A presentation should always be built up around a core message or central idea that you want to bring across. This should be around two sentences and should ideally be a condensed version of your conclusions. If you’re brainstorming on paper, write these down clearly at the top. In Bold. Underlined. Whatever makes them pop.

Based on the arguments you provide, your audience should be able to infer the final conclusions on their own, with your guidance. Make sure your presentation builds to your core message in a logical, gradual way. Starting with your eventual conclusions in place allows you to build your arguments gradually and logically without any illogical detours.

Keep in mind that your audience can only absorb small amounts of information at a time, so keep your arguments short and to the point. More about this in the next section.

Now that you have a rough idea of the prior knowledge of your audience, your core message, and the timeframe you have to bring it across, you can move on to structuring your presentation.