STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE

How to Create a Presentation Using an AI Presentation Maker

Everything you need to know about building professional presentations with AI — from preparation to final export.

February 2026

Creating a compelling presentation used to mean hours of blank-slide staring, wrestling with layouts, hunting for stock images, and formatting text until everything finally lined up. AI presentation tools have changed that equation significantly. Today you can describe a topic in a sentence or two, upload an existing document, and have a fully structured, visually designed slide deck in front of you in minutes, ready to customize and present.

This guide walks through every stage of the process: what to prepare before you open the tool, how to write a prompt that produces useful results, how to work with the generated outline, how to customize slides for your audience and brand, and how to export and deliver your finished presentation. A detailed FAQ section covers the technical and practical questions that come up most often.

What You Need Before You Start

A few minutes of preparation before opening an AI presentation tool will produce significantly better results than jumping straight to the prompt field.

A clear sense of your topic and goal. The more specific your starting point, the more useful the AI output will be. Before you start, write down in one or two sentences what your presentation is about and what you want your audience to walk away knowing, feeling, or doing. A prompt built on that clarity will generate a tighter, more focused outline than a vague subject heading.

Your audience defined. Who will be watching this presentation? A pitch to potential investors requires a very different tone, level of detail, and supporting evidence than an internal team update or a classroom lesson. Many AI presentation tools ask you to specify your audience as part of the generation setup, and giving this input thoughtfully makes a meaningful difference in the output.

Any existing documents or source material ready to upload. AI presentation tools that support file uploads can accept a wide range of document types, commonly including PDF files, Microsoft Word documents (.docx), existing PowerPoint files (.pptx), plain text files (.txt), and spreadsheets (.xls or .xlsx). If you have a report, a brief, meeting notes, or a previous deck that contains the content you want to present, having that file ready before you start means you can skip the prompt stage and generate directly from your source material.

Your brand assets if applicable. If the presentation needs to reflect a specific brand, having your logo, color codes, and preferred fonts on hand will make the customization step faster and more consistent. Some platforms offer a brand kit feature that stores and auto-applies these assets across every template you use.

A rough idea of length. Knowing whether you need a five-slide executive summary, a fifteen-slide pitch deck, or a twenty-plus slide training module will help you configure the AI generation settings accurately from the start rather than trimming or expanding heavily after generation.

Step 1: Open the AI Presentation Tool and Choose Your Input Method

Once you open an AI presentation generator, your first decision is how to give the tool its starting point. Most platforms offer two core approaches.

Prompt-based generation is the starting point when you are building from scratch or from ideas that live in your head rather than in a document. You type a description of your presentation in the prompt field: the topic, the audience, the purpose, and any specific content you want covered. The more context you include in your prompt, the more tailored the generated outline will be. A prompt like "Create a ten-slide sales presentation on sustainable packaging solutions for mid-size consumer goods brands" will produce a considerably more useful first draft than simply typing "packaging."

Document upload is the faster route when your content already exists in written form. Uploading a source document lets the AI analyze the material and generate presentation slides based on its structure and content rather than requiring you to describe everything from scratch. This approach is particularly useful when turning reports, briefings, proposals, or research documents into slides for a meeting or conference. Prompt suggestions may also be generated automatically based on the content of your uploaded file, which can surface angles on your material you had not initially considered.

Both approaches typically feed into the same next step: an editable outline.

Step 2: Review and Refine the Generated Outline

One of the most important features in modern AI presentation tools is the editable outline stage, which appears between the prompt or upload step and the full slide generation. This is not a step to skip.

The outline represents the structural skeleton of your presentation: the section headings, the key points under each heading, and the overall narrative arc. Reviewing and adjusting the outline before generation is significantly more efficient than trying to restructure the slides after the full deck has been created with visuals, typography, and layout already applied.

Check the narrative flow. Read through the outline as a sequence. Does it open with the right framing? Does it build logically toward its conclusion? Are there sections that feel redundant or out of order? This is the moment to rearrange, add, or remove sections with the least amount of effort.

Adjust depth and detail. Most AI tools allow you to control how detailed each section is before generating. A slide covering a complex technical topic may need more depth than a slide that is intended purely as a visual transition. Set the level of detail for each section to match its role in the overall story.

