Lesson 2: Message First: Audience, One Idea a Slide, Storyline

Why plan before you open PowerPoint

A template gives you fonts and colours. It does not tell you what to say. If you start on slide 1 of a blank deck, you end up writing slides as the ideas come to you, and the result often reads like a list of topics with no point. In this lesson you plan first: who is listening, what one thing they must take away, and the order of slides that gets them there. You can do all of it on paper, in Word or in a notes app. You need no particular plan or device until the optional Copilot step.

Pick a real presentation you have coming up, such as a project update, a pitch or a training session. You will use it in every task below.

Task 1: Write an audience profile

A talk built for "everyone" usually lands with no one. Answer these five questions in one or two lines each:

1. Who are they? Give their roles and seniority, for example "Three regional sales managers and the finance director".
2. What do they already know? Note which terms you can use without explaining them.
3. What do they care about? For example cost, risk, time, customers or their own workload.
4. What decision or action is expected of them? Approve, fund, adopt, or just be informed.
5. What are the constraints? Time slot, in the room or online, and whether they will read the deck later without you.

Example: "Finance director plus three sales managers. They know our CRM well but not the new pricing tool. They care about margin and how much admin it adds. They need to approve a three-month pilot. 15 minutes on Teams, and the deck goes round afterwards."

Do now: Write the profile for your presentation.

Task 2: Write a one-sentence key message

The key message is the single sentence you want the audience to repeat after you leave. Test it like this:

• It is a full sentence with a verb, not a topic. "Q3 pricing" is a topic. "A three-month pilot of the pricing tool will cut quoting time by half with no extra cost" is a message.
• It is written for this audience and uses what they care about from Task 1.
• It points to the action you want.
• You can say it aloud in under 15 seconds.

If you cannot fit it into one sentence, you probably have two presentations. Choose one.

Do now: Write your key message at the top of your planning page.

Task 3: One idea a slide, written as headlines

Treat each slide as a newspaper headline. The headline states the slide's single idea as a sentence, and everything else on the slide supports it.

1. List every point you might make, one per line. Do not filter yet.
2. Cross out any point that does not support your key message.
3. Rewrite each remaining point as a headline sentence of about 6 to 12 words. "Quoting now takes 40 minutes per deal" works. "Current process" does not.
4. If a headline needs "and" to join two separate claims, split it into two slides.
5. Read the headlines alone, with nothing else. If someone could follow your argument from them, they are working.

Task 4: Order the headlines into a storyline

A storyline is the order that moves the audience from where they are to your message. A simple structure that suits most business talks:

1. Situation: what is true now and what the audience already accepts.
2. Complication: the problem, cost or change that means things can't stay as they are.
3. Resolution: your proposal, which is your key message.
4. Evidence: two to four slides that back it up.
5. Action: exactly what you need from them, and by when.

To check the flow, read the headlines aloud in order and join each pair with "so" or "but". Where neither word fits, a step is missing or a slide is in the wrong place.

Do now: Put your headlines in order and number them. That numbered list is your deck plan.

Task 5 (optional): Ask Copilot for an outline, then check it

Plan check (as of November 2026): This step depends on what you found in Level 1.

• Microsoft 365 Personal, Family and Premium include Copilot in PowerPoint and use a monthly allowance of AI credits.
• At work, the full Copilot in PowerPoint comes with a paid Microsoft 365 Copilot licence. Since 15 April 2026, unlicensed users in larger organisations no longer get Copilot Chat inside PowerPoint. Some smaller organisations kept a reduced version.
• IT can switch Copilot off whatever your plan says.
• Microsoft lists PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 on Windows and Mac, and PowerPoint for iPad. The web and phone versions may have limitations, so confirm what you see on screen.

If Copilot isn't available to you, skip this task. Your manual plan is complete.

1. Open a new blank presentation and select Copilot (an icon or ribbon button; where it sits varies by version).
2. Paste your audience profile and key message, then ask for an outline of slide headlines only, one idea per slide, in a situation, complication, resolution order.
3. If Copilot asks clarifying questions about audience or length, answer them from your profile.
4. Before you accept any slides, check the outline:
   • Does every headline support your key message?
   • Is each headline a sentence with a claim, not a topic label?
   • Has it added facts, figures or names you didn't give it? Remove them or verify them.
   • Does the order pass the "so/but" test?
   • Does it end with your action?
5. Correct the outline by editing it or asking Copilot to change specific items. The finished plan should still be yours.

Copilot is a drafting partner, not the author. It can't know your audience's politics or your real numbers.

Your task on your own work

Produce one page with three parts: your audience profile, your key message, and your numbered storyline of headline sentences. If you used Copilot, note what you changed in its outline and why. You will build the actual slides in later levels.

Key takeaways

• Plan the message before you choose a template.
• An audience profile covers who they are, what they know and care about, what they must do, and the constraints.
• The key message is one full sentence with a verb, for this audience, and points to an action.
• One idea a slide means a headline sentence. Split any headline that needs "and".
• Order the headlines as situation, complication, resolution, evidence, action, and test the flow with "so/but".
• Copilot outlines depend on your plan and IT settings. Always check them against your message and remove any facts you didn't supply.