create a presentation in outline view

Outline View in PowerPoint – Everything You Need to Know!

By: Author Shrot Katewa

Not a lot of people are aware that you can actually make a presentation by outlining your key points in a simple bulleted list format! This is where the Outline View in PowerPoint comes in handy!

In today’s article, we will take a look at the “Outline View” in PowerPoint, how to access it, and how to work with your presentation in the outline view!

So, let’s get started!

1. What is Outline View and Why is it Used?

The “Outline View” in Microsoft PowerPoint is a way of accessing the slides in a more simplistic manner. It removes the clutter of images and other infographics from your slides and helps you focus specifically on the text present on the slides.

In the outline view, you can see a list of the titles, subtitles as well as text on each slide. Using the outline view you can easily organize key information on your slides. You can also export or import the outline to and from other documents.

Furthermore, the outline view is also editable, which makes it easier to add or remove any text from the PowerPoint presentation.

2. How to Access the Outline View in PowerPoint?

In Microsoft PowerPoint, you can very easily access the outline view and navigate it.

To access the outline view in PowerPoint, first, click on the “View” tab in the menu bar located at the top of the screen. In the “View” menu, click on “Outline View” which is the second option in the “Presentation Views” section.

This will show the presentation outline in a sidebar on the left side of the screen.

3. How to Expand Slides in Outline View?

In the “Outline View” , you can expand any or all slides to view all the content within the slide. There are 3 different methods you can use to expand the slides in the outline view.

3a. Method 1 – Using Right-Click

You have to first open the “Outline View” from the “View” menu. In the outline sidebar located at the left side of the screen, “Right Click” on the box beside the slide number which you want to expand.

Then click on the “Expand” option from the right-click menu.

3b. Method 2 – Using Double-Click

You can use the double-click method to quickly expand the slide outline. All you have to do is “Double Click” on the box located between the slide number and the slide title.

3c. Expand All Slides Using Expand All Feature

In the “Outline View” , you can also expand all the slides at once. To do so, “Right Click” on the box next to any slide. In the right-click menu, click on the arrow beside the “Expand” option to open another dropdown menu.

Then click on the “Expand All” option to expand all the slides.

4. How to Collapse Slides in Outline View?

Microsoft PowerPoint offers various methods to collapse slides in the “Outline View” . Collapsing the slides can help you see the list of the slides in a presentation easily.

4a. Using Right-Click

In the “Outline View” , locate the expanded slide from the sidebar on the left side of the screen. Then “Right Click” on the box next to the slide number and click on the “Collapse” option from the pop-up menu.

4b. Using Double-Click

To collapse a slide using the double-click method, all you have to do is “Double Click” on the box at the left side of the expanded slide. The slide will immediately collapse hiding all the text except the heading.

4c. Collapse All Feature

You can also collapse all the slides at once. To do so, “Right Click” on any slide in the outline. Then click on the arrow beside the “Collapse” option.

Finally, you have to click on the “Collapse All” option from the secondary pop-up menu.

5. How to Rearrange Slides in Outline View?

When reviewing the outline of a PowerPoint presentation, you may need to rearrange some slides based on their contents.

In the “Outline View” , you can move a slide in between the contents of another slide. You can also simply move a slide up or down.

5a. How to Move Up Slides in Outline View?

In the “Outline View” , you can move a slide up by one or even more slides. There are different methods to move up slides in PowerPoint. The first step is to click on the “Outline View” option from the “View” menu.

Method 1 – Using Right-Click

In the “Outline View” sidebar at the left side of the screen, “Right Click” on the slide you want to move up. Then click on the “Move Up” option from the right-click menu.

To move up the slide further, repeat the process until the slide reaches the preferred position in the outline.

Method 2 – Using Drag & Drop

You can also move up a slide quickly by using the drag and drop method. All you have to do is click and hold on to the box next to the slide number and then drag the slide up as much as you need.

5b. How to Move Down Slides in Outline View in PowerPoint?

Similar to the process of moving up a slide, you can easily move down a slide. All you have to do is “Right Click” on the slide from the outlines on the left side of the screen.

Then click on the “Move Down” option from the pop-up menu. Alternatively, you can drag and drop the slide to the preferred position.

6. How to Add Content on Slides Using Outline View?

The presentation outline in the “Outline View” is editable. Thus, you can edit the content of a slide by editing the outline. To add content on slides using the “Outline View” , follow the 2 simple steps.

Step-1: Open the Outline View

In the menu ribbon located at the top of the screen, click on the “View” tab. You have to then click on the “Outline View” option which is the second option in the “Presentation Views” section of the “View” menu.

Step-2: Click on the slide and add content to the outline

In the outline sidebar at the left side of the screen, click on the slide and heading level where you want to add content. Then type in the content. You will see the text being added to the presentation slide.

If you want to add text in a new line, simply press “Enter” and start adding the content. It will be visible separately on the slide.

6a. How to Increase or Decrease Indent of Content in Outline View?

To increase or decrease the indent of content in the “Outline View” , click on the “Home” tab in PowerPoint . Next, you have to click on the content in the outline sidebar for which you want to change the indentation.

Increase Indentation

By increasing the indent level, you push the content to the right. The content is thus moved to a higher list level. To increase the indentation, click on the “Increase List Level” option in the “Paragraph” section of the “Home” tab in PowerPoint.

Decrease Indentation

By decreasing the indent level, you can push the content to the left, and decrease the list level. To do so, click on the “Decrease List Level” option in the “Paragraph” section of the “Home” menu.

7. How to Change Content Hierarchy Using Outline View in PowerPoint?

In the “Outline View” , you can change the content hierarchy of the contents within a slide.

Content hierarchy is the order of the content in a slide. The top of the hierarchy is the heading and then the “List level 1” , “List level 2” and so on.

7a. Promote Content in Outline View in PowerPoint

Promoting content pushes the content up the hierarchy.

To promote content in outline view in PowerPoint, you have to first “Right Click” on the content in the outline sidebar. Then click on the “Promote” option from the right-click menu.

You can repeat this process to promote the content up to a few hierarchy levels. However, you cannot promote a “Heading” since it is the highest level in the hierarchy.

7b. Demote Content in Outline View in PowerPoint

When you demote content, it is pushed down the hierarchy.

To demote content in outline view in PowerPoint, “Right Click” on the content in the outline that you want to demote. Then click on the “Demote” option.

You can repeat the process to move the content further down the hierarchy. For headings, you can only demote the heading of a text-only slide.

8. How to Go Back to Normal View from Outline View in PowerPoint?

If you want to exit the “Outline View” , you can easily return to the “Normal View” in PowerPoint.

To go back to “Normal View” from “Outline View” , all you have to do is click on the “View” tab in the menu ribbon. Then click on the “Normal” option which is the first option in the “View” menu.

9. How to Save Your PowerPoint Presentation as an Outline?

Besides viewing the presentation outline, you can also save your PowerPoint Presentation as an outline. All you have to do is follow the 4 easy steps.

Step-1: Click on the “Save As” option

In the menu ribbon at the top of the screen, click on the “File” tab to open the “File” menu. Then click on the “Save As” option in the “File” menu.

Step-2: Click on “More options”

In the “Save As” screen, click on the “More options” option which is above the “New Folder” button (as shown in the image in step 1). This will open a dialog box.

Step-3: Click on “Outline/RTF”

In the “Save As” dialog box, click on the “Save as type” box at the bottom. Then click on the “Outline/RTF” option from the pop-up menu.

Step-4: Click on the “Save” option

Now all you have to do is click on the “Save” button at the bottom of the “Save As” dialog box. This will save the PowerPoint presentation as an outline.

10. How to Print Outline View in PowerPoint?

Microsoft PowerPoint allows you to print the outline of the presentation only. All you have to do is follow the 3 simple steps.

Step-1: Click on the “File” tab

In the open PowerPoint presentation, click on the “File” tab from the menu ribbon located at the top of the screen. In the sidebar of the “File” menu, click on the “Print” option.

Step-2: Click on the “Print Layout” option

Under the “Settings” section, click on the box that says “Full Page Slides” . It will open a “Print Layout” pop-up menu. In the pop-up menu, click on the “Outline” option.

The presentation outline will appear on the preview screen.

Step-3: Click on the “Print” option

Finally, you have to make sure the device is connected to a printer. Then all you have to do is click on the “Print” button at the top of the screen.

11. How to Convert a Word Outline into a PowerPoint Presentation Using Outline View?

Microsoft PowerPoint allows you to import the outline from a Microsoft Word file. Importing an outline will automatically create slides for you. All you have to do is follow the 3 easy steps.

Step-1: Click on the “Slides from Outline” option

The first step is to click on the “Home” tab in the menu ribbon. In the “Slides” section of the “Home” menu, click on the “New Slide” option to open a dropdown menu.

Click on the “Slides from Outline” option from the bottom of the dropdown menu.

Step-2: Click on the “Insert” button

In the “Insert Outline” dialog box, click on the Microsoft Word document which you want to import. Then click on the “Insert” button at the bottom of the dialog box.

Step-3: Arrange the content

Since the process automatically transforms the Word outline into a PowerPoint outline, the content may need some adjustments. If the Word outline does not have any headings, each paragraph will be converted into a slide.