Set audience and length. If the tool provides fields to specify the intended audience and total number of slides, fill these out carefully at this stage. Generating a deck targeted at a general consumer audience and then discovering the content reads like a technical white paper means rewriting content after it is already formatted across multiple slides, which is considerably more work.

Once you are satisfied with the outline structure, click generate and let the AI build the full visual deck.

Step 3: Select a Design Theme or Template

After generation, most AI presentation tools will apply a default visual theme to your slides. Before diving into content editing, take a moment to review the available templates and select one that suits your presentation's purpose and tone.

Match the template to the context. A presentation for a healthcare conference calls for a different visual language than a startup pitch deck or a university seminar. Template libraries in AI tools are typically organized by category or visual style, making it reasonably straightforward to find an appropriate starting point. Look for options that feel consistent with how your audience expects the material to be presented.

Consider color and contrast. The template you choose will establish the color palette for all slides. Ensure the chosen colors provide strong contrast between background and text, particularly for data-heavy slides where small labels and chart annotations need to be legible. Light text on a dark background and dark text on a light background are both effective; it is the contrast that matters, not the specific color direction.

Dark versus light themes. Dark-background themes often look striking in dim conference rooms or recorded video presentations and make colored graphics and images stand out vividly. Light-background themes tend to be safer for printed handouts, well-lit meeting rooms, and mixed-use decks where some recipients may print the slides to read offline.

If the tool supports a brand kit, apply your brand colors and fonts now before editing individual slides, as this sets the visual baseline for the entire deck in a single step.

Step 4: Customize the Content Slide by Slide

With your template applied, work through each slide individually to review, refine, and expand the AI-generated content.

Edit the text for accuracy and voice. AI-generated text is a strong first draft, not a finished product. Read each slide carefully and adjust the wording to match your natural voice and the specific facts of your subject. Check any figures, statistics, or specific claims for accuracy, and replace placeholder language with your own verified content.

Apply the one-idea-per-slide principle. Each slide should communicate one central idea clearly. If you find a slide that is trying to make two or three distinct points simultaneously, split it into multiple slides. Presentations that honor this principle are significantly easier for audiences to follow and retain. The 10-20-30 rule, attributed to author and entrepreneur Guy Kawasaki, recommends keeping most presentations to no more than ten slides, with a maximum presentation time of around twenty minutes, to maintain audience attention and force the presenter to stay focused on what matters most.

Watch your text volume. A common presentation design guideline is the 6x6 rule: no more than six bullet points per slide and no more than six words per bullet. Slides dense with text shift the audience into reading mode, which competes directly with listening to the presenter. Use the slide as a visual anchor for your spoken words, not as a script your audience reads while you talk.

Minimum font sizes. For live presentations, a minimum body text size of 24 points is the widely cited standard for readability across standard conference and meeting room screen sizes. Titles and headings should be meaningfully larger than body text, typically 36 to 44 points or more, to establish clear visual hierarchy. For leave-behind decks designed to be read independently on screen, body text of 18 to 20 points is generally considered adequate.

Replace or supplement AI images with your own assets. Most AI presentation tools generate or suggest stock images for each slide. Review these and replace any that feel generic, off-topic, or mismatched with your content. Uploading your own photos, product visuals, brand imagery, or charts tailored to your specific data will make the presentation substantially more relevant and credible.

Step 5: Adjust Slides for Aspect Ratio and Screen Environment

Before finalizing your presentation, confirm that the slide format is appropriate for the environment in which it will be displayed.

16:9 widescreen is the current standard. The 16:9 aspect ratio, corresponding to slide dimensions of 13.33 x 7.5 inches or 1920 x 1080 pixels at full HD resolution, is the default format for virtually all modern laptops, monitors, projectors, and video conferencing platforms. Most AI presentation tools default to this ratio, and it is the correct choice for the vast majority of professional use cases. Designing in 16:9 ensures your slides fill the screen without black bars or awkward cropping on any modern display.

