what is presentation agenda

Presentation Agenda Slides: The Ultimate Guide to Create Spectacular Agenda Slides

Hrideep barot.

Uncategorized

Your audience could leave before the presentation is through if you don’t let them know what engaging and informed material is coming up next. Your agenda slides effectively inform your audience of the main takeaways they might expect from your talk.

Like a table of contents, an agenda slide lists the subjects covered during a presentation or meeting. Typically, the themes are hyperlinked to the respective parts so that viewers may easily go to the slide they desire by just clicking on the topic.

Why use agenda slides?

It is usually preferable that the crowd has a general idea of the topics you will be discussing. Agenda slides do this. It’s almost like a warm-up for the crowd. It also provides your presentation with structure. A concise agenda slide design informs the audience about the topic of your presentation and offers an outline of the items that will be discussed. Without an agenda slide, you keep your audiences in the dark.

The agenda also assists in priming the audience. It is a term commonly used in psychology to describe an enhanced sensitivity to specific stimuli due to earlier experience. When we watch a happy movie, for example, we tend to perceive the world around us from a more positive perspective and notice positive things we would not have before. For more information on the importance of agenda slides, check out this article.

If the agenda is messed up with a jumbled slide with too many divisions, you’ve already lost your audience. You may have had valuable ideas to discuss with your audience, but you drove them away with an overload of information. As a result, on your agenda slide, always include just the most crucial elements of the presentation.

Types of Agenda Slides

Simple agenda slides.

Simple agenda slides will assist you in emphasising essential elements in your presentation as well as the main sections so that you do not overlook anything crucial. When graphics are not as vital as the material itself, these simple agenda slides might be utilised to provide the audience with a general overview of the presentation. Given here are a few types of simple agenda slides.

Horizontal Agenda Slides

These agenda templates adhere to a horizontal agenda-setting structure, allowing you to display agendas for various objectives in horizontal order.

Vertical Agenda Slides

These agenda templates adhere to a vertical agenda-setting structure, allowing you to display agendas for various objectives in vertical order.

Detailed Agenda Slides

These agenda Slides summarize the presentation’s contents and offer a quick summary of every topic discussed. The audience learns about the topics that will be explored in depth.

Creative Agenda Slides

Creative agenda slides not only convey the essential information regarding your presentation, but they also do it in a visually appealing manner that provides more information about the presentation. The user can become inventive with the concept and arrange the shapes in any manner to make more creative agenda slides.

Circular Agenda Slides

Simple designs like arcs with arrows may provide a stunning impression that is difficult to ignore. Arrange the agenda elements along the arcs with their accompanying symbols to depict the evolution of your session from beginning to conclusion in an appealing circular fashion.

Timed Agenda Slides

These templates give a foundation for using a defined timetable for the meeting or a presentation.

Priority Agenda Slides

These designs provide an agenda-setting structure that allows you to provide agendas in order of relevance. You may display the presentation’s contents in a prioritized sequence. This is so that the audience understands what is most relevant in that presentation.

Steps to Design Agenda Slides

An agenda slide is usually the initial slide that the viewer sees after the title page, thus it must be visually appealing. It is possible to accomplish this by adding a background image and utilizing icons and symbols in the subject list panel.

Choose a graphic that conveys seriousness. If you’re giving a presentation in the boardroom, the conference table might be useful. When speaking on a stage, the platform or the audience might be an excellent backdrop image. Alternatively, you may choose any business image depicting experts engaged in a discussion, a clock or a calendar indicating that time is of importance, a business desk, and so on.

Insert text boxes and use catchy titles

Instead of a regular text box, you may use the “Insert” option to insert a “SmartArt” graphic. It includes a collection of pre-formatted text boxes and graphics for displaying a group of objects’ process flow, hierarchy, and so on. For agenda slides, the “List” type is recommended.

You can even make your own forms.

Navigate to the Insert tab.
Select any form in the Shapes dropdown menu.
Construct the shape on the slide by dragging.
Optionally, select the Rotate dropdown option in the Format tab to rotate it in whichever direction you choose.
Duplicate the form until you obtain the required number of shapes.
Place a circle in every box and an icon in each box.

It is advised that you use completely editable vector icons so you may modify their colour, size, and so on without affecting the icon’s quality. After that, just place text boxes within the shapes to type out your agenda items.

Consider Hyperlinks

While in presentation mode, the user may move to the correct slide by simply tapping on the topic. You insert a hyperlink by right-clicking the chosen text and selecting “Hyperlink.” A dialogue box will open, and you can then navigate to the “This Document” tab and choose the page to which you want to connect. This is especially useful for presentations that include many slides and is shared with the audience. For conferences or speeches, this is rarely used.

Outline for making agenda slides in PowerPoint

Step 1 : In the “Click to add title” box, put “Agenda” or your desired agenda slide title, such as “Today’s Topic.” then pull it to the slide’s top.

Step 2 : In the subtitle text box, write the first topic of the agenda, such as “Introductions.” Hit the “Enter” key to create a line of spacing between lines. Fill in the blanks on your slide with all of the items.

Step 3 : Highlight all of the text. Click the “Home” tab and the “Numbering” button in the ribbon’s paragraph area to add numbering to the agenda items. You may also use the drop-down arrow on the “Numbering” button to add A, B, C, or another formatting to the agenda topics instead of numbers. You don’t have to use numbers; you may alternatively use arrows or nothing.

Steps 2 and 3 can be substituted with the SmartArt Graphic described above. The graphic will automatically fill in the blanks for you to construct a list, provide a numbering, and give you space to enter your text.

Step 4 : Select the “Design” tab and move your mouse over the elements in the Themes column. There are several themes available with various backgrounds, text colours and sizes, and design components. If desired, select one to apply to the slide. You may also adjust specific text looks such as font type, size, colour and positioning using the Home tab’s Font section of the ribbon.

Step 5 : Select “Picture” under the “Insert” option. Double-click the corporate logo by navigating to it, dragging it into the slide’s vacant space, ideally to the left or right of the title.

How to Present Agenda Slides

The agenda requires hooks in order to keep the audience’s attention during the presentation. A hook persuades the audience to pay attention. It clearly explains why the information is valuable. The subjects that will be discussed in the presentation are simply listed on the agenda. The audience may or may not take the agenda’s worth into account.

The standard agenda slide has the drawback of being tedious and lengthy for the presenter to go through, and also gives the audience the option of choosing not to listen at specific times, if at all. As a result, the agenda presentation must be interesting.

To understand how to use hooks, you can refer to this article or even this video linked below

Additionally, it is advised not to start your speech with an agenda. Start off with something more engaging. For ideas, see this article . Deliver your agenda after you’ve concluded your opening.

Websites that provide templates for agenda slides

Powerpoint creation might take a lot of time. Therefore, to save you both time and effort, here are some websites that provide free PowerPoint templates.

You can see in their downloadable PowerPoint templates that Behance has some of the top designs on the globe. You can give a terrific presentation with excellent visuals by using templates like this agenda presentation template .

SlideModel offers the audience fully customizable PowerPoint, Google Slides, and Keynote templates and slides objects. Even for sophisticated editing objects, both in colour and size (points and curves). You can use their templates like this creative agenda slide in any presentation.

This startup, made by the Freepik Company, offers users totally customisable PPT and Google Slide templates that are used by organisations like Amazon, NASA, and Spotify. They furthermore offer infographics to assist in delivering the user-specific material. The graphic prowess of this website is demonstrated by the slides from templates like this medical agenda template .

An inventive selection of unrestricted PowerPoint templates is provided by SlideGeeks. You will need to sign up with an account and share the hyperlink in order to download these templates, but there are so many templates available, including this one , that it is well worth it.

A presentation’s table of contents, or agenda slide, lists the subjects that will be covered throughout the presentation. It typically includes the headings for each portion and subsection, as well as, on occasion, the start and finish timings and the speaker for each one. It outlines the presentation’s format and serves as a primer for the presentation or meeting.

Enroll in our transformative 1:1 Coaching Program

Schedule a call with our expert communication coach to know if this program would be the right fit for you

8 Ways to Rise Above the Noise to Communicate Better

How to Negotiate: The Art of Getting What You Want

10 Hand Gestures That Will Make You More Confident and Efficient

[email protected]
+91 98203 57888

Get our latest tips and tricks in your inbox always

Kindly drop your contact details so that we can arrange call back

Select Country Afghanistan Albania Algeria AmericanSamoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil British Indian Ocean Territory Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Colombia Comoros Congo Cook Islands Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Honduras Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Romania Rwanda Samoa San Marino Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands South Africa South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Tajikistan Thailand Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Wallis and Futuna Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe land Islands Antarctica Bolivia, Plurinational State of Brunei Darussalam Cocos (Keeling) Islands Congo, The Democratic Republic of the Cote d'Ivoire Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Guernsey Holy See (Vatican City State) Hong Kong Iran, Islamic Republic of Isle of Man Jersey Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Lao People's Democratic Republic Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Macao Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Mozambique Palestinian Territory, Occupied Pitcairn RÃ©union Russia Saint BarthÃ©lemy Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan Da Cunha Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Sao Tome and Principe Somalia Svalbard and Jan Mayen Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tanzania, United Republic of Timor-Leste Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, U.S.

WHITNEY D. WALTER

PowerPoint Agenda Slide: What It Is & Easy Ways to Make One

Whitney D. Walter

If you’ve been creating Microsoft PowerPoint presentations for a while, you already know the benefits of starting with a good agenda.

As a presenter, it allows you to take control of the conversation from the very beginning. You’ll also have the ability to eliminate audience distractions by clarifying the meeting objective and pointing out when the audience can be expected to participate. This allows them to pay more attention to what you’re saying and less to when you’re going to answer certain questions.

In fact, according to Entrepreneur , meetings without effective agendas are simply time-wasters. When your audience doesn’t know what to expect they’ll be more likely to interrupt with questions and that’s a quick way to lose control.

Whether you’re presenting to clients, students, or colleagues starting a presentation with a solid agenda is always a good idea.

So, I’m sharing three types of PowerPoint agenda slides you can start creating today. I’ll also share the skill level needed for each and best practices for when each one is most effective.