To arrange them, “Right Click” on the content, and then click on the preferred option from the “Move Up” , “Move Down” , “Promote” and “Demote” options in the right-click menu.

12. Outline View Not Showing Text? Here’s Why!

In Microsoft PowerPoint “Outline View” , the text in the content placeholder is automatically shown in the outline. So when a slide has no content placeholder, the outline will not show any text.

To solve the problem, you will first need to add a placeholder in PowerPoint . Follow the steps mentioned below –

Step-1: Click on the “Slide Master” option

The first step is to open the slide where the “Outline View” is not showing any text. Then click on the “View” tab from the menu ribbon. In the “Master Views” section of the “View” menu, click on the “Slide Master” option.

Step-2: Click on the “Insert Placeholder” button

The next step is to click on the “Insert Placeholder” option in the “Master Layout” section of the “Slide Master” view. Then click on the “Content” option from the dropdown menu.

Step-3: Draw the “Content Placeholder”

Now all you have to do is draw the “Content Placeholder” into the slide layout. You can also resize and reposition the placeholder.

Click on the “Shape Format” tab in the menu ribbon to access more options to edit the content placeholder.

Step-4: Click on the “Close Master View” option

To save the content placeholder, click on the “Close Master View” option under the “Slide Master” tab. The screen will return to “Normal View” .

Step-5: Paste the text to the “Content Placeholder”

The final step is to cut the text in the slide and paste it into the “Content Placeholder” . To do so, select the text and press the “Ctrl+X” keys on your keyboard. Then click on the “Content Placeholder” and press the “Ctrl+V” keys.

Step-6: Click on the “Outline View” option

In the menu ribbon, click on the “View” tab and then click on the “Outline View” option. You will see that the text is now showing in the outline view.

Credit to Katemangostar (on Freepik) for the featured image of this article (further edited)

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The Outline View in PowerPoint (Ultimate Guide)

• PowerPoint Tutorials
• Miscellaneous
• December 5, 2017

This ultimate guide to the Outline View will catch you up to speed on the best ways to use the Outline View in PowerPoint.

There are a variety of different ways you can use the Outline View in PowerPoint to create, review and rearrange your content, all detailed below.

Table of Contents

What is the outline view in powerpoint.

It’s simply a way to view your presentation based solely on the text found within the content placeholders of your slides.

For example, you can see the difference between the views in the  SAME deck below – the one on the left is the Normal View (thumbnail view), the one on the right in the Outline View.

And beyond simply showing the outline of your presentation, there are a number of tricks, shortcuts and PowerPoint hacks to BEND the Outline View to do your beck and calling.

You can slowly scroll down the page and soak up all of this PowerPoint goodness, or use the table of contents on the left to jump around to some of the advanced topics.

Switching to the Outline View in PowerPoint

There are three different ways to open (or switch to) the Outline View in PowerPoint, both described below.

Option #1. My favorite way to switch to the Outline View in PowerPoint is the CTRL + SHIFT + TAB   keyboard shortcut.

This shortcut opens and/or closes the outline view, displaying either the normal thumbnail view of your slides or the outline view of your content.

Notice how in the outline view (pictured above), instead of seeing the thumbnail preview of the slides (with the respective graphics) you only see the text that is in the  content placeholders .

And this makes a BIG difference!

The text you type into normal shapes and text boxes will NEVER show up in the Outline View, only the text that is the content placeholders that are set on the Slide Master.

Open the outline view #2

Another way you can open the outline view is by simply clicking the Normal icon at the bottom of your PowerPoint workspace.

• Clicking the icon once will open the outline view (assuming your notes pane is already open)
• Clicking the icon a second time will close the outline view, returning you to the thumbnail view.

If your notes pane is not open, you will need to click the icon an extra time before moving to the outline or thumbnail view.

Outline View NOT showing text?

Only text that is typed into content placeholders will show up in the outline view.

What’s a content placeholder?

Content placeholders are objects that you (or someone) set on the slide master of your presentation. These are objects like titles, subtitles and any other ‘type to add text here’ type of objects.

These types of placeholders can only be set on the Slide Master, and it’s only the text typed within these placeholders that shows up in the Outline View of your presentation.

So if you move to the Outline View (CTRL + SHIFT + TAB) and don’t see your slide’s text there, it means that your text is not in a content placeholder, it’s likely in a normal shape or text box that has been added to your presentation.

All of the other normal shapes and text boxes that you add to your presentation in the normal view, WILL NOT show up in the outline view of your presentation (no matter what you do).

Drafting an outline in PowerPoint

The MOST IMPORTANT keyboard shortcut to remember when drafting an outline in PowerPoint is:

New Slide Shortcut in PowerPoint, Ctrl plus Enter

Ctrl + Enter

This is your one stop shop for jumping between your content containers (regardless of how many you have) either in the Outline View or the Normal View of your presentation.

In the picture below you can see the different numbers in the Outline View on the left and follow the arrows to the right to see how they line up with the content containers on the right.

CTRL + ENTER allows you to jump between these containers without taking your hands off of the keyboard.

This shortcut works both in the Normal View in PowerPoint – jumping between content containers – and the Outline View in PowerPoint.

Once you run out of content placeholders to type text into, hitting CTRL + ENTER again gives you a new blank slide to work with.

Outline View Keyboard Shortcuts

Besides the CTRL + ENTER keyboard shortcut described above, there are a number of other Outline View shortcuts, most of which involve the ALT + SHIFT keys (making them easier to remember)

When using the Outline View shortcuts, remember that for most of them to work (like collapse groups ALT + SHIFT + 1 and expand groups ALT + SHIFT + 9) you need to rotate to the Outline View to activate it.

To rotate (or activate) the Outline View is to first open the outline view (CTRL + SHIFT + TAB) and then rotate active panes counterclockwise (SHIFT + F6).

If you are brand new to shortcuts, my advice is to just first start with the open/close Outline View shortcut (CTRL + SHIFT + TAB). If you are an intermediate to advanced user and will be frequently using this view, then it’s worthwhile learning how to activate and navigate this view entirely from your keyboard.

Resetting your text formatting

If for whatever reason you forget to paste your content as Text, you can always reset your slide (either in the Normal View or Outline View) to refresh your default formatting.

To do so simply select your text (or slides in the Normal View), navigate to the Home tab, and in the Slide group section select Reset .

Resetting your slides does two things simultaneously:

• It forces all of your content placeholders back into their original position, defined by their position on your Slide Master (this is useful if something accidentally gets moved out of place).
• It forces all of your text back to its original text formatting, as defined by the Slide Master and Theme.

How to print the outline view in PowerPoint

Another overlooked feature of the Outline View is that you can print it.

This is useful when you have a large presentation and you simply want to see what it looks like based on the Titles, sub-titles and other content placeholders….basically your slides minus all of your graphics, pictures, etc.

To print your outline view, simply follow these steps.

1. Navigate to the Print Options

On your keyboard, hit CTRL+P to open up the print options for your presentation.

2. Navigate to the Outline View

Within the print options, select the ‘Full Page Slides’ dropdown (the default setting) and within the menu in the upper right-hand corner, select the Outline View.

Once the outline view is selected, you’ll see a print preview of your slides on the far right.

As shown in the picture above, by default the Outline View is a default blank layout, but you can customize this as I will show you in the next section.

For additional help printing your PowerPoint slides as handouts, check out our guide here .

To learn how to convert your presentation outline into the PDF file format, see our guide here .

Customize the Outline View

If you frequently print the Outline View of your presentation, you can customize it with your own personalized branding (colors, logos, etc.).

This is particularly useful if you plan on sending the print out of the Outline View around. To customize your Outline View, follow these steps.

Step #1. Navigate to the Handout Master

There are two ways to do this:

• From the view tab, select the handout master icon.
• Holding the SHIFT key on your keyboard, click the slide sorter command at the bottom of your screen.

This Shift + Slide Sorter shortcut is a hidden shortcut.

2. Navigate to the Outline View framework

Within the Handout Master view, open up the slides per page drop-down.

So this is where you can select the different formats of your slides when printing them as handouts, depending on how many slides you plan to print per handout.

These options line up directly (plus some like the Notes Page ) with the handout print options available as showing in the picture below.

Within the drop down, simply select the Outline View at the bottom to open up the Outline View format.

3. Customize your Outline View

Just like working with any normal slide, in this Handout Master Outline view, you can add your own personal customizations like your logo, design elements, extra text, etc.

In the example below I’ve added the Nuts & Bolt log in the upper right-hand corner and a simply gradient colored rectangle down the left-side of the page. You don’t have to do anything too fancy…a little effort will go a long way and shock most people.

Using the Outline View in Word and PowerPoint

There are two ways to get an outline from Word into PowerPoint.:

• Import the Outline from PowerPoint which allows you to add the slides to an existing presentation
• Open the Outline directly in PowerPoint creating a brand new presentation

If you are using a Mac, you need to use the Rich Text file Format (.rtf). See instructions for how to do this on  Microsoft’s website here .

Import a Word Outline into PowerPOint

Importing your slides like this will add any new slides to the current presentation you are working in. Don’t worry, none of your other slides will be affected.

To learn about the common mistakes that happen when converting Word to PowerPoint, see our post here .