4:3 standard ratio. The 4:3 format is a legacy ratio that corresponds to older projector hardware and some tablet displays. Unless you know specifically that the venue or device you are presenting on uses a 4:3 display, 16:9 is the correct choice. Displaying a 16:9 deck on a 4:3 screen produces letterboxing, horizontal black bars above and below the slides, which is a less disruptive visual outcome than the pillarboxing that occurs in the reverse scenario.

If the display environment is uncertain. When you are presenting at an external venue and do not know the projector's native ratio, 16:9 is the safer bet. Asking the event organizer or AV team for the projector's native resolution before the event eliminates the guesswork entirely.

AI presentation tools handle aspect ratio automatically when you create within their platform. This step becomes relevant primarily when you are exporting your slides for use in another environment or combining AI-generated slides with content from an existing deck.

Step 6: Collaborate, Review, and Gather Feedback

Most AI presentation tools support real-time collaboration, allowing you to invite colleagues, clients, or collaborators to view, comment on, or co-edit the presentation directly in the browser without any software installation.

Share a review link before finalizing. Sharing a review version of your deck before you consider it complete catches errors, factual gaps, and tone issues that are easy to miss when you have been looking at the same slides for hours. A second set of eyes on a presentation almost always surfaces at least one meaningful improvement.

Use comment mode for feedback. If your collaborators are reviewers rather than co-editors, invite them with comment-only access so their annotations appear as notes rather than edits. This keeps the version clean while capturing all feedback in one place.

Check consistency across all slides. Before distributing the final version, scroll through every slide in sequence checking that fonts are consistent, spacing is uniform, visual elements are aligned, and the overall visual rhythm of the deck feels cohesive. AI-generated presentations are typically consistent within the template they use, but manual edits to individual slides can occasionally introduce inconsistencies.

Step 7: Export, Download, and Present

With your presentation finalized and reviewed, the last step is getting it into the right format for delivery.

Export as a PowerPoint (.pptx) file if you need to present using Microsoft PowerPoint, deliver the file to a client or colleague for their own editing, or work with the slides in a non-browser environment. The .pptx format preserves all layouts, fonts, and editable elements and is compatible with both Windows and macOS versions of PowerPoint as well as Google Slides.

Export as a PDF when you want a static, universally compatible version of the deck that cannot be accidentally edited. PDF preserves your fonts and layout exactly as designed and renders identically across all devices and operating systems. It is the most reliable format for emailing the deck to people who will read it rather than present it, and it serves as an excellent backup for presenting from a venue computer where the installed version of PowerPoint may not match your original design.

Present directly from the browser. Many AI presentation tools support presenting directly from the web interface without downloading anything. This approach ensures that the presentation always reflects the latest saved version and works seamlessly on any device with a modern browser. For presentations where you have an internet connection at the venue and prefer to avoid file compatibility concerns, this is a practical choice.

Save a personal copy. Download and store a copy of your finished presentation file to your own device regardless of which delivery format you use. Cloud-based tools may have inactivity policies that archive or remove saved projects over time. Having your own local copy means the presentation remains accessible for future reuse, updates, or reordering without starting over.

Tips for Getting the Best Results from AI Presentation Tools

Write specific, detailed prompts. The quality of the AI's generated output correlates directly with the specificity of the input. Include the topic, the intended audience, the desired tone, the approximate number of slides, and any content areas that must be covered. A detailed prompt takes sixty seconds more to write and can save twenty minutes of editing after generation.

Use the document upload when content already exists. If you have a report, proposal, research summary, or previous presentation that covers related material, uploading it is almost always faster than re-describing the same content in a prompt. The AI will extract structure and content from the file and propose a logical slide-based presentation of that material.

Edit the outline before generating. Restructuring content at the outline stage takes a fraction of the time it takes to restructure fully designed slides. Treat the outline review as a required step, not an optional one.

Keep slides to one idea each. Slides that try to communicate multiple points simultaneously are harder to present and harder for audiences to absorb. If a generated slide feels dense or unfocused, split it rather than compressing the content further.

Download your work. Cloud-based tools are convenient, but owning a local copy of every finalized presentation is good practice. Plans change, accounts expire, and tools evolve. A local file ensures your work is always accessible.

