What to do and what to avoid when using AI for presentations

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Workplaces are increasingly adopting AI, creating both opportunities and challenges for improving communication in presentations.

An internal survey of how thinkcell employees use third-party AI tools for presentations shows that some tasks – such as creating executive summaries and brainstorming ideas – save a significant amount of time. That same survey revealed that text-specific tasks within presentations had the highest satisfaction, demonstrating opportunities for using AI to improve communication.

However, effectively using AI to improve your slides does require some attention to detail. Here’s what to do – and what not to do – when using AI as part of your presentation creation workflow.

Do understand your audience

Whether you’re using AI or not, your presentation must be catered to the right audience. What works for an internal team meeting won’t likely fit for a presentation to the C-level or external clients.

Generic prompts lead to generic outputs. Modify your prompts accordingly to provide important details about the intended audience. Include the industry, seniority level, and goal of the presentation in the prompt to improve results.

Try it out: Compare the results from two prompts, one with a generic prompt and the other with audience context. For the generic prompt, just ask, 'Rewrite this slide text to make it clearer.” For the audience-focused prompt, try something that closely matches the content of the slide, such as “Rewrite this slide for a CFO and executive-level audience. The goal is to help them quickly understand the financial situation. Keep the tone direct, professional, and concise.'

Don’t fall for flattery

A popular use for AI in presentations is to review and refine what’s on the slide. AI can be a productive sparring partner for testing ideas. However, some AI tools, especially when not given clear instructions, tend to agree with a user’s suggestions, rather than challenge them.

If your AI tool is constantly mentioning what great ideas and remarkable insights you’re providing, make sure you take a step back, listen to your instincts, and consider whether you are being misled by the AI’s flattery. Some tools are designed to naturally give more balanced responses, and you can use instructions in your prompt that tell the AI to be more critical in its feedback.

Try it out: Try this prompt the next time you get an overly-positive response: 'Review this slide as if you were a skeptical executive. Identify weak logic, hidden assumptions, and likely objections. Then suggest how to improve the framing while keeping the recommendation intact.' This helps shift the AI to a useful reviewer.

Do prioritize your and your organization’s voice

The people you’re presenting to, whether external or internal, expect a certain tone of voice throughout the presentation. Something that feels inauthentic or obviously AI-generated, without any personal touch, reduces the impact of your presentation.

When generating text with AI, it’s helpful to provide context about the tone of voice to take. Providing your brand guidelines, for example, can help ensure that the output follows the company’s tone. Explaining who you are and your role (e.g., a consultant specializing in manufacturing) is also useful.

Try it out: Provide background information next time you prompt. 'Rewrite the following slide text in our organization’s voice. We are a marketing agency speaking to potential clients. The tone should be clear and analytical, similar to the attached brand guidelines.' Compare the output to how your team would speak in a meeting and adjust the prompt accordingly.

Don’t skip the revision process

No matter how perfect your prompts are, the review and revision process should start and end with you – not the AI. Closely reviewing the output is critical, as only you have the clearest idea of what the presentation needs to be successful.

You’re ultimately responsible for what you present, so every output should be closely reviewed and changed as needed.

Try it out: You own the final output, but AI can help with grammar, spelling, and a professional tone. Try this prompt: 'Check this slide for grammar and spelling (US English) and flag any terms or phrases that an audience might consider too colloquial for a business context.' Check the output and use what fits best for your presentation.

Do be concise and clear

AI can generate an enormous amount of text almost instantly. Huge walls of text have little purpose in an effective presentation, as conciseness and clarity are essential ingredients.

Is every insight understandable? Does the text follow the MECE (mutually exclusive, collectively exhaustive) principle for grouping information? Would bullet points work better than complete sentences? AI can sense-check your narrative and help answer these questions, but your human expertise can go a long way in bringing clarity to each slide.

Try it out: If you’re dealing with a large block of text, try this prompt: 'Turn this text into three bullet points. Each bullet should start with a strong verb, avoid repetition, and support the slide’s main takeaway.' Be sure to check the output closely to ensure nothing critical was lost when the text was shortened.

Don’t let AI dictate your presentation’s narrative

AI tools can do a remarkable job of revealing important insights and identifying patterns within data. Your role as a communicator is to know which findings are most important, which details can be left out, and ultimately, which actions to recommend based on the insights.

AI can help level-up the messaging of your presentation, but your judgment, expertise, and understanding of the business context should inform the story you’re trying to tell.

Try it out: When your presentation is nearing completion, try the prompt, “Review this slide sequence and tell me whether the story flows logically from context to insight to recommendation. Flag any slide that feels out of order, repetitive or unnecessary.” Such prompts allow AI to help you refine the narrative but not choose it for you.

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