Check them out and let me know which one you plan to use in the comments!

Visual Roadmap Agenda Slide

What is an agenda slide in powerpoint.

When you’re creating a PowerPoint presentation, it’s extremely important to have an agenda slide. An agenda slide in PowerPoint is the first slide of your presentation.

This is the slide that tells your audience what you’re going to be talking about. It tells the audience what they are going to see and in what order. It is basically an outline of your presentation.

As a presentation creator, this can be a great slide to create when drafting a presentation. It can help to keep your presentation focused and on track.

By including an agenda slide, you’re helping your audience to follow along and understand the overall structure of your presentation. It also gives the appearance of a more professional presentation.

How do you create an agenda slide?

Hyperlinked table of contents agenda slide.

Skill Level: Beginner

What it’s good for: This is ideal for presentations to leaders, executives, and similar “no-frills” types of audiences. This type of agenda provides clear, easy-to-follow navigation and is perfect for presentations of all kinds.

How it’s Done:

Create a simple numbered or bulleted list of agenda points to be included at the beginning of your presentation.
NOTE: This can be a list of each slide’s actual title, key takeaways, general concept(s) each slide covers. If you choose to focus on key takeaways or concepts, try to keep your descriptions clear and concise. Use the 5/5/5 rule as a guide, if needed.
Highlight the text of your first agenda item.
Right-click on the highlighted text and click Hyperlink.
Select Place in This Document and select the corresponding slide within your presentation.
Click OK.
Repeat steps 2 through 5 for each item on the agenda.

Zoom Section Links Agenda Slide(for PowerPoint 2016 and later)

Skill Level: Beginner/Intermediate

What it’s good for: This works well for presentations with clearly defined sections and allows you to bounce between the topics when necessary.

How it’s Done:

Once your PowerPoint is complete, navigate over to the slide preview panel on the left side of the screen and click on the space between the two slides where you want your first section to start. (Wherever you click, the section will include all slides that follow unless there is another section later in the presentation, then it will include all slides up until that point.) A line will appear to show where your new section begins.
Navigate to the Home tab at the top of the screen and click on Section, then Add Section.
Give the section a name.
NOTE: At this point, I like to create a slide that simply says the section name. It allows you to create more uniform section images later.
Click away from the section and it will automatically save.
Repeat steps 1 through 5 for any additional sections you wish to include.
Once all sections are complete, insert a new blank slide for your agenda.
Navigate to the Insert tab at the top of the screen and click the drop-down menu next to Zoom then click Section Zoom.
Select the sections you wish to include and click Insert.
The section images will automatically be added in a cascaded stack on the slide. Click away from the images and then click each one to drag and drop to the correct placement on the slide.

Skill Level: Advanced

What it’s good for: This is great for presentations geared towards interns, new hires, or presentations that focus on steps within a process or system.

Create a simple bulleted list of the sections to be included in your presentation.
With your text box selected, navigate to the Home tab at the top of the screen and click Convert to SmartArt and choose from the dropdown menu.
Once you select one of the options, a new menu will appear at the top of the screen. You can use this menu to preview other styles. I recommend selecting from the Process section. Some of my favorite types of SmartArt for this are Basic Process, Picture Accent Process, Alternating Flow, Basic Timeline, Basic Chevron Process, Vertical Chevron List, and Upward Arrow.
Depending on the chart you choose, you may also have additional space to include more details about each part of the presentation.
Adjust the shape colors, size, and style to match your presentation.
Additionally, you may want to link each step in the process to a section or slide. To create a linked shape, right-click the shape and click Hyperlink. Select Place in This Document , choose the appropriate slide and then click OK.

Is there an agenda template in PowerPoint?

If you’re looking for agenda slide templates, you might be wondering if PowerPoint has any available in the “Templates” section of the program.

Unfortunately, there’s not an standard agenda slide template in PowerPoint. However, you can reverse engineer your entire presentation if you start with an agenda before creating the rest of your slides.

With the PowerPoint Designer you can use the basic agenda slide template to automatically create each slide based on your agenda chosen items. Even better, the Designer incorporates design elements to make your slide and agenda items pop.

Save time and give it a try on your next presentation.

You might also be interested in: How to Track Changes in PowerPoint

Now you’ve mastered the basics when it comes to the often-overlooked PowerPoint agenda slide. If you are used to incorporating a basic agenda in your presentations then it’s time to up-level with hyperlinks! I’d love to know how you’re currently using agendas and which of these recommendations you plan to try. Comment below and let me know.

And remember, whether you add in an agenda that sweet and simple or something more advanced, simply making a habit of providing an overview of the presentation’s keys areas is good practice.

If you found these tips useful, download the free PDF so that you can follow the step-by-step instructions next time you’re creating a presentation. Request the free PDF download below!

Otherwise, click here to check out the rest of the PowerPoint Efficiency collection.

Whitney is a recognized Professional Development Expert, professional speaker, and the founder of Harness Your Power. She holds a Master’s in Business Administration from Florida State University and a Microsoft PowerPoint Specialist certification. She has been featured in Yahoo Finance, AOL, Authority Magazine, Business Insider, Fox and more. Read more.

How to Add Notes to PowerPoint & Increase Efficiency

If you’ve always wondered how to make your PowerPoint presentation flow more smoothly or wished you could save time by eliminating the need to create detailed outlines and notecards- presenter notes are just what the doctor ordered. Mastering how to add Speaker notes to PowerPoint is a great way to achieve these goals and increase…

How to Reuse Slides in PowerPoint & Save Time

In this article, you’ll learn how to reuse slides in PowerPoint, as well as the benefits, and pros/cons of doing so.

PowerPoint for New Audiences

PowerPoint is a great way to get in front of new audiences. Whether you’re creating stellar presentations behind the scenes or presenting to groups outside of your normal range, you can go from unknown to having raving fans when done right. Either way, these tips for creating PowerPoints for new audiences will help you succeed…

Everything You Need To Know: Add Fonts to PowerPoint

Microsoft PowerPoint has been the classic go-to for creating all sorts of presentations – whether you’re a business professional presenting to potential clients or just a university student presenting a project. PowerPoint boasts a number of customizations, so you are able to create a presentation exactly the way you want – from an extensive list…

How Using Images in Your PowerPoint Can Keep Your Audience Awake

Before we get into how using images in your PowerPoint can keep your audience awake, I have a confession to make. I’ve been guilty of falling asleep during meetings. Ok, don’t look at me like that! I’m sure I’m not the first person to doze off in the middle of a monthly business review. Be…

3 Quick Ways to Embed an Excel File in PowerPoint

When I talk to other PowerPoint users, one of the common statements I hear is “I know there’s an easier way to do it but this is the only way I know”. Whether we’re talking about creating templates, adding video, or exporting to PDFs – this statement is likely to make its way into the conversation. The…

Privacy Overview

Tips & Tricks
PowerPoint Templates
Training Programs
Free E-Courses

Creative Presentation Agenda Examples

Home > Presentation Ideas > Presentation Graphics > Creative Presentation Agenda

Is your audience getting lost during your big presentation? The issue might be in the clarity of your presentation agenda. Learn 5 creative ways to provide a clear and memorable agenda to your presentation.

Why should you have an agenda slide?

This slide answers the first question that pops up in the minds of your audience, which is – “What is this presentation about?”

When you have a clear agenda, you not only tell them what your presentation is about, but also tell them how you will cover the topics. Your audience needs this assurance right up front to stay with you for the rest of your presentation.

An agenda helps your audience to orient their thoughts at the opening. It makes your message memorable. When you don’t have an agenda slide, you leave your audience clueless.

The most important attribute of a clear agenda slide:

As humans, we always want to know our location and position. It is wired to our survival instinct. That is why big malls have maps, lifts have floor indicators and large parks have guides.

A good agenda slide serves as a guide post for your presentation. After you finish every point in the agenda, repeat the agenda slide to show your audience what is covered and what is left to be covered. Use your agenda slide to help your audience from getting lost in your sea of thoughts. Its also a great place to summarize the presentation. quickly.

Creative examples for Agenda:

Your agenda slide need not be dull and boring. Remember, the main objective of an agenda slide is to give your audience a big picture view. So, go ahead and be creative in using metaphors and analogies to orient them to your presentation. Here are some creative examples of presentation agenda.

Using a map to segment your presentation:

We’ve seen some boring sales report presentations brought to life by creative contextualization of data. The example you see above, explains the global sales performance by continents. The slide gives a clear picture of the order in which the data will be presented and the logic behind the order.

Using a representative image to set the mood for the presentation:

Unique Diagrams – Gears from CEO Pack

In this example, the gears not only give an overview of the three stage process, but also give the relative importance of each stage.

Using the actual picture of a product or process to orient the audience:

In this example, the presenter used the actual picture of the 4 bit counter to show how the content is chunked. This picture can serve as a memory hook for the rest of the presentation, as the presenter covers one segment after another.

Related: Interesting Ways to Open A Presentation

Using a metaphor to set the context:

Source: Concepts from PowerPoint Charts and Diagrams CEO pack

The presenter used the metaphor of an hour clock to take the audience through a timeline. The intelligent use of the image makes the audience understand how the various parts of the presentation are related.

Using symbols to reinforce the presentation agenda:

Source: PowerPoint Charts and Diagrams CEO pack

In this example, a traffic signal is used to highlight the importance of various tasks. Everyone knows the significance of the different colored lights in the signal. That common knowledge is transferred to the agenda slide to talk about the tasks that need to be stopped, continued and increased.

The above examples can set you thinking on how you can bring your agenda slides to life.

Caution in using an agenda:

To have an agenda and not to follow it in your presentation is seen as lack of professionalism. We’ve seen so many presenters make this mistake and leave the audience disappointed.

Remember, an agenda is a promise you make. By covering all the points in your presentation agenda, you fulfill that promise. It makes you look credible. You leave a strong cue in your audience’s mind that you have the discipline and commitment to follow through your promises.