1. Navigate to the ‘Slides from Outline’ command

From within your presentation, navigate to the Home tab, open the New Slide drop down and at the bottom of the dialog select Slides from outline… to open the File Navigation dialog box.

2. Find your Word document

Within the dialog box, find your Word document and select ‘Insert’.

To fix this, you need to use the Title style and Heading 1 styles in Word.

Don’t forget to format your presentation

Importing an outline like this is a great way to jump start your presentation building process, but don’t stop here.

Your outline will always import in the most DEFAULT blank presentation style with only the Title and Content container slide layout.

This default look DOES NOT make for an effective presentation, so you will want to make sure to apply a theme and work on incorporating visuals like charts, tables, pictures, etc. to make your presentation more effective.

Opening an outline in PowerPoint

Instead of importing your outline, you can open your outline directly in PowerPoint to start a brand-new presentation.

To do so, follow these simple steps.

1. Go to the Open File dialog box

Within PowerPoint, either navigate to the File tab, Open and select Computer or on your keyboard simply hit CTRL + F12.

Using either method, the navigation dialog box opens up.

2. Change the file type you are searching for

Within the Open File dialog box, in the lower right-hand corner change the file type you are searching for from PowerPoint files to All Outlines .

3. Find your outline document

Find your outline document (I usually just save mine in Word) and click okay.

Note, if you are using a Mac, you need to save your Word document in the Rich Text File (.rtf) format.

If your outline is formatted correctly, your text will import correctly in the title and content container placeholders. If not formatted correctly, each line of text from your outline will import as its own individual slide.

Final Thoughts

So those are all the different ways you can use the Outline View in PowerPoint to quickly build and edit your PowerPoint presentations.

If you end up using the Outline View a lot, I highly recommend learning the keyboard shortcuts for it. Shortcuts are the fastest way to double your productivity in PowerPoint (no joke).  For a full list of our favorite keyboard shortcuts in PowerPoint, read our guide here .

If you enjoyed the depth and detail of this blog post, you can learn more about boosting your PowerPoint skills with us here .

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About the author.

This Post Has 4 Comments

I apologize if this is obvious and I’m missing it.

But I don’t see anything about the browser-based version of Powerpoint.

Is that because the Outline feature simply does not exist there?

Hi Edward. Yes, unfortunately the Outline View does not exist in the online version of PowerPoint. It’s a very watered down version and I mostly use it to edit existing documents or present, rather that build out a presentation.

Wish I had a better answer for you, but thanks for the question.

I think you meant Ctrl+Shift+Tab rather than Alt+Shift+Tab, in your first mention of that shorcut. Thanks for the helpful article!

Yes, thank you for that (that was a typo on my end)! You are correct, Ctrl+Shift+Tab is the shortcut for the Outline View :). Cheers!

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Home Blog PowerPoint Tutorials How to Use Outline View in PowerPoint

How to Use Outline View in PowerPoint

PowerPoint provides different views to help presenters manage their presentations and PowerPoint templates . The Normal view is often used when creating presentations, the Slide Sorter view helps sort slides easily, the Reading view gives ease of reading the slides for review purposes, whereas the Slideshow mode is used for presenting presentations. Similarly, if you need to review and manage your outlines, the Outline View in PowerPoint is the right option.

How to Switch to Outline View in PowerPoint

By going to View -> Outline View , you can see the outline for your presentation. This view displays the presentation as titles and text within slides to give you an overview of the slide content.

The Outline view can also help review your slides after you have created a basic outline and need to start working on your slides. This can help you review if the outline makes sense. You can also use it during or after the completion of your presentation for the same purpose.

There are numerous handy options in the PowerPoint Outline view accessible via the right-click context menu. This includes options to expand or collapse the list and delete, move, or add new slides.

How to Print an Outline of the Presentation

To print an outline for your slides, go to File -> Print and select Outline via Settings . Select the printer and click Print .

Final Words

When designing your outline, a few considerations should include the title, introduction to your topic, subheadings, the number of slides you intend to use, a summary of your slides to make your content memorable with key action points, and a conclusion. The Outline View in PowerPoint can be a good option to review the basic outline for your presentation to remain on track when working on your slides.

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Comprehensive Guide To Outline View In PowerPoint

• Date: 15th October 2021
• Read Time 5 mins

What is this unknown and brilliant Microsoft PowerPoint view I hear you cry?

It’s the PowerPoint Outline view, found in the View Ribbon in the Presentation Views group.

I’ve circled the View tab and the Outline view command below so you can see it clearly.

Do you know this view and how to use it? If not, stay right where you are! It’s quite different to Normal View in Microsoft PowerPoint. It shows you the presentation outline.

Why show you this view? The answer is, we’ve been teaching Microsoft PowerPoint for over 20 years (yes it did exist back then!) and noticed that this isn’t a well-known view despite it containing so many ways to speed up your work.

For those of you keen to learn more about PowerPoint Outline is covered in our PowerPoint Training Courses .

Let’s take a look at Outline View.

What Does Outline View Show You?

As you can see in the screenshot below, the Outline view is all about the presentation text and nothing else.

It’s where you can focus on the words in your presentation, so there are no distractions from the formatting, colour, or design.

It’s a really clean and productive view to start creating a presentation from.

The Outline view shown above has been customised slightly. I’ll show you how to recreate this exact view next.

To recreate the customised Outline view shown above, we need to make the text panel on the left sidelarger (the Outline pane) and the slide area on the right smaller.

The divider (which has been highlighted with an arrow and is shown below) is dragged to the right with the white double-headed cursor. You will see this cursor when pointing to the divider.

This creates a bigger left text panel and what’s called a slide miniature on the right.

If you are looking to learn more about how you can insert slides from other presentations easily , view our guide here!

How Do I Use PowerPoint Outline View?

Here’s how, you use the left text panel as if you were typing in Word. It’s remarkably simple to use!

The numbers and text circled above are the slide numbers and the slide titles.

Let’s create a presentation in Outline view. A new presentation has been created below and Outline view has been selected and customised as shown earlier.

The text PowerPoint Course has been typed onto slide 1. We then press enter and move onto slide 2. This is an amazingly quick way of creating and then typing into a new slide!

We can either use this new slide 2 or press the tab key to create and type subheadings onto slide one like this shown below.

By pressing enter after the subheading Tutor: Lucinda Thomas followed by shift+tab. This changes a subheading into the main slide heading like this below and Course Aims and Objectives can be typed in.

So, to summarise, we use enter after typing text and then alternate between tab (moves text right) to produce a subheading and shift+tab (moves text left) to produce a slide heading. Its that simple to use!

Looking for something a little different? Check out our AutoCAD for architects guide here!

What other features are there in Outline view?

We can Collapse and Expand all or individual slides in a presentation. This is incredibly useful for managing large presentations and organising ideas too. To collapse or expand slides we need to be in Outline View and right-click on a slide selector which is the box on the right of a slide number.

As you can see below, slide 2 has been right-clicked on. The speed menu shows the Collapse and Expand options. Collapse will just affect slide 2 whereas Collapse All will affect all slides in the presentation.

When Collapse All is selected, we only see the slide headings in the entire presentation as shown below. This helps when checking the flow and logic of a presentation. To show all headings again right-click on a slide selector and select Expand or Expand All .

Reorganising slides can also be carried out in Outline view so there’s no need to change to a different view for this.

By pointing to a slide selector, a white 4 headed arrow appears. By keeping the left mouse button pressed the 4 headed arrow turns black and the slide and all its text can be dragged up or down.

The grey positioning line shows the slides new position. The picture below demonstrates slide 3 being positioned between slide 1 and 2.

Lines of text can also be rearranged in Outline view. This is done by right clicking on the line of text and using the Move Up and Move Down options on the speed menu shown below.

The first point on slide 3 has been right-clicked on and this text has now been moved down and relocated as the first subheading on slide 4.

If you want to read information in your presentation or Outline, you can read our guide on zooming in using your mouse here.

Can I print PowerPoint Outline View?

Great news! Yes, you can print the Outline of a PowerPoint presentation. Many people use outline view to create speaker notes when making a presentation .

To print the Outline the Print options will be needed. Use the keyboard shortcut Control+P which takes you to Backstage View and the Print options which are shown below. The Full Page Slides option is selected, and Outline is clicked on from the menu (highlighted by the arrow) as shown below.

You are now able to print the Outline text only as shown below. This technique is covered in our comprehensive guide to all printing options in PowerPoint .

Want to see how people are using PowerPoint today? Check out our PowerPoint statistics here!

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Powerpoint statistics 2024, 10 tips for delivering professional presentations, powerpoint: how to zoom with your mouse.

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Outline View in PowerPoint

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How to Use Outline View in PowerPoint

Outline View shows your presentation arranged as an outline and is ideal for quickly adding text to a slide or previewing the structure of a presentation.

View an Outline

• Click the View tab.

The Outline pane appears at the left, showing only the text in your presentation.

You can quickly create an entire presentation by pasting an outline from Word into the Outline pane.

Collapse and Expand Headings

In Outline View, you can collapse or expand headings, subheadings, and text.

• Right-click any slide title in the Outline pane.
• Click the Collapse list arrow.
• Collapse : Collapse only the selected slide.
• Collapse All : Collapse all slides in the Outline view.

