple's AI Push, and More
iOS 18, macOS Sequoia, and More Available in Public Beta in July
Apple Recaps 18 Key Announcements From WWDC 2024 Keynote in Short Video
Apple Releases First Betas of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS Sequoia, tvOS 18, watchOS 11, and visionOS 2
Elon Musk Threatens to Ban Apple Devices Over ChatGPT Integration
Apple and Canon Announce Mirrorless Camera Lens Designed for Spatial Video Capture
Apple Provides Updated Look at Next-Generation CarPlay at WWDC 2024

‌iOS 18‌, ‌macOS Sequoia‌, and Apple's other updates are available to developers right now, with Apple planning to introduce a public beta in July. For more on what's new, stay tuned to MacRumors for additional coverage throughout the week as WWDC continues.

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