Related: PowerPoint Tutorial for Agenda Folders

Return to Top of Presentation Agenda Page

Share these tips & tutorials

Get 25 creative powerpoint ideas mini course & members-only tips & offers. sign up for free below:.

Blog > Create an Agenda in PowerPoint + Free PowerPoint Template

Create an Agenda in PowerPoint + Free PowerPoint Template

08.29.21 • #powerpoint #tips #templates.

An agenda is not only used for the structure of a PowerPoint presentation, but it also arouses the interest of your audience at the same time. With the help of PowerPoint, creating an agenda no longer takes long. In this blog post we will show you different ways to create an agenda. Finally, we also have various templates for an agenda for you to download.

Automatically generating Agenda in PowerPoint

Manually creating Agenda in PowerPoint

Linking the Agenda with links

Improve the design with SmartArts

Download free Agenda Template

About the author.

Miriam Rapberger

Miriam supports SlideLizard in the area of marketing and design. There she uses her creativity for blog posts, among other things.

Get 1 Month for free!

Do you want to make your presentations more interactive.

With SlideLizard you can engage your audience with live polls, questions and feedback . Directly within your PowerPoint Presentation. Learn more

English Presentation Structure (Introduction, Closing) & useful Phrases

Create advanced Chart Animations in PowerPoint

Get started with Live Polls, Q&A and slides

for your PowerPoint Presentations

The big SlideLizard presentation glossary

Break-out-room.

In live online training, it is sometimes useful to divide the students into small groups for certain exercises, as it would be impossible to have conversations at the same time. Break-out-rooms are used so that people can talk to each other without disturbing the others. When the exercise is over, they are sent back to the main room.

Online Communication

Online communication is communication over the internet. Online communication is often anonymous and over social media platforms you can communicate with people around the world.

Vocalized pause

A vocalized pause means the pause when the silence between words is filled by the speaker with vocalizations like "um", "uh" and "er".

Declamation Speech

A declamation speech describes the re-giving of an important speech that has been given in the past. It is usually given with a lot of emotion and passion.

Be the first to know!

The latest SlideLizard news, articles, and resources, sent straight to your inbox.

- or follow us on -

We use cookies to personalize content and analyze traffic to our website. You can choose to accept only cookies that are necessary for the website to function or to also allow tracking cookies. For more information, please see our privacy policy .

Cookie Settings

Necessary cookies are required for the proper functioning of the website. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information about the number of visitors, etc.

Improve your practice.

Enhance your soft skills with a range of award-winning courses.

How to Structure your Presentation, with Examples

August 3, 2018 - Dom Barnard

For many people the thought of delivering a presentation is a daunting task and brings about a great deal of nerves . However, if you take some time to understand how effective presentations are structured and then apply this structure to your own presentation, you’ll appear much more confident and relaxed.

Here is our complete guide for structuring your presentation, with examples at the end of the article to demonstrate these points.

Why is structuring a presentation so important?

If you’ve ever sat through a great presentation, you’ll have left feeling either inspired or informed on a given topic. This isn’t because the speaker was the most knowledgeable or motivating person in the world. Instead, it’s because they know how to structure presentations – they have crafted their message in a logical and simple way that has allowed the audience can keep up with them and take away key messages.

Research has supported this, with studies showing that audiences retain structured information 40% more accurately than unstructured information.

In fact, not only is structuring a presentation important for the benefit of the audience’s understanding, it’s also important for you as the speaker. A good structure helps you remain calm, stay on topic, and avoid any awkward silences.

What will affect your presentation structure?

Generally speaking, there is a natural flow that any decent presentation will follow which we will go into shortly. However, you should be aware that all presentation structures will be different in their own unique way and this will be due to a number of factors, including:

Whether you need to deliver any demonstrations
How knowledgeable the audience already is on the given subject
How much interaction you want from the audience
Any time constraints there are for your talk
What setting you are in
Your ability to use any kinds of visual assistance

Before choosing the presentation’s structure answer these questions first:

What is your presentation’s aim?
Who are the audience?
What are the main points your audience should remember afterwards?

When reading the points below, think critically about what things may cause your presentation structure to be slightly different. You can add in certain elements and add more focus to certain moments if that works better for your speech.

Good presentation structure is important for a presentation

What is the typical presentation structure?

This is the usual flow of a presentation, which covers all the vital sections and is a good starting point for yours. It allows your audience to easily follow along and sets out a solid structure you can add your content to.

1. Greet the audience and introduce yourself

Before you start delivering your talk, introduce yourself to the audience and clarify who you are and your relevant expertise. This does not need to be long or incredibly detailed, but will help build an immediate relationship between you and the audience. It gives you the chance to briefly clarify your expertise and why you are worth listening to. This will help establish your ethos so the audience will trust you more and think you’re credible.

Read our tips on How to Start a Presentation Effectively

2. Introduction

In the introduction you need to explain the subject and purpose of your presentation whilst gaining the audience’s interest and confidence. It’s sometimes helpful to think of your introduction as funnel-shaped to help filter down your topic:

Introduce your general topic
Explain your topic area
State the issues/challenges in this area you will be exploring
State your presentation’s purpose – this is the basis of your presentation so ensure that you provide a statement explaining how the topic will be treated, for example, “I will argue that…” or maybe you will “compare”, “analyse”, “evaluate”, “describe” etc.
Provide a statement of what you’re hoping the outcome of the presentation will be, for example, “I’m hoping this will be provide you with…”
Show a preview of the organisation of your presentation

In this section also explain:

The length of the talk.
Signal whether you want audience interaction – some presenters prefer the audience to ask questions throughout whereas others allocate a specific section for this.
If it applies, inform the audience whether to take notes or whether you will be providing handouts.

The way you structure your introduction can depend on the amount of time you have been given to present: a sales pitch may consist of a quick presentation so you may begin with your conclusion and then provide the evidence. Conversely, a speaker presenting their idea for change in the world would be better suited to start with the evidence and then conclude what this means for the audience.

Keep in mind that the main aim of the introduction is to grab the audience’s attention and connect with them.

3. The main body of your talk

The main body of your talk needs to meet the promises you made in the introduction. Depending on the nature of your presentation, clearly segment the different topics you will be discussing, and then work your way through them one at a time – it’s important for everything to be organised logically for the audience to fully understand. There are many different ways to organise your main points, such as, by priority, theme, chronologically etc.

Main points should be addressed one by one with supporting evidence and examples.
Before moving on to the next point you should provide a mini-summary.
Links should be clearly stated between ideas and you must make it clear when you’re moving onto the next point.
Allow time for people to take relevant notes and stick to the topics you have prepared beforehand rather than straying too far off topic.

When planning your presentation write a list of main points you want to make and ask yourself “What I am telling the audience? What should they understand from this?” refining your answers this way will help you produce clear messages.

4. Conclusion

In presentations the conclusion is frequently underdeveloped and lacks purpose which is a shame as it’s the best place to reinforce your messages. Typically, your presentation has a specific goal – that could be to convert a number of the audience members into customers, lead to a certain number of enquiries to make people knowledgeable on specific key points, or to motivate them towards a shared goal.

Regardless of what that goal is, be sure to summarise your main points and their implications. This clarifies the overall purpose of your talk and reinforces your reason for being there.

Follow these steps:

Signal that it’s nearly the end of your presentation, for example, “As we wrap up/as we wind down the talk…”
Restate the topic and purpose of your presentation – “In this speech I wanted to compare…”
Summarise the main points, including their implications and conclusions
Indicate what is next/a call to action/a thought-provoking takeaway
Move on to the last section

5. Thank the audience and invite questions

Conclude your talk by thanking the audience for their time and invite them to ask any questions they may have. As mentioned earlier, personal circumstances will affect the structure of your presentation.

Many presenters prefer to make the Q&A session the key part of their talk and try to speed through the main body of the presentation. This is totally fine, but it is still best to focus on delivering some sort of initial presentation to set the tone and topics for discussion in the Q&A.

Questions being asked after a presentation

Demonstration

Use the demonstration structure when you have something useful to show. This is usually used when you want to show how a product works. Steve Jobs frequently used this technique in his presentations.

Explain why the product is valuable.
Describe why the product is necessary.
Explain what problems it can solve for the audience.
Demonstrate the product to support what you’ve been saying.
Make suggestions of other things it can do to make the audience curious.

Problem-solution

This structure is particularly useful in persuading the audience.

Briefly frame the issue.
Go into the issue in detail showing why it ‘s such a problem. Use logos and pathos for this – the logical and emotional appeals.
Provide the solution and explain why this would also help the audience.
Call to action – something you want the audience to do which is straightforward and pertinent to the solution.

Storytelling

As well as incorporating stories in your presentation , you can organise your whole presentation as a story. There are lots of different type of story structures you can use – a popular choice is the monomyth – the hero’s journey. In a monomyth, a hero goes on a difficult journey or takes on a challenge – they move from the familiar into the unknown. After facing obstacles and ultimately succeeding the hero returns home, transformed and with newfound wisdom.

Storytelling for Business Success webinar , where well-know storyteller Javier Bernad shares strategies for crafting compelling narratives.

Another popular choice for using a story to structure your presentation is in media ras (in the middle of thing). In this type of story you launch right into the action by providing a snippet/teaser of what’s happening and then you start explaining the events that led to that event. This is engaging because you’re starting your story at the most exciting part which will make the audience curious – they’ll want to know how you got there.

Great storytelling: Examples from Alibaba Founder, Jack Ma

Remaining method

The remaining method structure is good for situations where you’re presenting your perspective on a controversial topic which has split people’s opinions.

Go into the issue in detail showing why it’s such a problem – use logos and pathos.
Rebut your opponents’ solutions – explain why their solutions could be useful because the audience will see this as fair and will therefore think you’re trustworthy, and then explain why you think these solutions are not valid.
After you’ve presented all the alternatives provide your solution, the remaining solution. This is very persuasive because it looks like the winning idea, especially with the audience believing that you’re fair and trustworthy.

Transitions

When delivering presentations it’s important for your words and ideas to flow so your audience can understand how everything links together and why it’s all relevant. This can be done using speech transitions which are words and phrases that allow you to smoothly move from one point to another so that your speech flows and your presentation is unified.