You can expand or collapse a heading by double-clicking a slide icon in the Outline pane.

Rearrange Outline Content

• Right-click the slide you want to move.

Adjust the List Level

You can also change the level of slide text using the Outline pane.

• Select an Outline item.
• Increase List Level : Demotes a paragraph by moving it down one level in the outline, increasing its indent level.
• Decrease List Level : Promotes a paragraph by moving it up one level in the outline, decreasing its indent level.

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Create Effective Presentation Outlines: A Step-by-Step Guide with Tips & Examples

Table of Contents

What is a presentation outline .

A presentation outline is like a roadmap for organizing your thoughts and delivering your message smoothly during a presentation. It helps you structure your content logically, ensuring that your audience can follow along easily. By providing a clear framework, an outline enhances the clarity and effectiveness of your presentation.

Importance of Presentation Outline  

1. Clarity and Focus

Using an outline keeps your presentation organized and focused, preventing you from going off track. It ensures that your presentation has a clear purpose and that all the information you share is relevant to your main points.

2. Logical Structure

A well-crafted outline ensures that your presentation flows logically, guiding your audience smoothly from one point to the next. This helps your audience follow your train of thought and understand your message more easily.

3. Enhanced Delivery

Having a clear outline can boost your confidence and make your delivery smoother. With a structured plan, you’re less likely to forget important points or ramble on, resulting in a more professional presentation.

4. Time Management

An outline helps you manage your time better by estimating how long each part of your presentation will take. This ensures that you stay within the allotted timeframe, keeping your presentation on track and engaging for your audience.

How to Build Strong Presentation Outline s?

1. Purpose of Presentation

Understanding why you’re giving your presentation is crucial for planning its structure. Identifying your goal means thinking about what you want your audience to get out of it. This clarity forms the basis of your whole presentation. There are six potential reasons you might be presenting:

• Sharing information
• Teaching something new
• Making it enjoyable
• Inspiring action
• Convincing people of something
• Motivating them

Thinking about your goal will help you make a presentation that really grabs attention. Answering these questions can help you figure out what your goal is:

• What do I want people to learn or understand from my presentation?
• How will my presentation make a difference to those listening?
• What do I want people to do after my presentation?

Once you have the answers, you’ll have a good idea of what your presentation should cover and where to start.

2. Consider Color and Design

How you present your pitch matters just as much as what you say. Take a moment to think about the fonts and colors you’ll use on your slides. Research suggests that red can convey excitement and grab your audience’s attention, while white gives off a sense of simplicity and clarity.

3. Establishing Structure: Arrange Your Ideas in a Logical Order

When crafting your presentation, it’s important to structure your ideas in a clear and logical sequence. Start with an introduction to set the stage, followed by the main body where you delve into your key points, and wrap it up with a conclusion to summarize your main ideas.

4. Engaging Your Audience

When you’re getting ready for your presentation, think about how you can start off in a way that grabs everyone’s attention. You could ask a thought-provoking question, share an interesting story, or begin with a meaningful quote. The main thing is to get your audience interested right from the beginning and set the tone for the rest of your talk.

5. Adding Visuals

Give some thought to whether you want to include pictures, videos, or other visual stuff in your presentation. Even if your outline doesn’t mention exactly what visuals to use, you can suggest where they might fit in to help explain your ideas.

6. Encouraging Action

Come up with a clear and compelling message to encourage your audience to take action. Whether it’s encouraging customers to try out a new product or inviting people to join a demo, make sure they understand what’s in it for them. And if your presentation doesn’t really need a specific call to action, just wrap up by summarizing your main points and saying thanks for listening.

Alternatively, you can skip the hassle of crafting a presentation outline manually – try SlidesAI for seamless assistance .

Strategies for Crafting an Engaging Presentation

1. Understanding Your Audience

Take some time to know your audience by researching beforehand. This helps you adjust your presentation to connect with them better.

2. Enhance with Quotes, Testimonials, or Data

Make your presentation more interesting by adding extra info like quotes, testimonials, or data. It can make your audience more engaged and reinforce your message.

3. Visualize Your Concepts

How you show your ideas matters a lot. Tools like SlidesAI can help you express your concepts clearly and effectively.

4. Highlight Key Takeaways

Figure out the most important points you want your audience to remember. This makes it easier for them to recall and understand your message.

5. Seek Feedback

Ask for feedback to improve your presentation. It’s a good way to make sure it connects better with your audience.

Presentation Outline Example

Topic: The Impact of Social Media on Mental Health

Target Audience: College students

Time Limit: 15 minutes

I. Introduction (2 minutes)

Attention Grabber : Briefly discuss a real-life example of how social media can negatively impact mental health (e.g., cyberbullying, unrealistic beauty standards).

Introduce the topic : Clearly state the topic and its significance (e.g., “Today, I’ll be talking about the increasing impact of social media on mental health, particularly among young adults like yourselves”).

Preview : Briefly outline the key points that will be covered (e.g., “We’ll explore the positive and negative aspects of social media use, discuss common mental health concerns associated with it, and offer some tips for healthy social media habits”).

II. Main Body (10 minutes)

Positive aspects of social media:

Connection and community : Highlight how social media can help people connect with friends and family, build communities based on shared interests, and combat feelings of loneliness.

Information and self-expression : Discuss how social media can be a source of information, news, and inspiration, and provide a platform for self-expression and creativity.

Negative aspects of social media:

Social comparison and envy : Explain how constant exposure to curated online profiles can lead to social comparison, feelings of inadequacy, and envy.

Cyberbullying and harassment : Discuss the prevalence of cyberbullying and online harassment, their potential to significantly impact mental health, and the importance of online safety.

Addiction and anxiety : Explain how excessive social media use can lead to addiction, anxiety, and sleep disturbances.

III. Conclusion (3 minutes)

Summary : Briefly recap the key takeaways discussed in the presentation.

Call to action : Encourage the audience to be mindful of their social media usage and offer practical tips for developing healthy habits, such as setting time limits, curating their feed, and prioritizing real-life interactions.

Question and Answer : Allocate time for audience questions and address them thoughtfully.

This is just a sample outline, and you can adapt and modify it based on your specific topic, audience, and time constraints. Remember, a well-structured and engaging presentation will effectively communicate your message and leave a lasting impression on your audience.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can ai help you create a presentation outline .

With the assistance of AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini, crafting outlines becomes a breeze. Furthermore, you can utilize user-friendly online AI presentation tools such as SlidesAI to effortlessly generate your presentations.

Why is putting your outline on a slide a good idea?

Using a presentation outline can be helpful. It makes things clearer, boosts the speaker’s confidence, and helps manage information better. It also keeps the audience more engaged. But, if your presentation is fast-paced, casual, or focused on a specific area of expertise, you might want to keep the outline short and sweet. Just pick what works best for your situation and audience.

What is the format of the presentation outline?

There are various formats, but a common approach is using bullet points, numbered lists , or headings and subheadings. Choose the format that best suits your content and visualizes your information.

How can I adapt my presentation outline for different audiences?

Adapt your presentation outline by tailoring:

• Content : Depth, complexity, and examples based on audience expertise.
• Language : Formality, jargon, and storytelling to match audience and occasion.
• Visuals : Complexity and style to suit audience understanding.
• Delivery : Pace, volume, and even body language to audience energy.
• Focus : Highlight information most relevant to specific interests.

How long should a presentation outline be?

There’s no set rule; it depends on the complexity of your topic and presentation length.

Can I use a mind map to create a presentation outline?

Yes, mind maps can be a good way to visually brainstorm and organize presentation ideas.

What tools can I use to create a presentation outline?

You can use pen and paper, a word processing software like Microsoft Word, or dedicated outlining tools. Presentation software like PowerPoint also offers built-in outlining features.

Save Time and Effortlessly Create Presentations with SlidesAI

December 4, 2023

How to create a presentation outline (with examples)

Four methods to create a presentation outline and example outlines for inspiration

Co-founder, CEO

Like it or not, if you work in an office environment or go to school, you'll probably have to make a presentation at some point. But creating a great presentation can be challenging, especially when you're short on time or suffering from writers' block.

Luckily, there are lots of ways to get a head start on your presentation outline, and in this article we'll walk through four options for creating a presentation outline and show you several examples of great presentation outlines.

Why should I write a presentation outline?

An outline helps you organize your ideas in a clear and logical way . Instead of getting bogged down on details like formatting or word choice, an outline presents the overarching story of your presentation with just a few main points. This helps to make sure you have a cohesive narrative before you dive in to the nitty gritty work of wordsmithing individual bullet points or selecting the perfect slide theme.

If this sounds like a lot of work, it often is! But spending time writing a great outline will save you time and effort down the road because it will be easier to organize your work and create each slide when you understand how it fits in to the broader presentation.

Here are four ways you can get a start on creating your next presentation outline.

Method 1: Create your outline from scratch

Creating an outline from scratch may sound intimidating if you have never written a presentation outline before, but this is the most straightforward way to get started.

Start by jotting down the three main points you want to make in your presentation. Once you have your main ideas in order, write down a few supporting details and examples for each point.

