# What is a key message? > **Key message:** A key message is the single idea you want your audience to remember and act on after a presentation, a section or a slide, stated in one sentence. - Source: https://ai-presentations.com/glossary/key-message/ - Updated: 21 October 2026 - Language: English - German version: https://ai-presentations.com/de/glossar/kernbotschaft/ Also called: key takeaway, main message, core message, central message **A key message** is the single idea you want your audience to remember and act on after a presentation, a section or a slide, stated in one sentence. If they forget everything else, this is what should stay. It is the one idea of the whole presentation, while the [so what](https://ai-presentations.com/glossary/so-what/) belongs to a single fact. A deck has key messages on three levels, and each level supports the one above: - **Presentation:** one message for the whole deck. - **Section:** one message for each part. - **Slide:** one message for each slide, written as its [action title](https://ai-presentations.com/glossary/action-title/). ## Example The board update example on this page opens its executive summary with the key message of the whole presentation: what happened and what the Board is asked to do. *One sentence carries the key message: the result and the ask. The figure and the line beneath it only support it. Example with fictional figures.* 2. Revenue grew 18% and EBITDA margin reached a record 14.2%. We ask the Board to approve the Rotterdam hub. The sentence has a result (revenue up 18%, a record margin) and an ask (approve the Rotterdam hub). Everything after it in the deck exists to support one of the two. ## How to write one 1. **Start from the audience's decision.** What should these people decide, believe or do when you finish? 2. **Write one sentence** with a subject, a verb and a consequence. A topic such as “Our Q3 results” is not a message. 3. **Test it.** Could you say it in one breath? Could someone who heard only that sentence act on it? 4. **Say it twice.** Open with it and return to it at the close. Every section title should support it. 5. **Cut what does not support it.** Material that supports nothing goes to the appendix. ## Typical mistakes - **A topic instead of a sentence.** “Q3 results” tells nobody what to remember. - **Three key messages.** If you have three, you have three presentations or one message with three supporting arguments. Name the one. - **No ask.** A message that does not say what should happen next stays interesting but changes nothing. - **Burying it at the end.** An audience that knows where you are heading follows the evidence more easily. - **Writing for yourself.** Use the audience's words and their stakes, not internal jargon. ## Related terms The key message answers the [so what](https://ai-presentations.com/glossary/so-what/) for the whole presentation. The [elevator pitch](https://ai-presentations.com/glossary/elevator-pitch/) is the key message said out loud to someone who has little time. The [pyramid principle](https://ai-presentations.com/guides/pyramid-principle/) puts the key message at the top and the supporting arguments beneath it. ## Frequently asked questions ### How long should a key message be? One sentence, short enough to say in one breath. If it needs two sentences, the second is usually a supporting argument or the ask, and it belongs beneath the message, not in it. ### What is the difference between a key message and a key takeaway? In practice the terms are interchangeable. Some people use key message for what the speaker wants to say and key takeaway for what the audience should remember. Write them so that both say the same thing. ### How many key messages can a presentation have? One per presentation, one per section and one per slide. Several messages at the same level compete with each other, and the audience remembers none of them. ### Is the key message the same as the title of the presentation? Usually not. A title names the subject, while the key message states the conclusion. They coincide only when the title is itself a sentence that carries the result and the ask. ## Related pages - [So what](https://ai-presentations.com/glossary/so-what/): The “so what” is the implication of a fact: why it matters to the audience and what they should do about it. Definition, examples and a test for slides. - [Action title](https://ai-presentations.com/glossary/action-title/): An action title is a slide headline written as a full sentence that states the slide's conclusion. Definition, before-and-after examples and rules. - [Storyline](https://ai-presentations.com/glossary/storyline/): A storyline is the logical chain of messages that carries a presentation from its opening to its conclusion. Definition, an example and how to build one. - [Elevator pitch](https://ai-presentations.com/glossary/elevator-pitch/): An elevator pitch is a short spoken summary of an idea, product or yourself that sparks interest during an elevator ride. Definition, example and a formula. - [SCQA](https://ai-presentations.com/glossary/scqa/): SCQA stands for Situation, Complication, Question, Answer: a four-step opening that shows your audience why your answer matters. Definition and example. - [Pyramid principle](https://ai-presentations.com/guides/pyramid-principle/): The pyramid principle by Barbara Minto: give the answer first, group the support and order it. With a worked example and an outline you can reuse for a deck. --- ai-presentations.com is published by Slaide (https://www.slaide.de), a sole proprietorship run by Nathalie Scholl in Heilbronn, Germany. [How this site is written, checked and corrected](https://ai-presentations.com/editorial-policy/).