Transitions can be one word, a phrase or a full sentence – there are many different forms, here are some examples:

Moving from the introduction to the first point

Signify to the audience that you will now begin discussing the first main point:

Now that you’re aware of the overview, let’s begin with…
First, let’s begin with…
I will first cover…
My first point covers…
To get started, let’s look at…

Shifting between similar points

Move from one point to a similar one:

In the same way…
Likewise…
Equally…
This is similar to…
Similarly…

Internal summaries

Internal summarising consists of summarising before moving on to the next point. You must inform the audience:

What part of the presentation you covered – “In the first part of this speech we’ve covered…”
What the key points were – “Precisely how…”
How this links in with the overall presentation – “So that’s the context…”
What you’re moving on to – “Now I’d like to move on to the second part of presentation which looks at…”

Physical movement

You can move your body and your standing location when you transition to another point. The audience find it easier to follow your presentation and movement will increase their interest.

A common technique for incorporating movement into your presentation is to:

Start your introduction by standing in the centre of the stage.
For your first point you stand on the left side of the stage.
You discuss your second point from the centre again.
You stand on the right side of the stage for your third point.
The conclusion occurs in the centre.

Key slides for your presentation

Slides are a useful tool for most presentations: they can greatly assist in the delivery of your message and help the audience follow along with what you are saying. Key slides include:

An intro slide outlining your ideas
A summary slide with core points to remember
High quality image slides to supplement what you are saying

There are some presenters who choose not to use slides at all, though this is more of a rarity. Slides can be a powerful tool if used properly, but the problem is that many fail to do just that. Here are some golden rules to follow when using slides in a presentation:

Don’t over fill them – your slides are there to assist your speech, rather than be the focal point. They should have as little information as possible, to avoid distracting people from your talk.
A picture says a thousand words – instead of filling a slide with text, instead, focus on one or two images or diagrams to help support and explain the point you are discussing at that time.
Make them readable – depending on the size of your audience, some may not be able to see small text or images, so make everything large enough to fill the space.
Don’t rush through slides – give the audience enough time to digest each slide.

Guy Kawasaki, an entrepreneur and author, suggests that slideshows should follow a 10-20-30 rule :

There should be a maximum of 10 slides – people rarely remember more than one concept afterwards so there’s no point overwhelming them with unnecessary information.
The presentation should last no longer than 20 minutes as this will leave time for questions and discussion.
The font size should be a minimum of 30pt because the audience reads faster than you talk so less information on the slides means that there is less chance of the audience being distracted.

Here are some additional resources for slide design:

7 design tips for effective, beautiful PowerPoint presentations
11 design tips for beautiful presentations
10 tips on how to make slides that communicate your idea

Group Presentations

Group presentations are structured in the same way as presentations with one speaker but usually require more rehearsal and practices. Clean transitioning between speakers is very important in producing a presentation that flows well. One way of doing this consists of:

Briefly recap on what you covered in your section: “So that was a brief introduction on what health anxiety is and how it can affect somebody”
Introduce the next speaker in the team and explain what they will discuss: “Now Elnaz will talk about the prevalence of health anxiety.”
Then end by looking at the next speaker, gesturing towards them and saying their name: “Elnaz”.
The next speaker should acknowledge this with a quick: “Thank you Joe.”

From this example you can see how the different sections of the presentations link which makes it easier for the audience to follow and remain engaged.

Example of great presentation structure and delivery

Having examples of great presentations will help inspire your own structures, here are a few such examples, each unique and inspiring in their own way.

How Google Works – by Eric Schmidt

This presentation by ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt demonstrates some of the most important lessons he and his team have learnt with regards to working with some of the most talented individuals they hired. The simplistic yet cohesive style of all of the slides is something to be appreciated. They are relatively straightforward, yet add power and clarity to the narrative of the presentation.

Start with why – by Simon Sinek

Since being released in 2009, this presentation has been viewed almost four million times all around the world. The message itself is very powerful, however, it’s not an idea that hasn’t been heard before. What makes this presentation so powerful is the simple message he is getting across, and the straightforward and understandable manner in which he delivers it. Also note that he doesn’t use any slides, just a whiteboard where he creates a simple diagram of his opinion.

The Wisdom of a Third Grade Dropout – by Rick Rigsby

Here’s an example of a presentation given by a relatively unknown individual looking to inspire the next generation of graduates. Rick’s presentation is unique in many ways compared to the two above. Notably, he uses no visual prompts and includes a great deal of humour.

However, what is similar is the structure he uses. He first introduces his message that the wisest man he knew was a third-grade dropout. He then proceeds to deliver his main body of argument, and in the end, concludes with his message. This powerful speech keeps the viewer engaged throughout, through a mixture of heart-warming sentiment, powerful life advice and engaging humour.

As you can see from the examples above, and as it has been expressed throughout, a great presentation structure means analysing the core message of your presentation. Decide on a key message you want to impart the audience with, and then craft an engaging way of delivering it.

By preparing a solid structure, and practising your talk beforehand, you can walk into the presentation with confidence and deliver a meaningful message to an interested audience.

It’s important for a presentation to be well-structured so it can have the most impact on your audience. An unstructured presentation can be difficult to follow and even frustrating to listen to. The heart of your speech are your main points supported by evidence and your transitions should assist the movement between points and clarify how everything is linked.

Research suggests that the audience remember the first and last things you say so your introduction and conclusion are vital for reinforcing your points. Essentially, ensure you spend the time structuring your presentation and addressing all of the sections.

How to write a meeting agenda (and run better meetings!)

Learning how to write a meeting agenda that sets the stage for an effective and engaging gathering is an important leadership skill. Not only will it help you be organized and on time, but it will also help you and your team make the most of your time together.

In this guide, we’ll explore what makes a meeting productive and guide you through the process of designing a great meeting agenda . You'll also learn practical tips you can use to improve your next meeting and get every team member engaged and involved. Ready to leave behind boring, unproductive meetings? Let's dive in!

Design your next session with SessionLab

Join the 150,000+ facilitators  using SessionLab.

What is an agenda?

In short, an agenda is a breakdown of all the items that will be covered during a meeting. It should list all of the topics and tasks that will be covered during the meeting and also clearly articulate the purpose and expectations of the meeting.

Your meeting agenda should also give everyone involved the information they need to successfully attend and adequately prepare . This means including all information relating to logistics, links and attachments and mentioning any preparations you wish everyone to do before the meeting.

The best meeting agendas also help you effectively run the meeting on the day by giving you a step-by-step list of what to cover and timings for each major section of the meeting.

A meeting agenda is usually created in a clear, shareable format, such as a Word document or SessionLab agenda. This makes it easy to follow and share with meeting participants.

You can see some examples of a meeting agenda template here . These meeting agendas include meeting objectives and a step by step process complete with timings so you can see how to put them together effectively.

Why is a meeting agenda important?

A meeting agenda is an effective tool for many reasons. First up, it helps ensure the meeting facilitator has everything they need to run an effective meeting. You’ll have an itemized list of every agenda item, reminders of the meeting goal and all your relevant documents attached too.

Perhaps most importantly, a meeting agenda is how you can your meeting participants can stay on track and ensure everything that needs to get done is completed.

Without it, your team meeting can quickly go off the rails or be unproductive. It helps other team members be aware of your core meeting objective, what’s going to be covered, and to give them time and space to prepare.

Preparation

By outlining what will be covered in your meeting, your agenda will ensure every team member can adequately prepare. This might mean preparing discussion topics, supplementary materials, or other items.

Creating your meeting agenda and sending it out well in advance means everyone can do what they need to come to the meeting and make it a success. If you want your meeting attendees to contribute meaningfully, give them a chance to prepare with a good meeting agenda.

Scheduling and logistics

In the most basic terms, a meeting agenda will help everyone involved align their schedules and attend. By including the location or virtual room, date and time, and any necessary links, your meeting agenda will contain all the information people need to be there and adjust their calendars.

You’ll also include information on how long the meeting will run for and timebox each section. If you have multiple people leading sections of the meeting, ensure you include clear timings for each of those sections so everyone can prepare and keep the meeting on track.

Productivity

Even the most simple meeting agenda will enable both the facilitator and participants to be productive . Going into a meeting with a clear agenda and timeboxed schedule means you and your group can be more effective and not get lost in side-discussions or unagreed topics.

In short, an effective meeting agenda clearly sets the stage for what will and what will not be included and can ensure everyone is pushing in the same direction during the meeting.

Get team buy-in

Going into a meeting without clear expectations or an idea of the talking points is frustrating for everyone involved. Make meetings work for everyone by creating and sharing the agenda with the participants and agreeing on the format.

Getting everyone on board can massively increase the productivity of any project or meeting and by developing a standardised agenda that makes it easy for everyone to understand and attend, they’ll fit more naturally into your team workflow too!

Improve your planning

Documenting your meeting agenda is the first stage in improving the quality of your meetings. DId you find that something in your agenda plan didn’t work out? Need less time for old business and more time on new items or setting follow-up actions? Go back to your agenda and adjust. Use a collaborative agenda planner tool if you want to get comments and feedback on your meeting agenda!

Simplify a recurring meeting

In the case of recurring meetings – whether it be board meetings or a weekly meeting to catch-up – creating an agenda can simplify and streamline the process.

In SessionLab, for example, you can create a meeting agenda template or simply duplicate your session so you don’t have to start from scratch every time.

Improve meeting culture

Creating a meeting template that works for everyone and has been refined over time can help make your entire team more productive and shift the mindset around meetings.

The work you do in meetings can and should improve all the work you do and a better meeting culture can help teams communicate better and surface issues effectively in any context.

Help identify and remove ineffective meetings

A common complaint of most teams is that they have too many meetings or that the meetings they have are ineffective.

Agenda-setting and following a process when developing your meetings can also help you and your team identify if a meeting should be run at all. We’ll cover this in more detail in our final section on how to decide if you should run a meetin g too!

What to include in a meeting invite?

Getting people to attend the meeting means sending a meeting invitation that includes all the necessary information in a simple, easy to understand format.

