How to Prepare for a Presentation [A Useful Guide]
- Ink Narrates | The Presentation Design Agency
- Jul 6, 2024
- 7 min read
Updated: Aug 1
Glen, one of our clients, asked us a question last week while we were building his sales presentation.
He said,
“What’s the one thing I should absolutely get right before I walk into the room?”
Our Creative Director didn’t even blink before answering:
“Your narrative. If you can’t tell the story, the slides won’t save you.”
As a presentation design agency, we work on hundreds of presentations every year. From high-stakes investor decks to product launches and internal strategy meetings, we've seen it all. And here’s what we’ve noticed: the real struggle isn’t designing the slides. The real challenge is knowing how to prepare. Not tactically, but mentally, narratively and structurally.
So, in this blog, we’ll talk about what effective presentation preparation actually looks like. Not the copy-paste checklist version. The real stuff that actually helps when the room goes quiet and all eyes are on you. Whether you’re a seasoned speaker or someone who panics at the thought, this guide will walk you through how to prepare for a presentation in a way that actually works.
In case you didn't know, we specialize in only one thing: making presentations. We can help you by designing your slides and writing your content too.
Why Preparing for a Presentation Matters
We’ve all sat through those painfully awkward presentations — the ones where the speaker reads every word from the slide, stumbles through their thoughts, or worse, loses the room halfway and doesn’t even notice. It’s not just uncomfortable to watch, it’s also costly. Especially in a business context where decisions, funding, or team alignment hang in the balance.
Here’s the thing. Most people think presentation preparation is about getting the slides done. They fixate on colors, fonts, transitions. But that’s not preparation. That’s decoration.
Preparing for a presentation means knowing exactly what you’re trying to say, who you’re saying it to, and why it matters. It’s about clarity, not theatrics. Because when you’re clear, people listen. When you’re prepared, people trust you. And when you’re trusted, you move things forward.
We’ve worked with clients who had stunning visuals but couldn’t explain the why behind their message. On the flip side, we’ve seen presenters with basic slides win over rooms simply because they knew how to lead the narrative.
Good preparation gives you control — over the room, over your story, and most importantly, over your confidence. And when you’re confident, you’re not selling an idea. You’re transferring belief.
So if you’ve been winging it all this while or relying on last-minute edits, it’s time to change how you approach presentation preparation. Not just because it’ll make you look better, but because your message actually deserves to land.
How to Prepare for a Presentation
Let’s get something out of the way: preparing for a presentation isn’t a one-size-fits-all checklist. It depends on what you're presenting, who you're presenting to, and what you're trying to achieve.
That said, there are fundamentals that apply across the board — and most people skip them.
We’re not talking about the “open PowerPoint and start designing slides” kind of prep. We’re talking about preparation that makes you walk into that room, virtual or physical, knowing you’ve done your homework. That you’re not hoping it’ll go well — you know it will.
Here’s how we help our clients prepare for a presentation, and how you should too:
1. Start with the core message (before touching any slides)
The worst presentations try to say too many things. The best ones are built around one sharp message. If your audience remembers only one thing after you're done, what should that be?
Write it down. That’s your North Star.
If you're pitching a new product, is the message that it saves money? Is it that it solves a painful workflow issue? Is it that your competitors can’t match your innovation? You can’t say all three and expect people to care. Choose the one that matters most and build everything around it.
When Glen came to us, he had 40 slides. We helped him cut it down to 15 — not because we love minimalism, but because only 15 of them were helping his core message. The rest were noise.
2. Define what the audience cares about
You’re not presenting to yourself. You’re presenting to decision-makers, colleagues, partners — people with their own priorities and problems.
So, what do they need to hear?
Let’s say you're presenting a quarterly business review. Your CFO wants numbers. Your marketing lead wants attribution. Your CEO wants to know if you’re hitting strategic goals. You can’t address all of them equally, but you need to acknowledge them in the structure of your presentation.
This is why we always start with audience profiling in our process. Just a simple breakdown of:
Who they are
What they value
What they already know
What they expect to get out of the presentation
If you don’t know the answers to those four questions, you’re already behind.
3. Outline before designing
Most people open a blank presentation deck and try to “figure it out as they go.” That’s not preparation. That’s procrastination dressed up as effort.
Before you even look at slide design, build a simple outline. Bullet points are fine. You want a structure that flows logically:
Context (What’s the current situation?)
Problem (What needs fixing or changing?)
Solution (What are you proposing?)
Proof (Why should they believe you?)
Next steps (What do you want them to do?)
