Preparing a presentation

This lesson is still being tested: it improves with learners' feedback. If something is unclear, it is the lesson that needs fixing, not you.

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to

define the message, the audience and the length before opening any software;
get an outline where each slide carries one idea, with a title that states it;
have the content and the speaker notes written, without overloading;
finish in your software, or in a file created by the assistant, checking every number.

Why it matters to you

The hardest part of a presentation is not the layout: it is knowing what to say, and in what order. AI is very useful for that. Left alone, it also fills the slides with text, and happily adds a number that “looks good”. This lesson has you keep control of the message and of the numbers.

Before you start


You need	Your assistant, free account; your presentation software if you have one
Cost	€0
Duration	40 minutes
Reminder	The notes in the example are invented; for your presentation, nothing from the “never” list

Understand it in 3 minutes

Three questions before the first slide:

Who am I talking to? (how many people, what they already know)
How much time do I have?
What should they remember, or do, at the end?

Three simple rules for slides:

Rule	Example
One slide, one idea	Not “Review, finances and projects” on the same slide
The title states the idea to remember	“We went from 52 to 64 members” rather than “Members”
Three points at most	The rest goes in the speaker notes, what you say out loud

Two ways to finish:

Copy the content into your software, slide by slide: you keep control of everything.
Ask your assistant for a presentation file (.pptx), when it can create one. According to Claude’s help (24/10/2026), Claude creates PowerPoint, Word, Excel and PDF files on all its plans, the free plan included; the feature is turned on by default on Free, Pro and Max. It does not work in an incognito chat (in the new layout of Claude). If Claude doesn’t create a file, check in the settings (“Settings”, then “Capabilities”) that “Code execution and file creation” is turned on (called “Create and edit files” in the new layout). Then you open the file, and check it like everything else.

Do it together

The club and its numbers are invented.

1Step 1: Say it, then the outline only

I'm presenting the season review of my badminton club at the annual general meeting: 5 minutes, in front of about forty members. At the end, I want 2 people to volunteer.
Propose an outline of 5 slides: for each one, a title that states the idea to remember. Don't write the content yet. Use only my notes.

- 64 members this season (52 last year)
- 2 tournaments organized, 1 canceled (gym hall unavailable)
- new youth session on Wednesday: 14 sign-ups
- budget: small surplus, €380
- needs: 2 volunteers for the snack bar, a new treasurer in June

Read the outline. Does each title state an idea? Does the last slide ask for volunteers? Change the order if needed: “Put the youth session before the budget.”

2Step 2: The content and the notes

Go: for each slide, 3 points at most, and 2 or 3 sentences of speaker notes. Use only my notes.

3Step 3: Check every number

The AI has just saved you the outline and the writing: you can judge those at a glance. What needs a real check is the numbers and the claims. Go back to your notes and check every number on the slides:

64 members versus 52: 12 more, so about 23% (12 ÷ 52 ≈ 0.23). If the AI wrote a different percentage, correct it.
A number that is not in your notes (a satisfaction rate, an average age): remove it.
A judgment that is not in your notes (“it’s a real success”, “our accounts are healthy”): remove it, or keep it only if it is truly your opinion.
The tournaments: your notes say “2 tournaments organized, 1 canceled”. Two tournaments with one canceled, or two tournaments plus a third that was canceled? The notes don’t say. If a slide chose (“the 3rd tournament was canceled”), it is a guess: choose a version yourself, or write “to be confirmed”.

4Step 4: Finish

In your software: create 5 slides, paste each title and its points, and put the notes in the speaker notes area.

Or with a file created by the assistant:

Now create this presentation as a PowerPoint file (.pptx), with the titles, the points and the speaker notes. Keep it plain: light background, a single font.

Download the file, open it, and check: are the titles, the numbers and the speaker notes all there? If the assistant says it can’t create a file: with Claude, check the setting described above; otherwise, copy the content into your software.

What about images? The exercise does not ask for any: it is about the outline, the titles and the figures. According to its help (March 2026), Claude does not create photos or illustrations; it can make charts and diagrams. For a less flat presentation, ask it for example for a chart of the members (64 versus 52). If you really want an image, leave a placeholder “[image: what it should show]” on the slide, and add it later: choosing an image, or creating one with an AI, is covered in modules 10 (lesson 4) and 11 (lesson 2).

Your turn

A real upcoming presentation: at work, in class, for an association, for a family party. Otherwise, finish the club one.

Answer the three questions (who, how long, what to remember).
Have an outline proposed with idea-titles, and correct it.
Have the content and the notes written, then check every number.
Finish in your software, or in a file created by the assistant.
Rehearse once out loud, stopwatch in hand.

Check your work

It worked if:

each title states an idea to remember;
no slide has more than 3 points;
every number and every claim (“it’s a success”, “our accounts are healthy”) can be found in your notes, comes from a source or, for a judgment, is truly your opinion, and every calculation is redone;
the last slide says what you expect from the audience;
your rehearsal fits in the planned time.

Common mistakes:

opening the software before having the message: you spend an hour on colors;
slides full of text: the audience reads instead of listening;
keeping a number that “looks good” with no source;
not rereading the file created by the assistant: a slide may be missing, or some text may overflow.

Keep it and pick it up later

Store your outline request in your library, with brackets for [the audience], [the length] and [what they should remember].
Keep the speaker notes: they will help you next time.

Going further

optional

Ask for three versions of the title of your most important slide (a plain one, one with a number, one with a question): this is the “variants” move from module 2.
A polished presentation (style guide, images, template) is the subject of module 10, lessons 3 and 4. Claude’s pricing page also mentions a tool called “Claude Slides”, including on the free plan (24/10/2026); this lesson has not tested it.

New words

4 words explained

Word	What it means
Idea-title	A slide title that states the sentence to remember, not just the topic
Speaker notes	What you say out loud, written under the slide, invisible to the audience
Outline	The list of slides and their ideas, in order
.pptx file	The format of PowerPoint presentations

Calculations in the example redone on 24/10/2026. To be checked: the .pptx file created by the assistant has not been opened in every presentation software, and no chart in it has been tried on screen.