Then, add an introduction (find an interesting image, quote, or question to help grab the audience's audience) and a conclusion (decide on the best way to summarize the takeaways from your presentation) to the outline, and you are ready to go.

This method is great for those who prefer to have complete control over their presentation and want to create a custom outline that works best for their needs.

Method 2: Create a presentation outline using an AI presentation maker

If you're short on time or looking for a quick way to get a first draft of a presentation outline that you can then refine, using an AI presentation maker is a great option.

Plus AI lets you type a short prompt like "Create a presentation that provides an overview of the Norwegian oil industry," and it will automatically generate an outline of a presentation for you. After Plus creates the outline, you can change the titles of slides, rearrange slides, and remove any pieces of the outline that are not necessary.

From there, once your outline is created, you can click the "Generate presentation" button, choose a template, and let the AI create the first draft of your entire presentation.

This method is a good option for those who want to create a polished presentation without getting stuck with a blank piece of paper. Instead, it frees you up to take a first draft presentation and customize it for your needs.

Method 3: Create a presentation outline using ChatGPT

ChatGPT is an AI chatbot that can help with a wide variety of tasks - everything from acting as a therapist, to sharing recipes, to helping you come up with presentation ideas and creating content for a presentation .

To have ChatGPT help you generate a presentation, you can take two different approaches:

• Use a custom GPT that has been trained to help people create presentations or
• Ask the general ChatGPT interface to "Create a presentation outline for me on the topic of [XYZ]."

Both approaches will yield similar results, but a custom GPT like Plus AI presentation maker will be more fine-tuned to helping people create presentations. It will also provide additional functionality like providing a visual preview of the slides and feedback on how to improve your presentation.

Method 4: Create a presentation outline using a template

Last but not least, using a template is a good way to speed up the process of creating a new presentation outline. Similar to using an AI presentation maker, a template can give you a first draft of an outline that is easier to edit and refine than starting from scratch.

Presentation templates often come pre-designed with example text and images, so all you have to do is fill in your own content. For example, this TED Talk presentation template provides some instructions on how to create an outline for a TED Talk-style slide deck.

The secret to using this method is to find the closest template to the type of presentation you want to create. You should use detailed search terms to and look across multiple sites and resources to find one that matches the content and style that you would like.

Once you have your template, start by reviewing the overall outline or structure and tweak it to meet your needs. Then, you can fill in the specific content (e.g., text and images) with your materials to make it your own to quickly make a beautiful presentation.

Presentation outline examples

Basic presentation outline example.

Let's take a look at a presentation outline and accompanying notes for a persuasive presentation on encouraging people to meditate every day:

I. Introduction

• Hook - find a striking image and tell a story
• Thesis statement - everyone should meditate for 10 min per day

II. Main point 1 - Meditation is one of the easiest ways to improve your health

• Physical health
• Mental health

III. Main point 2 - Meditation is backed up by thousands of years of practice and research

• One anecdote from antiquity
• One anecdote from recent research

IV. Main point 3 - You can get started with meditation today

• Basic technique
• Tips for newcomers

V. Conclusion

• Summarize key points
• Call to action

As you can see, this is a relatively lightweight plan for the presentation, but it provides an easy-to-understand framework that we can fill in with slides.

There are rough notes on specific content for the different points in the presentation, but we don't need to write out everything in fine detail, just the broad strokes.

Pitch deck outline example

Now let's review an outline for a pitch deck that someone might use to present their startup idea to prospective investors. This is for a startup that uses autonomous food trucks to deliver meals to people's homes and workplaces.

I. Problem statement - "Food delivery sucks, and here's why"

• Hook - pictures of typical food delivery headaches (e.g., late/no show, bad selection, etc)

II. Value prop - "FoodDrive revolutionizes the food delivery model"

• Compare value chain of FoodDrive to traditional restaurant and delivery service
• Show how $50 order gets allocated to different people

III. The product - "Customers love our trucks"

• Picture of food truck and menu
• Customer quotes and reviews

IV. Why now? - "Our self-driving technology is ready for prime-time"

V. Business model - "Each truck can generate $2-3M of revenue per year with a 60% gross margin"

• Show high-level financial forecasts on unit basis

VI. Competitive landscape - "FoodDrive's closest competitors don't come close"

• Comparison table with delivery services, in-house delivery, eating out-of-home, etc.

VII. Go to market strategy - "We've tested FoodDrive in 2 markets so far. Here's how we win in new markets"

• Overview of social media strategy
• Case study on new market launch

VIII. Team - "Our team has experience in autonomous vehicles, food delivery, and quick service restaurants"

IX. Traction - "We generate $5M of revenue per year with our 2 trucks, and we can ramp up new trucks immediately"

• Show revenue growth chart with focus on time to ramp new trucks to productivity

X. Fundraising goal - "We are raising $50M to expand FoodDrive to 10 more markets"

• Highlight key milestones we aim to reach with additional funding

Even though a pitch deck is a specialized type of presentation that often requires specific content, it's helpful to start with an outline to build out the 'story' behind the content. That way, you have a cohesive story rather than a set of disparate slides.

How can I create a presentation from an outline?

Once you have your presentation outline written, it's time to start writing your slides. Since you already know the main points you are trying to make in your presentation, the main decisions here are

• What type of visual style you want to follow
• How many slides you want in your presentation
• How you will present or share the slides

To get a head start on creating a first draft of your presentation, you could enter your outline into an AI presentation maker.

This will provide a first draft of the slides so that you can focus on making sure they tell a cohesive story or tweaking individual slides to leave a memorable impression.

Other tips and tricks for great presentations

Here are some resources to help you create great presentations:

• Make slides look good - Here are six tips for making visually appealing slides.
• Number of slides - Here is a calculator that can help you calculate how many slides you need for a presentation depending on how long you need to present.
• Unique presentation ideas - Here are 250 ideas for presentation topics that will help you create a great presentation.

Creating a presentation outline can be one of the most time-consuming parts of the creative process for making a new slide deck. Luckily, there are many tools and templates that can help you kickstart this process.

With these four methods, you can choose the one that works best for your needs and get started on your presentation outline today.

And once you have your outline, make sure to try out a tool like Plus AI presentation maker to quickly get your slides as well!

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How to make a presentation outline: a step-by-step guide

Georgina Guthrie

April 07, 2021

Whether you’re building a house, baking a cake, or writing an essay — having all the necessary pieces in place before you begin will make the task much easier.

It may seem counterproductive to spend time sorting things out when you’re in a rush… After all, why spend time organizing when you could dive straight in? But the fact is, the opposite is true: Planning saves time, and the same goes for creating a business presentation. Start with a presentation outline.

A presentation outline is a bare-bones version of your talk. It should take the general direction of your pitch, plus summaries of your key points. Its purpose is to help you shape your thinking, organize your thoughts, and make sure your material is presented logically.

In this article, we’re going to take a closer look at what a presentation outline is, how storytelling can help engage your audience, and how to create a flawless outline of your own. Let’s get stuck in.

What’s the purpose of your presentation?

This is the foundation on which you will build your whole presentation — so make sure you know the answer to this question. A good starting point is to think about the overall purpose. There are six possible purposes your presentation might have:

• Inspire action
• Inspire or motivate

In a business setting, it’ll usually be ‘to inform,’ along with one or two others. If you’re there to talk about quarterly results, then you’ll want to inform and motivate. If you’re a business coach, your goals will likely be to inspire, motivate, and entertain.

Once you’ve worked this out, you’ll be one step closer to working out the purpose of your pitch. Here are some questions to help you find an answer to this question:

• What do I want people to take away from my presentation?
• How will what I talk about help others in the room?
• What do I want people to do after my meeting?

Note down your ideas and start creating a topline summary of your presentation purpose. Summarize it into one or two sentences, then put that on your first slide. You can change it later, but this is a good starting point.

Create a story arc for your presentation

As humans, we love a good story. We’ve been doing it since, well, forever. The earliest cave paintings helped the painters and those who saw the paintings make sense of the world.

Interesting things happen when you start telling a story. Your brain’s auditory cortex (aka the bit that helps you listen) switches on. This helps you imagine the activities being described. Meanwhile, the frontal and parietal cortices are fired up, which helps us emotionally engage with what’s being said.

Stories have been, and will always be, a powerful tool for bringing people together. Great stories persuade and inform; the best stories inspire and stay with us. But we don’t often see this happening in the boardroom, where graphs and quarterly results preside.

Stats and numbers suck the life out of a presentation. We think these details will speak for themselves. But… they don’t because, well… they’re boring, and they make us switch off. If you want to inspire your audience, you need to weave those stats into a story . But where do you begin, and how do you start?

Storytelling isn’t something only a few select people are good at. Anyone can master the art with a little practice. It doesn’t even require heaps of creativity because the truth is, stories are formulaic, and once you’ve got the formula down, the rest runs on autopilot.

Let’s look at how to build your notes and ideas into a compelling story using one of the formulas below.

1.Fact and Story

Mixing storytelling with facts works in a kind of mutually supportive cycle. Facts add substance to the story; the story adds interest to the facts.

In this structure, you weave the two together and move back and forth between the two.