Order a sample if printing. If you plan to print slide handouts, always check a single printed page before printing a full run. Widescreen 16:9 slides leave significant white space when printed on standard letter or A4 paper. Consider a 4:3 layout or a custom print-optimized version for printed handouts if the printed format matters for your audience.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an AI presentation maker?

An AI presentation maker is a browser-based tool that uses artificial intelligence to generate structured, visually designed slide decks from a text prompt or an uploaded document. You describe your topic, choose a style or template, review the AI-generated outline, and the tool builds a full presentation with layouts, typography, and imagery applied automatically. The generated deck is then fully editable before downloading or presenting.

What types of files can I upload to generate a presentation?

Most AI presentation generators accept a range of document formats as source material, typically including PDF files, Microsoft Word documents (.docx), Microsoft PowerPoint files (.pptx), plain text files (.txt), and spreadsheets (.xls or .xlsx). Check the specific platform you are using for its exact supported file types, as these vary by tool.

How do I write a good prompt for an AI presentation?

A strong prompt includes the subject of the presentation, the intended audience, the purpose or goal, the desired number of slides, and any specific topics or sections that must be included. Specifying the tone, whether formal or conversational, technical or accessible, is also helpful. A prompt like "Create a twelve-slide presentation on the benefits of remote work policies for HR managers at mid-size companies, covering productivity data, employee wellbeing, cost savings, and implementation challenges" will produce a more relevant and usable first draft than a prompt like "remote work."

Can I customize the design after the AI generates the slides?

Yes. AI-generated presentations are fully editable. You can change the template, modify colors and fonts, replace images, edit or rewrite any text, add or remove slides, and rearrange content in any order. The AI generation is the starting point, not the final product.

What is the standard aspect ratio for a presentation?

The standard aspect ratio for modern presentations is 16:9 widescreen, which corresponds to slide dimensions of 13.33 x 7.5 inches or 1920 x 1080 pixels at full HD resolution. This ratio matches all modern laptops, monitors, projectors, and video conferencing platforms. The older 4:3 standard ratio is still used in specific legacy contexts but is not the default for most professional presentation scenarios today.

What is the 10-20-30 rule for presentations?

The 10-20-30 rule is a presentation guideline attributed to entrepreneur and author Guy Kawasaki. It recommends keeping a presentation to no more than ten slides, presenting for no longer than twenty minutes, and using a minimum font size of thirty points. The rule is designed to force clarity and brevity and is particularly cited in pitch and business presentation contexts where audience attention is limited and the core message needs to land efficiently.

What font size should I use on presentation slides?

For live presentations delivered on screen in a meeting room or conference setting, a minimum body text size of 24 points is the widely cited professional standard for readability. Headings and titles should be meaningfully larger, typically 36 points or more, to establish visual hierarchy. For presentations designed to be read independently on screen as leave-behind documents, body text of 18 to 20 points is generally considered adequate. Avoid using more than two or three different font sizes on a single slide.

What is the difference between exporting as a PDF and a PPTX file?

A PPTX file is an editable presentation file compatible with Microsoft PowerPoint and Google Slides. It preserves all layouts, animations, and text as fully editable elements and is the right format for sharing with colleagues who need to present or edit the deck. A PDF is a static document that preserves the exact visual appearance of your slides and renders identically on all devices regardless of the software installed. PDF is the better choice for sending to audiences who will read the deck rather than present it, and it serves as a universal backup that eliminates font or layout compatibility concerns across different computers.

How many slides should a presentation have?

The ideal slide count depends on the purpose, audience, and delivery time available. As a general guideline, a typical twenty-minute business or conference presentation works well with approximately fifteen to twenty slides, based on the principle of roughly one minute or less per slide. Shorter executive summaries or pitches are often most effective in the eight to twelve slide range. Longer training or educational presentations may run to thirty slides or more. The most important measure is whether each slide carries distinct, necessary content rather than padding out a count.

Can I collaborate with other people on an AI-generated presentation?

Yes. Most AI presentation tools support real-time collaboration through a share link. You can invite colleagues or clients to view the presentation, leave comments, or co-edit slides directly in the browser without any software installation. This collaborative workflow is particularly useful for presentations that require input or approval from multiple stakeholders before the final version is presented.