You’ll likely send your meeting invite as an email or Calendar invite, though you might also use other dedicated meeting software. Here’s what you should include for your next meeting.

Meeting logistics

Here, you’ll include everything your participants need to know in order to attend the meeting. Including:

Title of the meeting
The date and time of the meeting
The location of the meeting
For virtual meetings, include a link to the virtual meeting room and any necessary passwords
The run-time of the meeting
Host (and co-hosts) of the meeting
Additional meeting roles such as note taker
List of participants

Purpose of the meeting

Ensure you include the purpose of the meeting in your agenda so everyone can understand why they’re being asked to attend and prepare adequately. You may also want to include any links to resources or co-creation documents. Additionally, include any background information to help participants understand the context of the meeting. If it’s the first in a series of meetings or a project retrospective, be sure to include that information here.

Preparatory work

If you have any preparations you wish participants to make before the meeting, include them here. This might include contributing ideas to an online whiteboard, reading a document that will be discussed, or preparing questions around the central topic of the meeting. Be sure to include links to any resources and make instructions completely clear.

Meeting agenda

The final section of your meeting invitation should be the agenda for your meeting. This should include a clear, simple list of the topics you will be covering. If a discussion item is led by someone other than the primary facilitator, include that information alongside each entry too. Ensure that the meeting agenda you send your participants covers everything

What to include in a meeting agenda

Meetings of different purposes and may require different items in their agenda, though they should broadly follow the same structure in order to ensure the whole team can move through it productively.

Remember to set timings for each section so your meeting can run on time and give everyone an indication of the scope of the discussion.

It’s worth noting that while you might have a detailed meeting agenda for yourself and any co-facilitators, you might share a simplified version with your participants.

So long as you ensure that everyone attending has the information they need and a sense of each agenda item, your agenda can be as detailed or as simple as necessary. Let’s dive in!

Introductions and housekeeping

Here, you’ll make sure everyone who needs to be in the meeting is present and make introductions where necessary. You’ll also briefly reiterate the purpose of the meeting and introduce the meeting leader too.

In a virtual meeting, allow extra time to solve technical issues and get everyone on camera.

Icebreaker (optional)

Meeting icebreakers can be a great way of helping new groups get to know each other or warm-up and prepare a team for a difficult conversation ahead. Depending on your meeting format, agenda and length, you may want to include an icebreaker at the beginning.

Remember that not every meeting needs an icebreaker. A regular weekly standup doesn’t need an icebreaker to warm everyone up. A board meeting with a tight agenda may not need this step either.

On the other hand, an interdepartmental meeting where people are coming together for the first time to discuss better ways of working might benefit from an icebreaker.

Meeting topics and items for discussion

This is the main bulk of the agenda. Here, you’ll set out all of the items to be covered in your meeting. These might include a review of what was accomplished in a previous meeting, presentations of news and information, discussions, collaborative exercises and more. These items are completely contextual depending on the nature of your meeting and in our next section, you’ll see some example meeting agendas that include all kinds of items.

Be sure to set a time for each item in your agenda and include a short description. If someone other than the host is leading this section, include that information too. Remember that the purpose of the agenda is to not only outline these items so people can understand the meeting at a glance but also give them opportunity to prepare.

Breaks (optional)

In longer meetings, breaks can be vital in ensuring everyone stays engaged, energized and is able to contribute meaningfully. As a general rule of thumb, a break every 1.5 to 2 hours is a great way to keep everyone happy and keep up group energy levels. Remember that virtual meetings are often more draining and so the necessity for a quick break is even greater in those situations.

Set follow-up actions

Whatever the format or purpose of your meeting, there are likely to be follow-up actions that should be agreed upon before you adjourn. These might include taking action on items discussed during the meeting, sending notes or resources, or simply agreeing the time and date of follow-ups or later meetings. The more complex the meeting, the more involved this part of the agenda is likely to be, so ensure you set adequate time for this.

When setting follow-up tasks, be sure to give each task an owner and agree with your team members when they will be completed or checked in on. Ownership and timeboxing can help ensure that items set are completed in a timely manner.

All meetings should be brought to an effective close. Give participants an opportunity to add any final items, give feedback or briefly clarify any hanging questions before closing the meeting can help ensure follow up actions are taken and that everyone is on the same page leaving the meeting.

You might even use a closing activity from our library of facilitation methods to help your group meaningfully reflect on the meeting.

Tips for writing an effective meeting agenda

Once you know you are running the meeting and have an idea of the framework of the agenda, you’ll want to write up your agenda so you can share it with your participants. This means getting every agenda item in order, articulating your meeting objective and designing for flow and engagement.

Creating a great meeting agenda doesn’t need to be a chore. Check out our tips below for help in writing a meeting agenda that can help your meeting be a success and improve your general meeting facilitation too.

Clearly identify and articulate your meeting goal

One common frustration point for meetings is that not everyone is on the same page regarding the goal or purpose of the meeting. Be absolutely clear on what falls under the remit of the meeting and what falls outside of it. By doing this, you can ensure all attendees are aligned going into the meeting, and you can also identify if additional work needs to be done elsewhere.

If the goal of a meeting is to align your marketing and product teams on a specific project make sure everyone knows it. When running a board meeting, make it clear what you’re going to cover so that everyone’s time is respected. By identifying and sharing the goal and purpose of the meeting early, you’re helping everyone make it a success.

Ask participants for input

If you’re running a meeting that will benefit from the input of participants, ask them to contribute ideas or possible agenda items in advance of the meeting. Not only can you ensure that the meeting is fit for purpose, but you can also source the best ideas and get team buy-in too.

You might also find that some sections of the meeting are best led by certain team members or stakeholders. Be sure to liaise with those people beforehand and let them know what sections they’ll be running, when and for how long. Switching meeting leaders can be productive, but only if everyone has had a chance to prepare!

List the topics you want to address

If your meeting is following a discussion format, ensure that you include a list of all the topics or questions you will be discussing in the agenda. Though you might find these changes on the day, listing all of these items ensures participants know what to expect and can begin to prepare answers or know what to think about before the meeting.

An effective agenda should help you stay on track without effort. Having a list in place also helps with time management and prioritization during the meeting – if you know you have some key topics yet to be discussed, it helps guide the team to end one topic of discussion and move onto the next effectively.

Identify the purpose of each task

Identifying the purpose of your meeting should be the first thing you do, but when it comes to writing your meeting agenda, you’ll want to understand the purpose of each component in order to make it a success.

Group meetings always benefit from focus and so each task or item should be selected in order to fulfill the purpose of the meeting. If you’re running a project retrospective meeting, you don’t need a section on company-wide news, for example. If you were running an all-day virtual meeting, you might include an online energizer after lunch so that people come back recharged and ready to engage.

We often find that certain tasks deserve to be explored but a general team meeting is not the place to explore them. In these cases, it’s worth considering how best that work should be done – is it a separate meeting or could it be done asynchronously? Whatever the case, ensure that all of the items in your meeting agenda belong there, and that you’re not overstuffing or trying to combine two meetings.

Remember that each part of the meeting should relate to your central meeting objective. Design with this in mind and your meetings will be leaner and more productive as a result!

Meetings that are effectively timeboxed are more productive and less frustrating for all involved. Try not to overrun and set times for each and every section of your meeting agenda. This can help prevent meandering conversations and keep everyone focused. Furthermore, people are less likely to dread attending your meetings if they run on time and they can schedule around them without worry!

Setting times for discussion items can be difficult if you’ve never run the meeting before – estimate and use your best judgement but also take notes on how much time each section took up. You can go back to your agenda afterwards and improve for the next meeting.

Be simple and clear

Meetings do not need to be complicated and neither should there agendas. Keep your meeting agenda simple, clear and short for the best results. You want your participants to get a sense of the meeting easily, understand what they need to do to prepare and attend. Remember that people tend to have more meetings than they would like – don’t make it difficult for your team members to attend yours!

Create a reusable template

Creating a meeting agenda from scratch each time is not only a waste of time, but it means you lose the potential to iterate and improve. By creating a template for your meeting agenda , you can speed up the process, develop a standard meeting schedule and also figure out where you can make improvements.

Find that your team meeting agenda overran? Go back to the template and change the timings. Find that energy levels dip in your longer meetings? Find space to include an energizer.

Making your agenda into a reusable and editable template is the first step to iterating and improving and is made easy in SessionLab too!

Keep it focused

A common mistake when designing a meeting agenda is to try and cram too much in. Your group will be much less effective if you attempt to cover lots of ground and don’t spend enough time where you need to. Try to think of the most important items for every business meeting and ensure your agenda is designed so you can focus on those things.

It is much better to cover key points with the relevant depth so you find solutions and make meaningful decisions rather than try and cover everything.

Remember that focus is contextual. A daily-standup will have a different focus to a general team meeting agenda or project retrospective. Think of the purpose or goal of the meeting – if what you’re exploring is unrelated to the goal or purpose of the meeting, it shouldn’t be in the meeting. If your goal is to align on the next steps of a project or sum up progress so far, you might cover a lot of ground but it should be related to the core goal.

Get feedback

Improving your meetings can’t happen in a vacuum. Get feedback from your participants on how the meeting went in order to improve the quality and structure of them. You can achieve this by using a debriefing activity or a round of feedback at the end of the meeting.

While this is often the most effective way of getting quick, honest feedback on your meeting, you can also send out a survey afterwards. Whatever method you choose, listen to your meeting participants and make changes so that your meetings continue to be effective and useful for everyone involved.

Meeting agenda templates

The job of meeting agenda isn’t truly complete until it’s been shared with your participants. But are you wondering what a meeting agenda template looks like and want to see how you might put the finishing touches on an agenda that you might send to clients or internal teams?

For simple meetings, an agenda that covers the main discussion topics in a simple format such as a calendar invite is likely sufficient . See our Team alignment meeting agenda for an example of a simple meeting agenda.

For more involved meetings and group processes, a more in-depth meeting agenda template should be used to adequately prepare everyone involved for the meeting ahead. We’ve included some common meeting formats that require a more complex agenda too.