• Start with a ‘what if’ question. For example, if you were pitching a vacuum cleaner, your initial sales pitch might be ‘what if you didn’t have to lose suction?’
• From here, work in facts that illustrate the way things currently are. To continue with our example, it might be current stats on traditional vacuums losing suction. Keep alternating facts with fiction throughout the body of your presentation.
• End on a high note that makes the listeners feel like they learned something and want to move to action because of it. For example, to invest in your new product, or to sponsor your new app .

2. The hero’s journey

From Odysseus to Chihiro , adventure stories typically feature a hero who goes on a journey fraught with peril and learns a vital lesson at the end of it. It’s a formula employed by thousands of writers — and you can draw from it to add some drama to your presentation.

This structure works really well for inspirational personal stories, or tales about a company from its humble beginnings to the success it is today.

• Begin somewhere neutral. The situation is neither ideal nor unbearable.
• Introduce a challenge — one that needs to be solved.
• Present a worsening situation. The problem is being addressed, but things are still getting worse.
• Talk about rock bottom. The situation seems impossible; there is apparently no way forward and all seems lost. Until…
• Talk about a new discovery that offers hope.
• Armed with your new abilities, you can tackle the issue head-on.
• Talk about resolving the problem, but instead of returning to the way things were before, the hero (you) discovers an even better way of living.
• Finish with a lesson, which you can share to inspire your audience.

3. The Pitch

The ‘pitch’ style of presentation is commonly used by salespeople. The goal is to show how a product or idea can help an individual overcome a hurdle toward a positive outcome. The story should be relatable, so the audience can picture themselves in the situation and, therefore, benefitting from the solution.

• Start with a summary of the way things are in a way that’s easy to relate to.
• Introduce the problem or hurdle that you need to solve. Make it relatable to further help your audience put themselves in the situation.
• The solution: give your audience a glimpse into a possible solution.
• The fork in the road: Give your audience a couple of options for solving the problem. Offer an average option first, then follow up with a better one.
• Close: Choose the better option and explain why that’s the best one (and only real suitable choice).
• Finish up by telling the audience exactly how to solve the problem, step by step.
• But that’s not all: Before you finish, talk about extra benefits that extend beyond simply solving the problem. Finish on an uplifting high.

4. The explanation

This presentation format is for when you want to teach your audience something — whether that’s a process, a new skill, or a way to overcome a problem. It has similarities with the fact and story structure, insomuch as facts should weave into the story.

• Explain how things are at the moment, what the goal looks like, and how you plan to get there. You can even start with a story to add emotional interest from the get-go.
• Take your first step on the journey toward the final destination.
• Add more steps that build on this.
• Take a moment to recap on the points you’ve covered so far while tying them into the main point. This will help your audience visualize the ground you’ve covered and see where you’re heading.
• Add the finishing pieces to the puzzle and lead your audience to the end.
• By the end of your journey, your audience should feel as though they’ve learned something new.

5. The Opportunity

A close relative of the pitch, this three-part structure swaps a hurdle for an opportunity. Here, you want to show your audience that a problem they thought they had actually has an easy fix.

• Start with the situation as it is now.
• Next, add a ‘but’ — this could be a small hiccup that stops things from being as good as they could be. For example, our chocolate pudding company is doing really well. But we could be doing better if we changed supplier.
• Talk about the opportunity, with as many facts and stats as possible to make it feel achievable and real.
• Add a conclusion.
• Explain why the product or service meets the challenges raised. Add more stats and facts to support your point.

How to plan your presentation

Now you’ve worked out your structure, it’s time to start building your presentation, pulling in all your points and forming them into a story.

Storyboarding is the best way to do this. Directors use storyboards to map out their films scene-by-scene — you’re going to use it to map out your presentation, slide-by-slide.

(Don’t worry, you can do stick people and squiggles if drawing isn’t your strong point.) Image Source

The trick here is to use broad strokes without adding too much detail. Make it too wordy and you’ll lose your top-level view, which is important for assessing the arc of your story. Ideally, have one or two sentences on each slide summarizing what each one will address.

You can do this with pen and paper, but when it comes to final drafts and editing, it’s a good idea to move your drawings over to a digital format. It looks far neater, and it means that if you need to change something, it’s as simple as deleting or editing a cell or slide rather than you having to start over.

Once you’ve got your rough storyboard more or less ready, it’s time to start building your presentation.

Your presentation outline

Using a presentation template will be a big help here. First, choose your template — then start adding pre-made slides according to your storyboard. For those who didn’t plan, this can be a bit of a nightmare that usually ends up with you shuffling slides around indefinitely. For those who planned, it’s simply a matter of putting all your hard work in place, then spicing it up with pictures, video, and audio.

Top Tip : If your slides are there to support your spoken words, try not to make them too wordy. Talking too much will distract your audience, whose attention will be split between what’s on screen and your voice. Instead, opt for images and video. If you’re sharing your presentation slides without presenting them, keep your communication simple and succinct. A wall of text is never engaging.

Finally, rehearse your presentation. According to experts, 10 is the magic number when it comes to practicing speeches . The more you practice, the better it’ll flow, the easier it’ll be for your listeners to get sucked into your story. And when it comes to persuading, inspiring, informing, or selling — having a captive and engaged audience is half the battle.

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How-To Geek

How to use outline view in microsoft word.

Microsoft Word offers a built-in outline view for structuring your document.

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Using outline view in microsoft word, exiting outline view in microsoft word.

Outlines are useful for creating business documents, lengthy tutorials, and even books. With Microsoft Word, you can use outline view for laying your major points in a structured format.

To get started, you simply enable outline view by going to the View tab and selecting "Outline" in the Views section of the ribbon.

Unlike print or web layout view in Word, outline view comes with its own set of tools in the ribbon. On the Outlining tab, these allow you to work with your outline levels and any documents that you want to embed .

Outline Tools

By default, you'll start with Level 1, and you'll always know which level you're using by looking at the "Outline Level" drop-down box on the left of the ribbon. You can also use the drop-down list to change your current level.

On each side of the Outline Level box, you have arrows. The ones on the right allow you to decrease or demote one level (single arrow) or as body text (double arrow). The arrows on the left let you increase or promote one level (single arrow) or to the highest level (double arrow).

So you can use the Outline Level drop-down box or the arrows on either side to switch to the level you need.

Below the level tools, you have some to rearrange items. With the up and down arrows, you can move items in the direction you need. This lets you easily rearrange your points.

The plus and minus signs let you expand and collapse levels. For lengthy outlines, this can help you collapse levels that you don't need at the moment and expand those that you do.

Another convenient tool for focusing on particular levels is the "Show Level" drop-down list. The list lets you pick which levels you want to view. For instance, if you choose Level 3 in the drop-down box, you'll see Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 only. This hides everything from Level 4, Level 5, and so on.

The other two options in the Outline Tools section are "Show Text Formatting" and "Show First Line Only." If you prefer to view your outline without the formatting of your document for a plain appearance, uncheck that box. If you have lengthy items within your levels and only want to see the first line, check that box.

Master Document Tools

To include subdocuments, click "Show Document" in the ribbon to expand that section of controls.

This is handy if you have, for example, a business document and want to include a separate file like a contract, vendor agreement, or statement of work.

Click "Insert" if you have a saved file that you wish to browse for and embed, or "Create" if you prefer to make one on the fly.

Once the subdocument is embedded, use the "Collapse Subdocuments" button to collapse the document's content and only show a link to it.

This button then changes to "Expand Subdocuments" to quickly expand that item and allow you to view its content again.

The remaining options in the Master Document section help you manage the subdocuments you include. They are as follows:

• Unlink : This removes the link to the subdocument and copies the text to the current document.
• Merge : If you're using multiple subdocuments, you can merge all content from each into the first subdocument.
• Split : If you want to separate subdocument content into multiple documents, you can create a split at each insertion point.
• Lock Document : To keep changes from moving into subdocuments, you can lock the document.

Only applicable items will be available in this section of the ribbon. For instance, if you do not have multiple subdocuments embedded, Merge and Split will be grayed out.

You can continue to use the outline view for the life of your document if you like. But if you prefer to close the outline, you can see your document in your default view at any time. Click "Close Outline View" in the ribbon.

You'll then see your outline in a collapsible and expandable format using print layout, web layout, or read mode in Word . Use the arrows next to the headings to collapse or expand the levels you created with the outline.

When creating an outline is the best method for composing your document, report, or book in Microsoft Word , outline view gives you the tools that you need.

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AI presentation maker

When lack of inspiration or time constraints are something you’re worried about, it’s a good idea to seek help. Slidesgo comes to the rescue with its latest functionality—the AI presentation maker! With a few clicks, you’ll have wonderful slideshows that suit your own needs . And it’s totally free!

Generate presentations in minutes

We humans make the world move, but we need to sleep, rest and so on. What if there were someone available 24/7 for you? It’s time to get out of your comfort zone and ask the AI presentation maker to give you a hand. The possibilities are endless : you choose the topic, the tone and the style, and the AI will do the rest. Now we’re talking!

Customize your AI-generated presentation online

Alright, your robotic pal has generated a presentation for you. But, for the time being, AIs can’t read minds, so it’s likely that you’ll want to modify the slides. Please do! We didn’t forget about those time constraints you’re facing, so thanks to the editing tools provided by one of our sister projects —shoutouts to Wepik — you can make changes on the fly without resorting to other programs or software. Add text, choose your own colors, rearrange elements, it’s up to you! Oh, and since we are a big family, you’ll be able to access many resources from big names, that is, Freepik and Flaticon . That means having a lot of images and icons at your disposal!