Can I use AI-generated presentations for commercial purposes?

In most cases, yes, but the specific terms depend on the platform you are using. Review the terms of service of your chosen tool before using AI-generated content in commercial, client-facing, or publicly distributed presentations, particularly if the tool generates images using AI. Most platforms allow commercial use with a paid plan but restrict it under free-tier accounts. When in doubt, check the platform's licensing and acceptable use documentation directly.

What should I do after the AI generates my presentation?

Review the generated outline and slide content for accuracy, revise the wording to match your voice and verified facts, replace any generic AI images with relevant visuals, apply your brand colors and fonts, check that font sizes are appropriate for your delivery environment, invite collaborators or reviewers to give feedback, and then export in the appropriate format for your delivery context. AI generation produces a strong starting structure, but the final presentation should reflect your own judgment, knowledge, and voice throughout.

Sources

AI Presentation Tool Capabilities and Landscape

Alai Blog. "Best AI Presentation Makers of 2026: Tested and Ranked."
https://getalai.com/blog/best-ai-presentation-makers
Reference for the finding that AI presentation tools can reduce design time by 40%, and for observations on brand kit integration, prompt-based generation, and the role of AI in automating layout and design consistency across decks.

Zapier. "The 8 Best AI Presentation Makers in 2026."
https://zapier.com/blog/best-ai-presentation-maker/
Reference for evaluation criteria including content generation quality, speed from dashboard to editable output, customization depth, export format compatibility, and the practical workflow of AI-assisted outline generation followed by manual refinement.

Beautiful.ai Blog. "The Top 10 Best AI Presentation Makers in 2026."
https://www.beautiful.ai/blog/best-ai-presentation-makers
Reference for the importance of brand asset integration (custom color palettes, corporate fonts, and logos) in AI presentation tools, and for export compatibility with Microsoft PowerPoint (.pptx) and Google Slides as key practical requirements.

Presentation Design Principles

Microsoft 365. "The 10-20-30 Rule of PowerPoint."
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365-life-hacks/presentations/10-20-30-rule-of-powerpoint
Reference for the 10-20-30 rule guidelines (no more than ten slides, no more than twenty minutes, minimum thirty-point font), the 6x6 rule for text density on slides, and the principle of using visuals to limit text and maintain audience engagement.

PLOS Computational Biology / PMC. "Ten Simple Rules for Effective Presentation Slides."
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8638955/
Peer-reviewed reference for the one-idea-per-slide principle, the guideline of one minute or less per slide for planning purposes, sans-serif font recommendations for readability, and the principle that each slide should serve a single clear objective.

Slidor. "PowerPoint Presentation Design: 15 Illustrated Rules."
https://www.slidor.agency/blog/15-regles-illustrees-pour-ameliorer-le-design-de-vos-presentations-powerpoint
Reference for visual hierarchy principles in slide design, the role of white space as a graphic element rather than wasted space, and the importance of typographic differentiation between heading and body text levels.

Slide Format and Technical Specifications

PitchWorx. "PowerPoint Slide Size and Dimensions Explained: 16:9 vs 4:3."
https://pitchworx.com/powerpoint-slide-size-dimensions-explained-169-vs-43/
Reference for the 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio as the professional standard for modern presentations, the explanation of letterboxing and pillarboxing when aspect ratios do not match, and the recommendation to export a PDF version as a universal backup.

Autoppt. "What Is the Minimum Font Size for PowerPoint Presentations: Best Practices Explained."
https://autoppt.com/blog/powerpoint-minimum-font-size-best-practices/
Reference for minimum recommended font sizes: 18pt to 24pt for body text in presentations, 32pt or larger for titles, with the recommendation to use sans-serif fonts for optimal clarity and to maintain strong color contrast between text and background across all slide types.

Ethos3. "Designing for Different Screen Sizes: 4:3 or 16:9."
https://ethos3.com/designing-for-different-screen-sizes-43-or-169/
Reference for the recommendation to save presentations in both .pptx and .pdf formats for compatibility across environments, and for guidance on when to use 4:3 versus 16:9 depending on display hardware.

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