9.1 Main Sections of a Presentation

To organize a presentation, a simple recipe includes an introduction, a body section, and a conclusion. Presentations that are given to explain something (informative) or to convince others of a position and to somehow act in agreement with your position or to physically act (persuasion) are typically longer in length and include three parts: an introduction section, a clear thesis statement; and a preview of main points in the presentation.

The introduction includes an attention getter because it is designed to get your audience’s attention initially and might be something like using a strong statistic, asking a question to get the audience involved, sharing a catchy quote, perhaps providing a short story, or showing an image to get them interested. The introduction is followed by the main body, which is generally three sections, each of which covers a different set of ideas in the presentation and uses its own organizational pattern (more on that below). There are usually three main body sections in a typical informative or persuasive presentation.

The presentation ends with a conclusion consisting of a summary of main points you have covered and a final thought which ties up and impacts your ideas and leaves the audience with something to think about or perhaps next steps to take in the case of a persuasive speech. If you are counting along, there are then five main sections of a typical presentation as seen below.

Five Main Sections of a Typical Presentation

I. Introduction

Attention Getter

Thesis Statement

Preview Statement

Transition Statement

II. Main Body Section 1

Content

Content

Content

Transition Statement

III. Main Body Section 2

Content

Content

Content

Transition Statement

IV. Main Body Section 3

Content

Content

Content

Transition Statement

V. Conclusion

Summary

Final Phrase

Considering the structure above, each of the main body sections will use one of the following basic organizational patterns to structure and present speech content. We organize the content to ensure the audience can clearly follow the presentation.