How does it work?

Think of your topic.

First things first, you’ll be talking about something in particular, right? A business meeting, a new medical breakthrough, the weather, your favorite songs, a basketball game, a pink elephant you saw last Sunday—you name it. Just type it out and let the AI know what the topic is.

Choose your preferred style and tone

They say that variety is the spice of life. That’s why we let you choose between different design styles, including doodle, simple, abstract, geometric, and elegant . What about the tone? Several of them: fun, creative, casual, professional, and formal. Each one will give you something unique, so which way of impressing your audience will it be this time? Mix and match!

Make any desired changes

You’ve got freshly generated slides. Oh, you wish they were in a different color? That text box would look better if it were placed on the right side? Run the online editor and use the tools to have the slides exactly your way.

Download the final result for free

Yes, just as envisioned those slides deserve to be on your storage device at once! You can export the presentation in .pdf format and download it for free . Can’t wait to show it to your best friend because you think they will love it? Generate a shareable link!

What is an AI-generated presentation?

It’s exactly “what it says on the cover”. AIs, or artificial intelligences, are in constant evolution, and they are now able to generate presentations in a short time, based on inputs from the user. This technology allows you to get a satisfactory presentation much faster by doing a big chunk of the work.

Can I customize the presentation generated by the AI?

Of course! That’s the point! Slidesgo is all for customization since day one, so you’ll be able to make any changes to presentations generated by the AI. We humans are irreplaceable, after all! Thanks to the online editor, you can do whatever modifications you may need, without having to install any software. Colors, text, images, icons, placement, the final decision concerning all of the elements is up to you.

Can I add my own images?

Absolutely. That’s a basic function, and we made sure to have it available. Would it make sense to have a portfolio template generated by an AI without a single picture of your own work? In any case, we also offer the possibility of asking the AI to generate images for you via prompts. Additionally, you can also check out the integrated gallery of images from Freepik and use them. If making an impression is your goal, you’ll have an easy time!

Is this new functionality free? As in “free of charge”? Do you mean it?

Yes, it is, and we mean it. We even asked our buddies at Wepik, who are the ones hosting this AI presentation maker, and they told us “yup, it’s on the house”.

Are there more presentation designs available?

From time to time, we’ll be adding more designs. The cool thing is that you’ll have at your disposal a lot of content from Freepik and Flaticon when using the AI presentation maker. Oh, and just as a reminder, if you feel like you want to do things yourself and don’t want to rely on an AI, you’re on Slidesgo, the leading website when it comes to presentation templates. We have thousands of them, and counting!.

How can I download my presentation?

The easiest way is to click on “Download” to get your presentation in .pdf format. But there are other options! You can click on “Present” to enter the presenter view and start presenting right away! There’s also the “Share” option, which gives you a shareable link. This way, any friend, relative, colleague—anyone, really—will be able to access your presentation in a moment.

Discover more content

This is just the beginning! Slidesgo has thousands of customizable templates for Google Slides and PowerPoint. Our designers have created them with much care and love, and the variety of topics, themes and styles is, how to put it, immense! We also have a blog, in which we post articles for those who want to find inspiration or need to learn a bit more about Google Slides or PowerPoint. Do you have kids? We’ve got a section dedicated to printable coloring pages! Have a look around and make the most of our site!

Chap. 21: Presentations

Organizing an effective presentation, key takeaways.

• An effective presentation presents ideas more concisely than a written document and uses media to explain ideas and hold the audience’s interest.
• Like an essay, a presentation should have a clear beginning, middle, and end.
• Good writers structure their presentations on the thesis, or point of view; main ideas; and key supporting details and create a presentation outline to organize their ideas.
• Annotating a presentation outline is a useful way to coordinate different parts of the presentation and manage time effectively.

The Rhetorical Situation:

When you give a presentation in real time, either virtually or in person, you connect directly with your audience.

The Rhetorical Situation

For most people, making a presentation is both exciting and stressful. The excitement comes from engaging in a two-way interaction about your ideas. The stress comes from the pressure of presenting your ideas without having a delete button to undo mistakes. Outside the classroom, you may be asked to give a presentation, often at the last minute, and the show must go on. Presentations can be stressful, but planning and preparation, when the time and opportunity are available, can make all the difference.

Follow these steps to create a presentation based on your ideas:

Determine your purpose and identify the key ideas to present., organize your ideas in an outline., identify opportunities to incorporate visual or audio media, and create or locate these media aids., rehearse your presentation in advance., deliver your presentation to your audience., getting started: identifying and organizing key ideas.

To deliver a successful presentation, you need to develop content suitable for an effective presentation. Your ideas make up your presentation, but to deliver them effectively, you will need to identify key ideas and organize them carefully. Read the following considerations, which will help you first identify and then organize key ideas:

• Be concise.  You will include the most important ideas and leave out others. Some concepts may need to be simplified.
• Employ more than one medium of expression.  You should incorporate other media, such as charts, graphs, photographs, video or audio recordings, or websites.
• Prepare for a face-to-face or virtual presentation.  If you must deliver a face-to-face or virtual presentation, it is important to project yourself as a serious and well-informed speaker. You will often speak extemporaneously, or in a rehearsed but not memorized manner, which allows for flexibility given the context or audience. You will need to know your points and keep your audience engaged.

Determine Your Purpose

As with a writing assignment, determining the purpose of your presentation early on is crucial. You want to inform your readers about the topic, but think about what else you hope to achieve.

Are you presenting information intended to move your audience to adopt certain beliefs or take action on a particular issue? If so, you are speaking not only to inform but also to persuade your listeners. Do you want your audience to come away from your presentation knowing how to do something they that they did not know before? In that case, you are not only informing them but also explaining or teaching a process.

Identify Key Ideas

To plan your presentation, think in terms of three or four key points you want to get across. In a paper, you have the space to develop ideas at length and delve into complex details. In a presentation, however, you must convey your ideas more concisely.

One strategy you might try is to create an outline. What is your main idea? Would your main idea work well as key points for a brief presentation? How would you condense topics that might be too lengthy, or should you eliminate topics that may be too complicated to address in your presentation?

Use an Outline to Organize Ideas

After you determine which ideas are most appropriate for your presentation, you will create an outline of those ideas. Your presentation, like a written assignment, should include an introduction, body, and conclusion. These components serve much the same purpose as they do in a written assignment.

The introduction engages the audience’s attention, introduces the topic, and sets the tone for what is to come.

The body develops your point of view with supporting ideas, details, and examples presented in a logical order., the conclusion restates your point of view, sums up your main points, and leaves your audience with something to think about., planning your introduction.

You have learned techniques for writing an interesting introduction, such as beginning with a surprising fact or statistic, a thought-provoking question or quotation, a brief anecdote that illustrates a larger concept or connects your topic to your audience’s experiences. You can use these techniques effectively in presentations as well.

You might also consider actively engaging your audience by having members respond to questions or complete a brief activity related to your topic. For example, you may have your audience respond to a survey or tell about an experience related to your topic.

Incorporating media can also be an effective way to get your audience’s attention. Visual images such as a photograph or a cartoon can invoke an immediate emotional response. A graph or chart can highlight startling findings in research data or statistical information. Brief video or audio clips that clearly reinforce your message and do not distract or overwhelm your audience can provide a sense of immediacy when you plan to discuss an event or a current issue. A PowerPoint presentation allows you to integrate many of these different media sources into one presentation.

Tip: Starting with a Video Clip

With the accessibility provided by the Internet, you can find interesting and appropriate audio and video with little difficulty. However, the clip alone will not sustain the presentation. To keep the audience interested and engaged, you must frame the beginning and end of the clip with your own words.

Planning the Body of Your Presentation

The next step is to work with the key ideas you identified earlier. Determine the order in which you want to present these ideas, and flesh them out with important details. There are many organizational structures you might work with, such as chronological order, comparison-and-contrast structure, or cause-and-effect structure.

How much detail you include will depend on the time allotted for your presentation. Your instructor will most likely give you a specific time limit or a specific slide limit, such as eight to ten slides. If the time limit is very brief (two to three minutes, for instance), you will need to focus on communicating your point of view, main supporting points, and only the most relevant details. Three minutes can feel like an eternity if you are speaking before a group, but the time will pass very quickly. It is important to use it well.

If you have more time to work with—ten minutes or half an hour—you will be able to discuss your topic in greater detail. More time also means you must devote more thought into how you will hold your audience’s interest. If your presentation is longer than five minutes, introduce some variety so the audience is not bored. Incorporate multimedia, invite the audience to complete an activity, or set aside time for a question-and-answer session.

Tip: Audience Participation

You are responsible for using your presentation time effectively to inform your audience. You show respect for your audience by following the expected time limit. However, that does not mean you must fill all of that time with talk if you are giving a face-to-face presentation. Involving your audience can take some of the pressure off you while also keeping them engaged. Have them respond to a few brief questions to get them thinking. Display a relevant photograph, document, or object and ask your classmates to comment. In some presentations, if time allows, you may choose to have your classmates complete an individual or group activity.

