How to prepare a last-minute presentation

Did your boss ask you for a last-minute presentation? Did you procrastinate on converting your paper into slides? Or maybe you're just short on time?

If you're reading this article, you need a quick way to prepare a last-minute presentation.

Here is our four step process to create a great presentation in less than one hour, along with all of the resources you need to get started right now.

(PS: Did you know smart people procrastinate more than average? You're in good company!)

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1. Write down the key points for your presentation

The first step in making a presentation is not to open PowerPoint or worry about how to make your slides look good.

Instead, the first thing you should do before creating any speech or presentation is to identify your key points. What's the goal of your talk?

Take 5 minutes to think about your topic and outline the 3-5 key things you want to share with your audience during the presentation.

If you need help figuring out what your key points are, try asking yourself three questions:

• What's the goal of my talk? Do I want to educate, persuade, or help others make a decision?
• What's the one thing I want the audience to remember? If people only remember one story, statistic, or piece of information after my talk, what should it be?
• What's the best supporting information? Once you know your goal and/or the one thing you want your audience to take away, find the best supporting information to tell your story, make your case, and create an engaging presentation.

2. Create your presentation

Now that you know what you want to say, it's much easier to figure out how you want to say it.

If this is a speech where you'll use slides as supporting material, you'll need to create a presentation that supports your speaking track. Here are a few different ways to create a last-minute presentation:

• Use an AI presentation tool
• Find an old presentation template
• Start from a presentation template
• Create a presentation from scratch

Since you're short on time, we recommend getting an initial draft of your presentation from an AI presentation maker and then refining the slides. One benefit of using AI is that it can help organize and expand your key points into a cohesive presentation in just a few minutes.

Plus AI is an AI presentation tool that works with both Microsoft PowerPoint and Google Slides, so you can use whichever platform you're more comfortable with.

To use Plus AI, just copy and paste your key points into the add-on.

Then, Plus AI will transform your key points into an outline so you can review the overall presentation structure and make any changes to the slides.

Once you're satisfied with the outline, Plus AI will generate the rest of the presentation and provide you with tips on how to further refine your presentation (these tips might suggest things the AI itself can't do, like adding personal anecdotes or more data).

Of course, AI isn't perfect, so you should review the deck carefully to ensure:

• The amount of text is appropriate for the type of presentation you're making - don't just read your slides!
• The content difficulty is appropriate for your audience - you can specify in the AI instructions if you need to present to business executives, third graders, or PhD students
• Data is presented in the right format - it's important to choose the right slide type to present information. If something is a process, try using a flowchart or diagram instead of just bullet points

Once you're satisfied with the slides, it's time for your first run-through.

3. Record a complete run-through of your presentation

Warning - this is the hardest part of presentation prep, but I guarantee it will help you improve your presentation the most.

In this step, you'll set up your phone and record yourself doing a complete run-through of the presentation, talking through each slide from start to finish.

Ideally, you can record yourself in a setting that simulates your final presentation environment, but at minimum record your upper body and screen so you can see your body language and slides at the same time.

Don't worry about making mistakes and don't start over if something goes wrong. Just get a complete recording of yourself going through the entire presentation.

When you're done, give yourself a pat on the back (reward yourself with a short break if you have time) and come back to watch the full video.

4. Improve the weakest part of your presentation

After watching the video, identify the weakest part of your presentation... and then make it a little better.

• If your introduction is boring and you find yourself losing interest, try to find ways to start the presentation better
• If there are technical details that are hard to understand, look for ways to simplify the slides or graphics to better support your talk track
• If you start rambling on one of the slides, refine the key points and remove irrelevant information or anecdotes

You'll probably find many areas for improvement from one recording, but just focus one or two aspects since your time is short. This way you can have the biggest impact on your presentation prep (and you can always come back later to make more improvements).

The most effective way to improve your presentation is practice, so just reviewing one run-through will help you make big strides in getting ready to wow your clients, colleagues, or classmates!

Tips for a last-minute presentation

Here are quick tips to improve your last-minute presentation:

• Record yourself doing at least one end-to-end run of the presentation. This will help you identify any weak sections and make you more confident for the real presentation.
• Repeat yourself. People often try to avoid repeating their key points when in fact it is the most effective way to make sure people remember your presentation.
• Use an AI presentation generator so you don't have to worry about slides. Spend your time practicing the presentation instead of wasting time on formatting.
• Don't mention it's last minute! Don't start or end your presentation by saying you only prepared it last night. Your audience doesn't know, and no one else will know if you missed a beat or two.
• Pretend you're a great presenter. "Fake it till you make it" is real. Pretend you're the speaker from that great TED talk you watched recently and channel their confidence while speaking.
• Start now! After reading this article, go prep for your presentation!

Last-minute presentation ideas

Need ideas for a brilliant last-minute presentation?

Here's a long list of persuasive presentation ideas and informative speech ideas you can browse through. (Pro-tip: Many of these ideas come with a pre-generated presentation, so you can get a quick start)

If you're starting from scratch, make sure you pick an idea where...

• You have a lot of knowledge about the topic
• You have some existing materials that can be turned into a presentation
• You have a great template you can use

FAQ

• How many slides do you need for a 10-minute presentation? For a 10-minute presentation, you probably need 5-7 slides, depending on your presentation style.
• How many words do people typically say per minute in presentations? TED talk presenters typically speak at 150-200 words per minute. For regular presentations, the standard speaking rate is 130-150 words per minute.
• How can I make a presentation at the last minute? If you're short on time, try using an AI PowerPoint maker like Plus AI to make a presentation for you in minutes.

Conclusion

If you're prepping for a last-minute presentation, it's time to get to work!

You should be able to complete our four-step process in less than an hour, and we guarantee your presentation will be at least 10 times better than starting from scratch.