These meeting agenda examples will give you a taste of what a completed agenda looks like and hopefully give you inspiration for your own. Let’s take a look!

Team Alignment Meeting

Aligning teams and discussing possible roadblocks or team dependencies is often better in real-time. Being able to bring up ideas and concerns while also clarifying any points in a structured manner can help prevent email back and forths too!

Here’s a simple meeting agenda template made using Google Calendar. Feel free to copy the format and use it for your next team meeting!

Ready for some more complex meeting agendas? We’ve chosen a few common meeting formats and outlined an example agenda for you below. Each of these meeting agendas also features a SessionLab template so you can adjust it to your own needs too. Let’s take a look!

Project Kickoff

Starting a new project is always worth getting together for. Even if you’re doing preparatory work in a collaborative Google document or working asynchronously for much of the project, a kick-off meeting in real time is an efficient way to align and surface any issues before getting down to work in earnest. Let’s take a look at this meeting agenda template to see how you can set off on the right foot with a short, one-hour meeting.

Project Retrospective

Large projects can take many twists and turns. A retrospective meeting is where you and your team will discuss and learn from such projects with a view to improve things next time around. In this retrospective meeting agenda , see how your group might effectively reflect on a completed project and bring up any essential learning points in less than an hour!

Lightning Decision Jam

Unstructured, meandering discussions can kill a team’s creativity and remove the appetite for future meetings. Use Jonathan Courtney’s Lightning Decision Jam method as the basis for a short meeting in which you can use a group process to make quick, effective and thoughtful decisions. See the method below for full instructions.

One-Hour Brain Sprint

With the right process, working collaboratively in a real-time meeting can be one of the most effective ways of generating ideas and get every team member involved. Try the One-Hour Brain Sprint template to give your next brainstorming meeting a framework for success.

How to decide if you should run a meeting?

Organized and well-facilitated meetings can be hugely productive to any group or organisation but not everything should be a meeting . In fact, some meetings can be detrimental to your team if they aren’t thoughtfully designed and run.

We’ve all felt the burnout of having too many meetings or been frustrated by a directionless meeting that feels like a waste of time. Before you set a meeting, ask yourself these questions to decide whether it is worth bringing everyone together.

Does the meeting have a clear goal or purpose?

Whenever you’re considering bringing your team together to work in real-time, it should be with a clear end result you want to achieve.

If you need to collaborate on a topic or make a decision as a group in real-time, this is a great reason to have a meeting. If you do not have a goal or purpose, you should reconsider whether you should run the meeting at all. Nothing is more frustrating for a group than a meeting with no reason to be run.

Remember that a daily catch-up or weekly progress report can be a good reason for a short meeting, though only if you can clearly articulate a goal and purpose. If you can’t, go back and clarify the purpose or goal and really determine if it’s worth holding the meeting. You might find asynchronous work or a simple email is a better option for sharing information or collaborating with your team.

Could this be summed up in an email?

You don’t need to run a meeting every time you have a small piece of information to share. If your goal is to share information quickly, effectively and without the need for discussion, perhaps that could be shared in an email or on Slack instead?

Some topics are too large for email and if you want to discuss a topic or collaborate on solutions, a meeting might still be the right approach. Before you go in this direction, ask yourself if you couldn’t transmit the information you need to share in an email and save everyone involved the time and effort of an extra meeting.

Could the meeting work be done asynchronously?

Not all discussions or activities need to be conducted in real-time. When asking a group to collect ideas or bring items for discussion to the table, ask whether you couldn’t do so in a shared document asynchronously.

Collecting insights in this way allows everyone to contribute in their own time and reflect on the topic meaningfully before adding to the discussion. You will still want to timebox the activity and potentially debrief over email or in a meeting, but allocating tasks asynchronously can not only save time but also make everyone more productive too.

Who needs to be at the meeting?

Some challenges do not need an entire organisation in order to be solved. When holding a meeting, carefully consider who needs to be in the room to make it a success. You might find that you only need to chat to one other person in Slack in order to make something happen. Alternatively, you might still hold a meeting but limit the attendees so it is useful for everyone involved.

Is the meeting an effective use of everyone’s time?

Meetings are rarely the most important part of everyone’s day. Disrupting the flow of your team’s working day should only be done if it is an effective use of time for everyone involved. Particularly in times of upheaval or heavy workload, the potential time spent in meetings can mean other work is left incomplete.

If you can achieve the same results without interrupting people whose time is better spent elsewhere, do so. Sometimes an email or invitation to a shared document is sufficient to get the work done.

Is the meeting actually a workshop?

If the scope or the complexity of the meeting grows, it might be that you are running a workshop and not a meeting. In simple terms, the difference between a meeting and a workshop is that meetings are often where things are discussed while workshops are where groups go through a process and take action.

Meetings are great for surfacing issues and discussions, while workshops are better at generating ideas, developing solutions and choosing the best followup actions. While both formats are worthwhile in different contexts, workshops employ group process, facilitation techniques and activities in order to be successful and do deeper, more involved work.

Now you’ve written a great meeting agenda that is clear, simple and fit for purpose, you’re almost set to run your meeting! Here, we’ll explore what you should do next and point out some resources that can help you improve the effectiveness of your meetings too.

Distribute your agenda in advance

Give your participants adequate time to prepare and adjust their schedules for the meeting. Sending a complete agenda the day of the meeting isn’t sufficient and will only serve to frustrate your participants and lessen the potential productivity of the meeting.

Remember that the more complex the meeting and the greater the prep work, the more time you want to give your participants between receiving the agenda and running the meeting.

Double check the logistics

Ensure that your meeting room is booked and free if you haven’t done so already and double check that anyone assigned to lead part of the meeting is available and prepared to do so. If you’re using tech as part of your meeting, make sure you have everything you need and perform a technical test if necessary. This is especially important if running an online meeting where the success of your meeting can be entirely lost if your tech fails!

Learn how to run better team meetings

Creating an agenda for your meeting is a vital part of ensuring its success, but running the meeting and managing discussions, tasks and activities requires some additional skills. In our post on running better team meetings , find out how you can encourage better working practices and create more productive meetings too.

Improve your facilitation skills

Becoming a better facilitator can enable you to lead better meetings and make the most out of any group process. In our post on essential facilitation skills , learn all about the role of the facilitator and what you can do to be a more effective facilitator in meetings, workshops and more!

Over to you

Learning how to improve your meeting agendas can make all the difference when enabling groups to work together effectively and make the most of their time spent in meetings.

Did we miss something from the list above or did you find one of the meeting agenda templates especially useful? Let us know in the comments below?

Design your next workshop with SessionLab

Join the 150,000 facilitators using SessionLab

How to Present a Meeting Agenda The Right Way [+ Free Sample Templates]

Learn how to turn around unproductive meetings successfully by incorporating meeting agendas. Streamline your meeting prep using these tips, best practices, and free sample agenda templates.

An inside look at the meeting ground rules used internally by Fellow.app, the top-rated meeting productivity software company.

After almost two years of working from home, online meetings, and new workplace dynamics, we’re pretty certain you’ve had your fair share of meetings. 9 out of 10 people daydream in the middle of meetings , but if you count as that 1 person who doesn’t, we congratulate you. But, more likely than not, much of the time you spend in meetings could be better spent elsewhere.

This trend of unproductive meetings (which costs the US business $37 billion ) is something that we’ve all experienced, as meetings either run on for too long, stray off course, or are just completely pointless. Yet, in the midst of all of these negative statistics, there are several that show the true power of meetings. For example, the impact of a good meeting can last up to 2.5 years later .

One of the best ways to ensure that your meeting falls into this ‘good’ category is to create a detailed agenda beforehand. Although this seems incredibly simple, it’s been proven that agendas can decrease the amount of time spent in meetings by up to 80% . With clear points to hit and a path that all employees can follow along with, they help everyone get through meetings more efficiently.

In this article, we’ll be discussing the following:

What types of meetings need a meeting agenda?

Meeting agenda template tips.

How do you present an agenda depending on the meeting type?

Quite simply, all of them. Meeting agendas ensure that every meeting you attend is as efficient as possible. Instead of beating around the bush, the structured format that an agenda provides will allow you to more easily navigate through the points that you have to cover.

Whether it be a daily, departmental, one-on-one, or brainstorming meeting, you should always prepare an agenda ahead of time. Agendas help people understand why they’re actually attending the meeting, making sure they don’t walk into it with a frustrated outlook or assuming it could’ve just been an email.

Additionally, if the topic requires input from others (like status updates), detailing this in an agenda ahead of time will ensure that your team members have time to prepare what they’re going to say. After doing that, there will be fewer pauses in your meetings, helping them to flow naturally through the discussion points that you’ve chosen.

If you’re looking to have productive meetings every single time, making the most of meeting agendas is the best way to improve. Utilizing them more often will help team members feel less frustrated and have more structured discussions.

Before we dive into all of the different meeting agendas that you could use for various meeting types, we’ll cover some tips that you can carry forward. These are basic components and ideas that you can integrate into your meeting depending on its purpose.

For example, a team meeting agenda with the entire team won’t have the same agenda items as a one-on-one. However, they both use simple agenda concepts, making these tips a great set of ideas to keep in mind. Typically, you want to include the following things on the agenda:

Purpose of meeting: At the top of every single meeting agenda should be a clear statement of what you want to achieve in that meeting. Do not mince your words; keep it short and sweet.
Attendees: Make sure to list who is invited to the meeting near the top of the agenda. This will help put into perspective why the meeting is happening, who’s involved in a particular project, and what other people your team can contact for more information. Be sure to include who the meeting leader is.
Main themes: Only a few words are required here. You’ll want to write down the general meeting theme (planning, HR, budget, etc.).
Outline of points to cover: Moving down the meeting agenda, an attendee should be able to see exactly what points you’ll be discussing in the meeting. You can build these from the action items of a previous meeting if needed. This will help your team members prepare ahead of time and get all of them on the same page with the discussion topic.
Action items: Upon closing your meeting, you should outline the goals that the team aims to achieve. These should reflect the meeting goals and demonstrate what people have to do going forward to accomplish the goals you’ve set out.
Bonus items: To take your meeting from good to great, include any additional documents people are going to need. Include your presentation, if you have one, and any other links, graphs, articles, or documents.

