How to Make a Multimodal Presentation [A Detailed Guide]
- Ink Narrates | The Presentation Design Agency
- 2 days ago
- 7 min read
Kathy asked us a question last week while we were building her multimodal presentation:
“How do you make different content formats feel like one seamless story?”
Our Creative Director answered without missing a beat:
“By making the audience forget the formats exist.”
As a presentation design agency, we work on many multimodal presentations throughout the year and we’ve noticed one recurring challenge: people treat each format like a separate piece instead of part of one bigger experience.
In this blog we’ll break down how to merge words, visuals, audio, and interactive elements into one tight, audience-focused narrative that actually works in real life.
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.
What is a Multimodal Presentation
A multimodal presentation is exactly what it sounds like: a presentation that uses more than one mode of communication to get your point across. That could mean a mix of spoken words, written text, images, videos, audio clips, charts, animations, or interactive elements.
The point is not to stuff everything you can think of into your slides. The point is to choose the right mix so your audience stays engaged, understands the message, and remembers it later.
Think of it like cooking. You can have a pantry full of ingredients, but if you dump them all into a pot without a recipe, you won’t end up with dinner worth eating. In a good multimodal presentation, every element has a role. The visuals might clarify a concept, the narration might guide the mood, and the data visuals might give your argument credibility.
When we work on these, we don’t start with the “modes.” We start with the story. Once we know the story, we pick the formats that will tell it in the clearest and most memorable way.
How to Make a Multimodal Presentation
The problem with most multimodal presentations is that they’re built backwards. People start by thinking, “Let’s use a video here, maybe some graphs here, oh and we can throw in some animations.” By the time they’re done, the presentation feels like a yard sale of disconnected ideas.
That’s the exact opposite of what works.
We’ve built enough of these to know there’s a method to doing it right. Here’s the process we use and what we’ve learned from working with clients who need their message to stick.
1. Start with the core message, not the formats
This sounds obvious until you realize how many people skip it. Before you pick visuals, video, or even a slide layout, you need to be crystal clear on one thing: What do you want your audience to take away?
If you can’t summarize your message in one clear sentence, you’re not ready to start designing.
Kathy’s presentation, for example, had three different content formats — slides, video, and interactive polls. But all of them were anchored to one core message about customer trust. Because that message was clear, each mode reinforced it instead of competing for attention.
The message is the compass. Without it, you’ll wander in every possible creative direction and end up lost.
2. Pick your modes with intention
A multimodal presentation doesn’t mean using every format available to you. It means choosing the formats that will best deliver your message.
Ask yourself:
Does this format help explain the idea faster or better?
Does it add clarity, emotion, or memorability?
Is it something the audience will actually engage with?
For example:
Use video when you need to tell a story that benefits from showing real people, places, or processes in action.
Use visuals like charts or infographics when you want to make complex data easy to grasp.
Use audio if the sound itself is important, like a customer testimonial or a sound effect that reinforces the mood.
Use interactivity like polls or clickable paths if you want the audience to actively participate instead of just listening.
If a format doesn’t pass those tests, it doesn’t belong in the presentation.
3. Design for flow, not just content
One thing we see over and over again is presentations that are technically multimodal but feel like separate chunks stitched together. The audience can tell when the flow breaks.
Your job is to make the transition from one format to another feel invisible. That means thinking about the sequence before you even start designing.
For example, in one client project we opened with a high-energy 20-second video to hook attention, then moved into a series of clean slides that unpacked the idea introduced in the video. Later, we shifted to an interactive element that let the audience test what they’d learned. The modes changed, but the story was seamless because each transition was planned.
Here’s a quick rule we follow: every mode should set up the next one. If a video ends, it should naturally lead into the slides that follow. If a slide closes with a statistic, that stat could open the door for a short video testimonial or a live demo.
4. Keep each mode in its lane
When you blend formats, it’s tempting to overload each one with too much. Don’t. Each mode has a strength — let it do that job and only that job.
If your slide has an infographic, let the infographic speak for itself. Don’t pile on a wall of text explaining it. If you have a video, let it carry the emotional punch instead of repeating it in three other formats.
We once worked on a training presentation where the client had slides with text explaining the process, then a video of someone reading the same text, and then a chart showing the same steps again. It was overkill. We stripped it down so the video delivered the emotional story, the chart explained the logic, and the text gave quick bullet points. Each did its job, and the audience finally stayed engaged.
5. Make your audience the hero
A multimodal presentation isn’t about showing off every creative trick you know. It’s about guiding your audience from where they are to where you want them to be.
That means designing with empathy.
Ask yourself:
What do they already know?
What are they confused about?
What will keep them interested?
We once built a multimodal deck for a tech company launching a new platform. The audience was non-technical, so we knew a heavy data dump would lose them. Instead, we used short videos to show real-world use cases, interactive Q&A to let them explore features they cared about, and minimal text slides to keep focus on key points. The format choices weren’t random — they were built around the audience’s needs.
6. Use repetition with variety
Repetition helps people remember. Variety keeps them awake. You need both.
We often design presentations so that the core message appears in multiple modes. For instance, you might introduce it in a headline slide, reinforce it in a video, illustrate it with a chart, and then close with an interactive quiz that ties it all together.
The trick is to change the delivery so it doesn’t feel like you’re saying the same thing four times. Each mode should offer a new perspective or angle on the same point.
7. Build for attention spans, not just agendas
In most presentations, the audience’s attention will spike at the beginning, dip in the middle, and rise slightly toward the end. You need to design around that curve.
Multimodal presentations give you a powerful tool here: you can use a mode shift to pull attention back up when you feel it dipping. For example, if you’ve been talking over slides for five minutes, cut to a short video or a live poll. If you’ve been showing data-heavy visuals, switch to a story-driven image or animation.
We worked on a leadership training deck where we deliberately placed interactive activities at predictable drop-off points. Engagement stayed high all the way through because the audience never had a chance to drift too far.
8. Test the technical side early
Multimodal presentations often require more tech coordination than standard ones. Videos need to play smoothly, interactive elements need to work on the devices available, and audio needs to be clear in the actual room or platform.
We’ve seen great content fail because the video lagged or the interactive poll didn’t load. Always do a tech run in the exact environment where you’ll present. If it’s virtual, test with the actual meeting software. If it’s in-person, test with the projector, speakers, and internet connection in the room.
9. Edit like you mean it
This is where most people drop the ball. They build their presentation, glance through it once, and call it done. That’s not editing.
Editing means asking:
Does every element earn its place?
Is the story as clear as it can be?
Are there any distractions that break the flow?
We’ve cut videos, trimmed slides, and restructured sequences right before a deadline because the edit revealed a stronger way to tell the story. A multimodal presentation is a lot like a movie — you can shoot hours of footage, but only the best pieces make it into the final cut.
10. Rehearse with the formats, not just the words
When you rehearse, practice the transitions between modes exactly as you’ll do them in the real presentation. Get comfortable moving from slides to video, or from speaking to launching an interactive tool.
If you stumble during those switches, it can break the flow and pull the audience out of the experience. We’ve even built “buffer slides” for clients — simple visual cues that give them a second to shift formats without awkward pauses.
11. Keep a backup plan
Even the best-prepared multimodal presentations can face technical issues. Have a low-tech backup for every high-tech element. If a video fails, can you summarize its main point with a slide? If the interactive tool crashes, can you ask the same questions verbally?
We once had an internet outage right before a client’s big pitch. Because we had offline backups for every mode, the audience barely noticed. The message still landed, and that’s all that matters.
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.