# Presentation outline builder: a storyline, slide by slide > A presentation outline is a list of slide titles written as full sentences, in the order the audience needs them: the answer first, then the reasons, then the ask. Plan one slide for every 1 to 2 minutes of talking, so a 20-minute slot with 5 minutes for questions holds about 10 slides. This builder proposes that storyline for six occasions, five audiences and four goals, and you edit every title before it becomes your brief. - Source: https://ai-presentations.com/tools/presentation-outline-builder/ - Updated: 22 October 2026 - Language: English - German version: https://ai-presentations.com/de/tools/gliederung-erstellen/ Pick the occasion, the audience, the goal and your slot. You get a storyline of action titles that you can rewrite, reorder and trim before it becomes a deck. This is an interactive tool. Use it on the page: https://ai-presentations.com/tools/presentation-outline-builder/ ## How to use it 1. **Describe the talk.** Pick the occasion, the audience and what you want people to do, then set your slot. Add the topic if you already have it. 2. **Read the storyline.** Each card is one slide: a title written as a full sentence, a note on what belongs on it and a time estimate. Brackets mark the parts only you can fill in. 3. **Make it yours.** Rewrite titles, drag cards or use the arrows, delete what the audience does not need and bring back slides that were left out for time. 4. **Check the time.** The bar shows how your slides fill the talking time. If it runs over, delete or merge slides until it fits. 5. **Open it as a brief.** Open the outline in the editor, review the page plan and let the AI draft the slides from your titles. ## How it works Slide count. The tool turns your slot into talking time by keeping minutes for questions: none in a 5-minute slot, then 2, 3, 5, 10, 15 and 20 minutes for slots of 10, 15, 20, 30, 45 and 60 minutes. It plans one slide for every 1.5 minutes of talking and rounds down, which gives 3, 5, 8, 10, 13, 20 and 26 slides. These are our own planning allowances, explained in the guide on how many slides a presentation needs, and one timed rehearsal will correct them. Order. Every storyline puts the answer first and the ask last, following the pyramid principle from Barbara Minto's book The Pyramid Principle. The openings of decision and update decks use the situation, complication and question pattern known as SCQA. The investor pitch follows the slide order in Sequoia Capital's article Writing a Business Plan, and the 10-20-30 rule of Guy Kawasaki is the reference for its length. Selection. Every slide in a storyline has a priority. The opening, the answer and the ask always stay. For a short slot the tool keeps the slides with the highest priority and lists the others as left out for time, so you can bring them back. Audience and goal move the priorities: executives and investors get costs and risks earlier, people new to the topic get a context slide, a decision goal brings forward options and numbers, and an action goal brings forward owners and dates. Titles. The titles are templates, not facts. They are written as action titles, full sentences that state the message, and the parts in brackets are for you to fill in. The tool invents no figures and makes no claims about your business. The time per slide is an allowance, from half a minute for a title slide to two and a half for a decision slide. If the allowances add up to more than your talking time, the tool shortens them in proportion, so the first outline starts inside your slot. Your edits stay in your browser, and nothing leaves it until you open the brief. The brief is cut to 1,800 characters when the outline is longer, so use Copy outline when you need the full list. Sources as of October 2026. ## Brief for the AI A complete brief for the AI. Replace the [placeholders] with your facts. ```text Create a presentation for [audience] about [topic], in a slot of [20] minutes with [5] minutes reserved for questions, so about [15] minutes of talking. Use about [10] slides: a title slide, a summary on slide 2 with the answer, [three] reasons with one claim slide and one proof slide each, a slide on risks and options, and a final slide with the decision, owners and dates. Write every title as a full sentence that states the message. Put detail for questions in an appendix after the last slide, behind a divider titled Appendix. Add speaker notes with the minutes planned for each slide. Use the figures in the attached [file]. ``` [Open this brief in the editor](https://app.slaide.de/registrieren?prompt=Create+a+presentation+for+%5Baudience%5D+about+%5Btopic%5D%2C+in+a+slot+of+%5B20%5D+minutes+with+%5B5%5D+minutes+reserved+for+questions%2C+so+about+%5B15%5D+minutes+of+talking.+Use+about+%5B10%5D+slides%3A+a+title+slide%2C+a+summary+on+slide+2+with+the+answer%2C+%5Bthree%5D+reasons+with+one+claim+slide+and+one+proof+slide+each%2C+a+slide+on+risks+and+options%2C+and+a+final+slide+with+the+decision%2C+owners+and+dates.+Write+every+title+as+a+full+sentence+that+states+the+message.+Put+detail+for+questions+in+an+appendix+after+the+last+slide%2C+behind+a+divider+titled+Appendix.+Add+speaker+notes+with+the+minutes+planned+for+each+slide.+Use+the+figures+in+the+attached+%5Bfile%5D.&utm_source=ai-presentations.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=tool%3Apresentation-outline-builder&utm_content=markdown) ## Frequently asked questions ### How do you create a presentation outline? Write the ask and the answer first, list two to five reasons as full sentences, put them in order and add one proof for each. The titles of those slides are your outline. This tool drafts that structure for your occasion and slot, and you rewrite it. ### How many slides should a presentation have? Plan one slide for every one to two minutes you will talk, after subtracting time for questions. A 10-minute slot holds 5 to 7 slides and a 20-minute slot 8 to 12. Appendix slides do not count, because you show them only when someone asks. ### What is the best structure for a business presentation? Answer first: the audience gets your conclusion on slide 2, then the reasons with their evidence, then the ask. This follows the pyramid principle and suits decisions, updates and proposals. Pitches and trainings have their own orders, which the builder offers. ### What is an action title? A slide title written as a full sentence that states the message, such as Renewing for three years saves €42,000, instead of the topic label Contract. Read in order, the titles tell the story without a single chart. ### How do you structure a presentation for executives? Lead with the recommendation and the decision you need on the second slide, keep two or three reasons, bring costs and risks forward and end on the ask. Executives rarely need the background, so give it a short context slide or send it as a pre-read. ### Do you need an agenda slide? Rarely. In a short deck the summary slide does the agenda's job, because it states what you will argue. This builder leaves the agenda out and goes from the title to the answer and then to the reasons. ### Can AI create a presentation outline? Yes, an AI can propose one from a brief, but you still decide what you recommend. Treat the first outline as a draft, check that slide 2 holds the answer and that every title states a reason, then let the AI build the slides from your edited titles. ## Related pages - [Structure a presentation](https://ai-presentations.com/guides/how-to-structure-a-presentation/): How to structure a presentation for work: lead with the answer, match the order to your purpose, use skeletons for decisions, updates, pitches and proposals. - [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. - [Action titles](https://ai-presentations.com/guides/action-titles/): Write slide headlines as full sentences. Six rules for action titles, twelve before-and-after examples and a quick test you can run on any deck. - [How many slides?](https://ai-presentations.com/guides/how-many-slides/): 5, 10, 15 or 20 minutes? Plan one slide per 1 to 2 minutes of talking, subtract the time for questions and leave the appendix out. With a table and examples. - [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. - [Ghost deck](https://ai-presentations.com/glossary/ghost-deck/): A ghost deck is a draft presentation built from slide titles and rough sketches before any data exists, so a team can agree on the story first. - [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. - [Consulting proposal](https://ai-presentations.com/templates/consulting-proposal/): Propose the work in 8 slides: what you heard, the evidence, the approach in phases, the timeline, fixed fees per phase, the team and next steps. --- 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/).