Create Your First Presentation in 3 Minutes

You'll go from blank canvas to shareable presentation in three simple steps. By the end, you'll have a complete deck ready to present or share.

Time: 3 minutes
Level: Beginner
Prerequisites: None

Step 1: Describe Your Topic

Start your presentation journey by telling Outline what you want to create.

1. Click Create New Presentation from your dashboard
2. You'll see three options—choose Generate with AI (recommended for first-time users)
3. In the text box, describe your presentation topic in plain English

Examples of good prompts:

• "The future of AI in workplace productivity"
• "Q4 marketing strategy review for our team"
• "Introducing our new product features to customers"

Tip: Be specific but don't overthink it. One clear sentence is all you need.

Result: You'll see a loading screen while AI analyzes your topic and creates a structured outline.

Step 2: Review and Customize Your Outline

Outline's AI has created a complete presentation structure for you.

1. Review the generated slide titles and content
2. Click Edit on any slide to modify the text
3. Use the drag handles to reorder slides
4. Click Add Slide to insert additional slides, or Delete to remove ones you don't need

What you're seeing:

• Slide titles that tell your story
• Bullet points with key information
• A logical flow from introduction to conclusion

Tip: The AI picks a theme and image style based on your content. You can change these in the right panel before generating.

Result: A polished outline that matches your vision.

Step 3: Generate Your Slides

Transform your outline into beautiful, designed slides.

1. Review the theme selection in the right sidebar
2. Choose your preferred text amount (we recommend "Concise" for most presentations)
3. Pick an image style—"Illustration" works great for business presentations
4. Click Generate Slides

What happens next:

• AI creates fully-designed slides with your content
• Images are generated to match your topic
• Layouts are automatically selected for each slide
• Theme colors and fonts are applied

Result: Your complete presentation opens in the editor, ready to present or refine.

What You've Learned

• How to start a presentation from a simple description
• Customizing your outline before generation
• Choosing themes and settings for your slides

Next Steps

• Customize your slides: Learn how to edit text, add blocks, and fine-tune your design in our Customizing Your Presentation tutorial
• Choose the perfect theme: Discover how themes work and pick the best one for your content in Choosing the Right Theme
• Present your work: Export to PowerPoint or present directly—check out Exporting and Sharing

Success! You've created your first presentation with Outline. Most users complete presentations in under 5 minutes once they've learned these basics.