Planning Your Conclusion

The conclusion should briefly sum up your main idea and leave your audience with something to think about. As in a written paper, you are essentially revisiting your thesis. Depending on your topic, you may also ask the audience to reconsider their thinking about an issue, to take action, or to think about a related issue. If you presented an attention-getting fact or anecdote in your introduction, consider revisiting it in your conclusion. Just as you have learned about an essay’s conclusion, do not add new content to the presentation’s conclusion.

No matter how you choose to structure your conclusion, make sure it is well planned so that you are not tempted to wrap up your presentation too quickly. Inexperienced speakers, in a face-to-face presentation, sometimes rush through the end of a presentation to avoid exceeding the allotted time or to end the stressful experience of presenting in public. Unfortunately, a hurried conclusion makes the presentation as a whole less memorable.

Tip: Time Management

Time management is the key to delivering an effective presentation whether it is face-to-face or in PowerPoint. As you develop your outline, think about the amount of time you will devote to each section. For instance, in a five-minute face-to-face presentation, you might plan to spend one minute on the introduction, three minutes on the body, and one minute on the conclusion. Later, when you rehearse, you can time yourself to determine whether you need to adjust your content or delivery.

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Create a PowerPoint presentation from an outline

If you've already jotted down an outline of your presentation in Word and now need a quick way to add it to your slides, you can import a Word outline into PowerPoint.

Create an outline in Word

Select View > Outline . This automatically generates an outline and opens the Outlining tools:

If your document has headings (any heading levels from H1-H9), you’ll see those headings organized by level.

If your document doesn’t have headings and subheadings yet, the outline will appear as a bulleted list with a separate bullet for each paragraph or body text. To assign or edit headings, heading levels, and set up your document structure:

Select a bulleted item. Or press the Ctrl key to select several lines. 

In the Outline Level box, select a heading Level 1 for slide titles, Level 2 for bullet points on that slide.

When finished or to edit your document, select Close Outline View .

If you need help creating an outline, see Create an outline in Word .

Save an outline in Word

To save your document, select Save , name your file, and then select Save once more. Select Close to close your document.

Note:  Your Word document must be closed to insert it into a PowerPoint presentation.

Import a Word outline into PowerPoint

Open PowerPoint and select New Slide >  Slides from Outline .

In the Insert Outline dialog box, find and select your Word outline and select Insert .

Note:  If your Word document contains no Heading 1 or Heading 2 styles, PowerPoint will create a slide for each paragraph in your content.

Guidelines for importing an outline

PowerPoint can import an outline in .docx, .rtf, or .txt format.

If your outline is a Word document     Apply a heading format to any text you want to include in a slide. For example, if you apply the Normal style to a block of text, Word won't send that text to PowerPoint.

If your outline is a .txt file     Use indentation to indicate heading levels. Any unindented lines of text will become titles of new slides.

For PowerPoint to successfully convert your outline to slides, you must follow these guidelines:

If your outline is a Word document:

Apply a heading format to any text you want to include in a slide. For example, if you apply the Normal style to a block of text, Word won't send that text to PowerPoint

Save the Word document as an .rtf file. In PowerPoint for macOS, you can only import Word documents that are saved in Rich Text Format. Click File > Save As , and in the File Format box, select Rich Text Format (.rft) ).

If your outline is a .txt file: Use indents to indicate heading levels. Remember that any un indented lines of text will become titles of new slides.

Insert outline text into a PowerPoint presentation

In a new PowerPoint presentation file, click the first slide. Or, in an existing presentation file, click the slide that you want the outline to appear after.

On the Home tab, click the arrow next to New Slide , and then click Outline .

Locate the outline file (.rtf or .txt) that you want to insert, and then double-click it or click Insert .

New slides are inserted in the presentation based on the text in the outline file you selected. You are now ready to edit the slides and the presentation as you see fit.

Creating a presentation from an outline isn't support in PowerPoint for the web. It requires a desktop version of PowerPoint.

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In word processing, Outline view is a feature that allows you to organize and structure your document more effectively. Instead of seeing the document in its entirety, you get a hierarchical representation, showing headings and subheadings. It's like a roadmap for your content.

Why would I use Outline view?

Using Outline view can make complex documents more manageable. It lets you see the structure of your document at a glance, making it easier to navigate and reorganize. This is particularly useful when you're dealing with lengthy reports, academic papers, or any document with a hierarchical structure.

Can I edit my document in Outline view?

Absolutely, Outline view is not just for viewing; you can also make edits directly. Rearrange sections, promote or demote headings, and modify the document's structure effortlessly. It provides a dynamic way to interact with your content, ensuring that your document reflects your intended organization.

How do I access Outline view?

To access Outline view on your computer or laptop, open your word processing application like Microsoft Word. Navigate to the "View" tab, where you'll find options for different document views. Look for "Outline" or "Document Outline" and click on it. On some platforms, you may locate it under a different menu, so check your application's specific instructions. Once selected, your document will transform into a structured outline, allowing you to efficiently organize and navigate its content.

What benefits does Outline view offer?

Outline view offers several advantages. It enhances document organization, simplifies navigation, and streamlines editing. It's a powerful tool for maintaining a clear and logical flow in your writing. By visualizing the document's structure, you gain better control over your content.

How does Outline view impact document formatting?

Outline view primarily focuses on the document's structure rather than its formatting. While you can make edits to the content and organization, intricate formatting details may not be as visible in this mode. It's recommended to switch back to the regular view for detailed formatting adjustments.

Does Outline view support different levels of headings?

Absolutely, Outline view recognizes and displays various levels of headings, providing a clear hierarchy. This feature is valuable for creating well-organized documents with sections and sub-sections. You can easily distinguish between main ideas and supporting details, enhancing the overall readability.

Can I customize the appearance of Outline view?

The appearance of Outline view is generally standardized to emphasize document structure. While you may not have extensive customization options for its visual presentation, the focus here is on functionality. The standardized appearance ensures a consistent and intuitive experience for users navigating the outline.

How does Outline view affect collaborative work?

Outline view can facilitate collaboration by offering a structured overview of the document's content. When working with others, this feature helps everyone involved to grasp the document's organization quickly. It can also serve as a collaborative planning tool, allowing team members to discuss and refine the document's structure.

Could Outline view be used for project planning?

Certainly, Outline view's hierarchical structure makes it adaptable for project planning. You can use it to outline project phases, tasks, and subtasks. This visual representation provides a roadmap for the project, making it easier to track progress, assign responsibilities, and ensure that everything is on schedule.

Can I print directly from Outline view?

Yes, you can print directly from Outline view. However, keep in mind that the printed output will reflect the document's structure rather than its detailed formatting. If you need a hard copy that precisely matches the on-screen appearance, it's advisable to switch back to the regular view before printing.

How does Outline view impact document navigation?

Outline view significantly improves document navigation. By presenting a condensed version of your document's structure, it allows you to jump quickly between sections. This is especially useful in lengthy documents where traditional scrolling might be time-consuming. Navigate efficiently and focus on the sections that require your attention.

What's the difference between Outline view and the regular view?

The regular view displays your document as it would appear when printed or published. On the other hand, Outline view emphasizes the document's structure by presenting a hierarchical outline of headings and subheadings. The regular view is for detailed editing and formatting, while Outline view is for a bird's-eye view of organization.

Does Outline view work the same way in different word processing applications?

While the fundamental concept of Outline view remains consistent across various word processing applications, there might be subtle differences in implementation. The basic functionality—showing document structure hierarchically—remains a common feature, but interface nuances may vary depending on the software you're using.

How does Outline view enhance document accessibility?

Outline view contributes to document accessibility by offering a simplified, structured representation of content. Users with visual impairments or those who benefit from screen readers can navigate through the document's outline more efficiently. This makes the content more accessible to a diverse audience, aligning with inclusive design principles.

How does Outline view handle document reorganization?

Outline view excels at document reorganization. Whether you need to move entire sections, change the order of headings, or restructure the document, Outline view makes it straightforward. Simply drag and drop sections to rearrange them, providing a visual and intuitive method for refining the overall organization of your document.

Can I collapse all sections at once in Outline view?

Yes, many word processing applications offer an option to collapse all sections at once in Outline view. This is a convenient feature, especially when dealing with extensive documents. Collapsing all sections provides a quick overview of the document's structure and allows you to selectively expand areas of interest.

Can I convert my document structure from Outline view to a different format?

While Outline view primarily serves as a visual aid for document organization, it doesn't directly offer a conversion feature to different formats. However, the structured hierarchy you create in Outline view can guide you when exporting or saving your document in other formats. This ensures that the logical organization is maintained across different platforms.

How does Outline view impact document search functionality?

Outline view doesn't replace the traditional search functionality within a document. It complements it by providing a structured overview of the document's content. You can still use the search feature to locate specific terms or phrases, and Outline view becomes handy for navigating to the relevant sections once you've identified them through search.

This glossary is provided for reference purposes only. It serves as a helpful resource to understand commonly used terms and concepts. However, if you require specific support or assistance regarding our products, we encourage you to visit our dedicated support site . Our support team is ready to help address any questions or concerns you may have.

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