These elements are the main things that you’ll come across on a sample agenda. While some agendas don’t include all of them, the majority will contain a balance of these items. Depending on the meeting structure and the agenda items you want to cover, you can change the actual agenda you send out.

In general, we also recommend that you:

Host your meetings online : 76% of those that began using online technology for their meetings saw an increase in productivity . If you’re not already using an online platform, you could be wasting time commuting to meetings and causing a more lengthy discussion. By using a meeting template in a tool like Fellow , you can take your meetings to the next level with AI generated meeting summaries, collaborative note-taking, and assignable action items.
Include a post-meeting survey summary : This gives your team members the ability to provide feedback. Over time, you can use this feedback to improve performance in meetings, making your meeting process more streamlined.
Send meeting notes to everyone: When using an online meeting application like Fellow, you’ll have the option to take meeting notes within the actual meeting, then send the document directly to everyone that attended with just the click of a button. This set of notes ensures that everyone knows what key decisions were made in the meeting. They’ll also have a location to quickly address anything that came up in the meeting.

Now that you know all about creating a meeting agenda, let’s jump into meeting agenda templates that you can follow.

How to present an agenda for different meeting types

Moving through all the different meeting agenda templates, we’ll be demonstrating samples that you can use in your next meeting for the following:

Team meetings

One-on-ones, executive meetings, weekly meetings.

Let’s break these down further.

A team meeting agenda template can range widely, reflecting the fact that there are many different types of teams and structures out there. That being said, an effective team meeting agenda will always have:

A main goal or purpose
Agenda bullet points
Decisions that need to be made
Next steps towards achieving goals

Here’s a sample team meeting agenda:

The best way to get to know your team and to ensure they’re not overworked is through one-on-one meetings . In these meetings, you should:

Talk about your employee’s work week
Review their priorities
Comment around their recent work to motivate them
Provide feedback on their performance if needed

Here’s a sample one-on-one agenda from to use:

Gathering the most important individuals in the company, your executive members , means that you don’t want to waste time. Whether it be the head of departments or a board meeting agenda template, make sure your team meeting is as effective as possible. Keep it short and sweet, covering the following agenda items:

A review of the current projects in each department
Customer or market changes
Recent wins
Current cross-team priorities
Any problems that need to be overcome
Action items for the future (suggest agenda items for personal team meetings)

Facilitating these meetings swiftly will ensure that your business isn’t wasting money on meetings that run on too long. Here’s an example executive meeting template:

Weekly meetings are one of the best ways to ensure that your team meets regularly. These will ensure that every team member is on the right track, and that your team members’ satisfaction remains high, with no one suffering under too much work.

A typical weekly team meeting agenda includes:

Updates about team members’ progress
Celebrate team wins
Goal review and overall progress
Priorities and action items for the upcoming week

This is an effective agenda, filled with useful agenda topics and discussion topics. Moving through weekly team meetings will help your team stay on top of their projects at a high level.

Here’s a weekly meeting agenda that you can use:

Streamline your next meeting with an agenda

Whether you like them or not, meetings play a critical role in running a business — and they aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. That being said, it's always best to prepare ahead of time to make sure everyone has a positive experience. The best way to avoid unproductive meetings is to create an effective agenda that you can send out to all your meeting participants.

From these meeting agenda templates, you’ll be able to find a structure that works for you. Having an agenda helps key decisions, conversations, and discussions that happen in your meetings become as effective as possible.

With agendas, meeting participants will be able to enter with clear expectations, participate effectively during the meeting, and ultimately decide what needs to be done after the meeting concludes.

Don't let unproductive meetings slow you down

See the impact of fewer, shorter meetings, increased accountability, and enhanced productivity with Fellow.

How To Craft Action-Oriented Meeting Agendas

The best way to set a meeting agenda is to explain every goal of the meeting as an action.

How to Nail Your Weekly Team Meeting [+6 Free Agenda Templates]

Understand the 6 key agenda items, plus free downloads of team meeting agenda templates for remote & in-person teams.

How To Tie Action Items From Previous Meeting Agendas Into Your Meetings

Don't let your action items burn out with your meeting. Learn how to reignite meeting action items by using these strategies consistently.

Got something to contribute?

Presentation Agenda

Creating an agenda can be quite a challenge. For example, an effective meeting agenda has considerations that need to be made and unforeseen circumstances that may affect it. Think about it, how many times have you missed important notes because you ran out of time? One must always keep track of the key points to be discussed within the time allotted.

Writing an agenda has its perks. It keeps things organized at most. For instance, an agenda will allow a smooth presentation. It will allow a presenter to be prepared through constant practice and quick rehearsals. This is to ensure that the necessary topics will be presented accordingly.

Business Presentation Agenda

Size: 213 KB

Sales Presentation Training Agenda

Size: 48 KB

Vendor Presentation Agenda

Size: 128 KB

Sample Conference Agenda

Size: 452 KB

What Is a Presentation Agenda?

A presentation agenda refers to a list of activities and discussions that are to be addressed to an audience. It typically includes the work schedule , the list of speakers, and the topics to be covered during each session. It is very distinct from the common agenda templates & examples as it often comes in tables with specific instructions and information. It is distributed beforehand to inform participants of general details. It also allows speakers to prepare their necessary materials in advance. However, like every other agenda, it’s still subject to probable changes.

How to Write a Presentation Agenda

It’s important that you first recognize your audience. Your speakers and listeners might be of a particular age group or profession. It might be wise to use simple and relatable terminologies for everyone to understand. Remember to provide interesting and useful information for your audience. Refrain from sharing unnecessary details as it can only create confusion. Similar to a meeting agenda , a presentation agenda may include a strict time schedule. Each detail should be organized accordingly. Make sure copies of the agenda contain correct and updated information before it is distributed.

Sample Presentation Agenda

Size: 123 KB

Presentation Skills Course Agenda

Size: 31 KB

Presentation Demo Agenda

Size: 75 KB

Presentation Agenda Example

Size: 411 KB

Classroom Presentation Agenda

Size: 142 KB

How to Start a Presentation Agenda

A presentation agenda should start with the main subject matter. It could be an event title or the main topic to be covered. It may then be followed by the event’s duration period or the time allotted for the discussion. The venue may also be stated if necessary. It can also include the name of the speaker who shall present. You may also use agenda examples in PDF as your guide.

Guidelines for a Presentation Agenda

A presentation agenda must contain important details for its participants. Aside from such, here are some guidelines that will be useful in creating an effective presentation agenda:

Organize details accordingly. Agendas are meant to keep things in an orderly matter. Make sure details are arranged into readable sections.
Include a time duration. A time estimation for each session will guide speakers and their audience alike. This is to ensure that sessions stay right on schedule as much as possible.
State necessary instructions. This is so participants may have the chance to prepare in advance and be mindful of what to expect.
Distribute copies to participants. You need to be able to inform participants ahead of time through a printable agenda . They may also be distributed electronically if needed.

Agenda Maker

Text prompt

Instructive
Professional

Draft an agenda for the upcoming student council meeting focusing on school safety improvements and fundraising ideas

Create an agenda for a parent-teacher association meeting discussing new teaching methods and school year planning.

SUGGESTED TOPICS
The Magazine
Newsletters
Managing Yourself
Managing Teams
Work-life Balance
The Big Idea
Data & Visuals
Reading Lists
Case Selections
HBR Learning
Topic Feeds
Account Settings
Email Preferences

How to Design an Agenda for an Effective Meeting

Roger Schwarz

A tool to waste less of your time.

To prevent holding a meeting in which participants are unprepared, veer off track, or waste the team’s time, you should create an effective meeting agenda that sets clear expectations for what needs to occur before and during the meeting. Seek input from your team members to ensure the agenda reflects their needs and keeps them engaged. If your entire team is meeting, then the issues discussed should affect everyone present and require the whole team’s effort to solve. Addressing topics that don’t impact everyone at the meeting wastes individuals’ valuable time. Another tactic for creating a better meeting agenda is listing topics as questions to be answered. Instead of writing “office space reallocation,” try “Under what conditions should we reallocate office space?” Let your team know if the purpose of the discussion is to share information, seek input on a decision, or make a decision. And indicate on the agenda who is leading each discussion so that they can prepare. These tips, and five others, will help your team stay focused in meetings.

We’ve all been in meetings where participants are unprepared, people veer off track, and the topics discussed are a waste of the team’s time. These problems — and others like them — stem from poor agenda design. An effective agenda sets clear expectations for what needs to occur before and during a meeting. It helps team members prepare, allocates time wisely, quickly gets everyone on the same topic, and identifies when the discussion is complete. If problems still occur during the meeting, a well-designed agenda increases the team’s ability to effectively and quickly address them.

Roger Schwarz is an organizational psychologist, speaker, leadership team consultant, and president and CEO of Roger Schwarz & Associates . He is the author of Smart Leaders, Smarter Teams: How You and Your Team Get Unstuck to Get Results . LeadSmarter

Partner Center

Researched by Consultants from Top-Tier Management Companies

Powerpoint Templates

Icon Bundle

Kpi Dashboard

Professional

Business Plans

Swot Analysis

Gantt Chart

Business Proposal

Marketing Plan

Project Management

Business Case

Business Model

Cyber Security

Business PPT

Digital Marketing

Digital Transformation

Human Resources

Product Management

Artificial Intelligence

Company Profile

Acknowledgement PPT

PPT Presentation

Reports Brochures

One Page Pitch

Interview PPT

All Categories

How to Create a Fantastic PowerPoint Agenda Slide Template in 5 Steps [Presentation Hackathon 4]

Anuj Malhotra

Have you heard of the word Priming ? More popularly used in psychology, it “refers to an increased sensitivity to certain stimuli due to prior experience.” After watching a scary movie alone at night, you become more sensitive and thus primed to slightest noises around you like creak of the bed and rustling of leaves outside the window!

