How to avoid last-minute presentation emergencies
We’ve all been there: you’re packing up your desk for the day, and before you close your laptop, that dreaded email hits your inbox:
“Can you put together a presentation… ASAP please?”
Cue panic, scramble for content, formatting struggles, and a race to the deadline.
What if creating a last-minute presentation didn’t have to be a disaster?
Presentation Studio was founded on the belief in the power of good presentation design to transform businesses and maximise your impact on the world. A well-crafted deck that exudes professionalism, stays on-brand with your guidelines, and effectively communicates your message can help you sign new clients, amplify your influence, and seal the deal.
While we love the luxury of time to create truly bespoke slide decks with all the slick animations and expert flourishes we’re known for, we also understand the reality of urgent requests. Here, we've compiled our top tips to help you save time and deliver a presentation that hits the mark, without full-blown panic ensuing.
Here’s a hint: professional help can go a long way!
Preparation (and templates) pay off:
Especially when the clock is ticking, a little foresight and pre-planning can make a huge difference in the turnaround time of your slide deck.
Your first line of defence? Master your presentation templates. Organise them with your brand guidelines and assets all in one place where the team can easily access them, and let everything flow from there.
Think of your branded templates as your constant starting point: instantly professional and saving you from time-consuming design decisions.
Don’t know where to start with creating yours? We build user-friendly, on-brand templates with purpose-built layouts for whatever you need, perfect for those last-minute requests.
A curated content library lets you quickly grab frequently used stats, visuals, and case studies without wasting precious minutes scrolling through endless options.
Structure your presentation by starting with the core message:
“Focus is Key”
Pinpoint your core message – what needs to be communicated? What is the purpose of this document? Resist the urge to throw in other filler content or distracting, irrelevant assets. Can you leverage existing content and adapt it to your current messaging to save time?
As long as it’s thoughtfully tailored and doesn’t stray too far from your core message, you should be golden.
Stick to simple design:
Now is not the time for design acrobatics. Simple and clear design is your best friend when time is ticking: think legible fonts, clean layouts, and a limited colour palette that keeps things on-brand and professional. And if you're presenting live, consider focusing on concise talking points rather than text-heavy slides.
Again, having turnkey templates during high-stakes situations like this can be a total game-changer: template slides should have basic, yet professional designs and simple layouts you can easily tweak without needing to reinvent the wheel.
Tech to the rescue:
AI-powered presentation tools such as Microsoft Copilot can offer a helpful starting point by adapting old materials or suggesting presentation outlines, but remember, this only gets you to a draft point.
If you have no idea where to start with setting up Copilot to truly move the needle, our team is here to help make sure your AI tools are set up to function as efficiently as possible, increasing your bandwidth and freeing you up to focus on higher-order tasks. Just drop us a note about our AI presentation services, and we’ll tell you more!
In a last-minute scenario, remember that clarity of messaging and an organised deck are the most important things. Relying on branded templates can help you get your deck over the line more quickly than creating slides from scratch.
And if you need our designers to step in to make magic happen, we’re here to help.
Our ‘Polished to Perfection’ service is ideal if you have the content but still need it to sparkle so it’s crisp, consistent, and ready to impress.
Our presentation experts will work magic to create a slick, on-brand deck ready to impress, even on a tight turnaround. We’ll ensure visual consistency throughout the slides (no matter how many people have gotten involved in editing the document at the same time), polish your layouts, and optimise your deck for maximum impact, letting you focus on your delivery.
Got a presentation emergency? We are here to help you shine, no matter the deadline.
Reach out to us here today.