We use this structure all the time — for sales decks, investor decks, internal strategy presentations. Because it works. It keeps the story tight, and it keeps the presenter focused.
Even if your content doesn’t follow this exact shape, the logic still applies. You’re taking the audience on a journey. If they don’t feel like they’re going somewhere, they’ll mentally check out.
4. Write your narrative before scripting your speech
Notice we said write, not memorize. You don’t need to sound like a TED Talk robot. But you do need to know what you’re saying on each slide.
We encourage clients to “talk to their slides” during prep. Stand up, speak out loud, and explain what each slide means and why it matters. Not what it says — what it means.
If you stumble, or if your explanation feels muddy, guess what? The audience will feel the same. Clean it up.
Some clients use speaker notes, others just rehearse enough that the transitions become second nature. It doesn’t matter which route you take. What matters is that you’re not winging your way through the logic.
Your delivery starts in your prep — not in front of the audience.
5. Use design to support, not distract
This is where most people either overdo it or ignore it completely.
Your slides are not your presentation. You are the presentation. The slides are just there to support you.
Every visual, every chart, every bit of text should be doing one of three things:
Clarifying the message
Emphasizing the point
Making something easier to remember
If a slide isn’t doing one of those three, cut it.
We once redesigned a board presentation that had 8 slides of org charts. Eight. No one remembered any of them. So we asked: “What’s the point of showing all this?” The answer? “To show we’re organized.” That’s one slide, not eight.
When you prepare for presentation design, ask yourself: “What’s the minimum I need to show to make the point land?” Not what looks impressive. Not what fills time. What lands.
This mindset alone will elevate the quality of your presentation by 10x.
6. Practice, but not like a robot
Practicing isn’t about memorizing every word. It’s about owning your transitions. Knowing how one point connects to the next. Being clear on what you’ll emphasize, where you’ll pause, and how you’ll handle questions.
Record yourself once. Play it back. You’ll catch verbal fillers, awkward transitions, and moments where your energy drops.
Also, practice answering tough questions. The ones that make you squirm a little. If you prepare for the hard stuff, the rest feels easy.
Remember: confidence doesn’t come from being a natural speaker. It comes from knowing your material inside-out. And that only happens through real practice.
7. Prepare for the setting, not just the content
You’d be surprised how many strong presentations fall flat because of basic logistical oversights. Broken clickers. Screen resolution issues. Awkward room setups. People dialing in late.
We always recommend doing a tech run-through, especially for virtual presentations. Share screen once. Check audio once. Confirm the deck opens correctly on the actual device you’ll use.
And if it’s an in-person presentation? Arrive early. Know where you’re standing. Know how you’ll advance slides. Get comfortable in the space.
The best presenters don’t just know their material. They know the room.
8. Know what not to say
Not everything needs to be explained. One of the biggest traps in presentation prep is over-explaining. You try to cover every detail, every scenario, every exception — and in the process, you lose people.
Your audience doesn’t want more information. They want the right information.
This is why editing is a critical part of preparation. Go through your slides and ask: “If I remove this, does the message still land?” If the answer is yes, cut it.
Simplicity isn’t about dumbing down. It’s about removing friction.
9. Internalize the goal, not the script
Sometimes a presentation will veer off course. Someone interrupts. A question throws you off. Or you simply forget a line.
If you’re script-dependent, you’ll panic. If you’re goal-oriented, you’ll adapt.
When you prepare, don’t just focus on what you’ll say. Focus on what you want the audience to walk away with. What’s the belief or idea you want to leave behind?
If you’ve internalized that, you can recover from almost anything.
10. Rehearse in front of people who’ll tell you the truth
It’s easy to rehearse in front of people who nod politely. But that’s not helpful.
Find a colleague, mentor, or even someone outside your team. Ask them to be brutally honest.
Was it clear?
Was it boring?
Did it feel too long?
Where did you lose them?
This kind of feedback can sting a little. But it’s what sharpens the message.
Glen did three practice runs before presenting to his board. After each one, we helped him tweak specific parts based on honest feedback. By the time he delivered it, he owned the room.
Why Hire Us to Build your Presentation?
If you're reading this, you're probably working on a presentation right now. You could do it all yourself. But the reality is - that’s not going to give you the high-impact presentation you need. It’s a lot of guesswork, a lot of trial and error. And at the end of the day, you’ll be left with a presentation that’s “good enough,” not one that gets results. On the other hand, we’ve spent years crafting thousands of presentations, mastering both storytelling and design. Let us handle this for you, so you can focus on what you do best.