Why are we talking about priming here? Your agenda slide serves the same purpose in your presentation. It positively primes your audience as to what they would be getting out of your talk- the key takeaways. So when you advance to further segments in your talk, the audience recall that it was second, third or fourth on your agenda list.

But first ask yourself- Do I really need an agenda slide in my presentation? Well yes, if you are presenting at a conference with many topics to cover, it’s advisable as well as expected that the audience have a little idea beforehand of what key areas you are going to throw light on. It’s like a little warm-up exercise for the audience. It also gives a structure to your talk, which otherwise can become a rambling affair.

If this part, however, is botched up with a chaotic slide that has way too many sections and subsections, you have lost your audience even before you could introduce yourself. You might have had great insights to share with your listeners but you scared them with “information overload”. So, ALWAYS include only the most important sections of the presentation in your agenda slide.

Say you have 6 main areas that you’ll be covering. Most presenters, for lack of ideas or other reasons, will tend to leave their agenda slide completely naked, except listing out the 6 items as bullet points! It’s bad priming: audience are only being predisposed to expect boring, ugly slides from there onwards.

Conversely, if you create an eye-catchy agenda slide, you’ll succeed in wetting their mental appetite. Here’s a re-designed agenda slide that you can create in a few minutes for your upcoming presentation:

Design Impressive Agenda Slide for PowerPoint Presentation

Interested in knowing how we transformed the above slide in a matter of just 5 minutes? Let us show you step by step how to go about designing that slide:

Also Read: 7 Best Marketing PowerPoint Templates Suggested By Top Marketers

Step 1: Cover the slide with striking visual

For an agenda slide, choose a visual that means serious business. If you are presenting in a boardroom, the meeting table can be a good idea. If you are presenting in a conference hall to hundreds or thousands in audience, the stage or the audience can be a good background image. Or you can simply go in for any business image showing professionals engaged in a brainstorming session, a wall clock showing time is of essence, a busy business desk etc.

You need not stress yourself out over the right visual since the image will be masked out and only used to set the tone for the presentation agenda. We chose a roundtable for our agenda slide. if you want to use the same, you can download it for free from Pixabay: an awesome free resource for professional images.

Step 2: Give Your Image a Wireframe Effect

One of the latest design trends on social media is using a faded image in the background. There is a reason why designers do this. They need to highlight the content- perhaps a quote, announcement, etc.- and not the visual. The visual is inserted to add value to the message, reinforce the words, and not draw complete attention to itself.

This visual effect- to be there and yet not be there- can also be achieved by the wireframe effect. This term is used in architecture and website development. Put simply, it’s a blueprint and this awesome effect can be applied on any image using the “Glow Edges” Artistic Effect in PowerPoint!

Here’s how to do this:

Select the image
Under the Format tab, click the Artistic Effects dropdown
Select the last option Glow Edges (see the screenshot below)

Giving Glow Edges Artisitic Effect in PowerPoint

Step 3: Add a Transparent Shape over the Visual

The effect looks cool but is still too attention grabbing. Any text placed over it will have a heavy contrast but look jarring. To mask it out further, follow these steps:

Choose a rectangular box from the Shapes menu (under the Insert tab)
Right click on the shape, click the Format Shape option
Give it a solid fill (your brand color or a professional blue will look good)
Set the transparency (between 10-20%) so that the image beneath the shape can be seen

Format Shape and giving transparency in PowerPoint

Step 4: Place Text Tags over the Slide

Now comes the time for spelling out your business agenda, the most important thing in the slide. Rather than simply pasting the agenda as bullet points, we will place each agenda as tags on the slide. Have a look at the slide below to know what we mean:

It’s pretty simple to create these shapes on your own. All you have to do is:

Click the Insert tab
From the Shapes dropdown menu, under Rectangles , select the Round Same Side Corner Rectangle
Drag to draw the rectangle on the slide
Under the Format tab, click the Rotate dropdown menu
Click Rotate Right 90 degree
Select the rounded rectangle shape and drag the yellow dot on the rounded side (see screenshot below) to the center of that side

Step by Step Process to create tags in PowerPoint

Duplicate the shape till you have six such tags. Lastly, rotate three to the left so that you have all tags facing each other. That leaves us with the last step.

Step 5: Insert Circle in each Tag and Add Icon for Each

It’s difficult to have an awesome slide without having small visual representations called icons. But first, insert a circle from the Shapes menu and place it on the rounded side of each rectangular tag. Give it a dark blue solid fill to create rich contrast.

Now, choose an icon for each of your agenda and place them inside the circles. We recommend you choose fully editable, vector icons so that you can change their color, size, etc. without having any effect on the quality of the icon. If you want the icons used above, you can simply download them from our website .

And that’s it, you have created one awesome agenda slide that will be hard to forget for your audience. Have a look at the final slide:

Agenda Slide with Icons for Corporate Business Presentation

Need more design ideas for Agenda Slide?

The above layout was just one of the ways to list out your presentation agenda attractively. There are thousands of other ways you can re-design it. Check out these awesome agenda slide templates created by our PowerPoint Presentation Design Services team :

Agenda Template 1: Half Page Image Layout

Use the power of a visual to spell out your agenda. Half page layout dividing visual and textual content into 50:50 ratio lends a sophisticated look to your presentation. Icons further fuel visual interest and lend power to your agenda items. Check out this design below:

Impressive Professional Presentation Agenda Slide

Download this agenda slide template if you would love to use it for your upcoming presentation.

Agenda Template 2: Variation of Half Page Image Layout

To add more color and vibrancy to the half page image template, shift the icons to the left such that they fall halfway on the image. Separate each agenda item with simple line separators for more emphasis.

Using Images and Icons to Create Awesome Agenda Slides

Grab this cool Agenda PPT slide template and add it to your collection.

Agenda Template 3: Parallelogram Layout

We learnt about parallelogram in elementary school- a quadrilateral with two pairs of parallel sides. Turns out it can be an interesting visual element for your presentations. Look how the parallelogram effect below gives a sophisticated look to your agenda slide.

Professional PowerPoint Template for Agenda Slide

This agenda presentation template is just a click away.

Agenda Template 4: Full Page Image Layout with Parallelogram Effect

A slight variation of the above template is to let the image cover the complete slide and place a parallelogram to highlight the agenda list. The agenda items can then be placed on the edges of the shape to create a unique design that looks professional and creative at the same time.

Beautiful Agenda Slide Layout with Image and Icons

You can simply replace the content in the slide above by downloading our PowerPoint agenda slide template .

Alternatively, you can use steps of parallelograms to create a neat list of agenda points that oozes professionalism thoroughly. Here’s the template:

...and here’s the link to download the PowerPoint agenda slide design .

Agenda Template 5: Split Image Layout

Splitting image into multiple parts captures attention like none other. Here’s why: it forces the audience to fill the gaps and visualize the complete picture in their mind. It piques their curiosity and forces them to actively engage in understanding the slide rather than passively view it. You can then place each agenda on the split image to create a knockout agenda slide.

Business Diagram PowerPoint Template for Agenda Slide

Download this PowerPoint agenda slide template to use this design for your next presentation.

Agenda Template 6: Circular Diagram Layout with Icons

Simple shapes like arcs and arrows can create a beautiful effect that’s hard to ignore. Plot the agenda items along the arcs through their corresponding icons to showcase the progression of your presentation from start to finish.

Professional Agenda Slide PowerPoint Template

Access this agenda slide template from our website by clicking here .

That’s it, folks! Hope you benefit from this hackathon and get inspiration to make your PowerPoint agenda slide look as impactful as any other slide. Consider this exercise as creating a mouth-watering menu that tempts viewers to order the items (listen to your ideas, we mean).

Did you miss our last three hackathons? Catch up now and brush up your PowerPoint skills:

Presentation Hackathon 1: 5 Incredibly Simple Hacks to Create Stunning Slides

Presentation Hackathon 2: Turn Boring PowerPoint Slides into Visual Masterpieces using these 11 Image Hacks

Presentation Hackathon 3: 15 Ways to Turn a Very Text-Heavy, Bullet-Ridden Slide into Amazing!

Stay tuned for the next Hackathon. We are determined to make a rockstar presenter out of you!

6 Easy Steps to Create a “Stand Out” Slide and Beat the Background Noise
11 Dos and Don’ts of Using Images in Presentations
[Updated 2023] Top 10 Business Strategy Google Slides Templates To Empower Your Team
Improve Your Organization’s Viability With Our Top 20 Business Model Canvas Templates in PowerPoint PPT!!

Liked this blog? Please recommend us

15 Ways to Turn a Very Text-Heavy, Bullet-Ridden Slide into Amazing! [Presentation Hackathon Part 3]

4 Steps to Customize Editable World Map Templates for Awesome PowerPoint Slides

80 thoughts on “how to create a fantastic powerpoint agenda slide template in 5 steps [presentation hackathon 4]”.

This form is protected by reCAPTCHA - the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Digital revolution powerpoint presentation slides

Sales funnel results presentation layouts

3d men joinning circular jigsaw puzzles ppt graphics icons

Business Strategic Planning Template For Organizations Powerpoint Presentation Slides

Future plan powerpoint template slide

Project Management Team Powerpoint Presentation Slides

Brand marketing powerpoint presentation slides

Launching a new service powerpoint presentation with slides go to market

Agenda powerpoint slide show

Four key metrics donut chart with percentage

Engineering and technology ppt inspiration example introduction continuous process improvement

Meet our team representing in circular format

How to Present a Best Agenda of a Presentation or Speech

Most people won’t attend a meeting unless they know the agenda. I know I want, and when is the best time to introduce an agenda? The most effective way is actually well before your presentation. You must have a strong opening in your agenda and not commit any mistake in opening. Click four common mistakes in presentation to handle your common mistakes.

Your agenda needs to have the following contents:

Your agenda needs to have the purpose of the presentation.

What will be discussed.

Participants

Who will be participating.

How long will it last.

For most business meetings and presentations, make sure your audience has this agenda in writing before you present. For this article you saw the title and link of the article, before you decide to view it, indeed, that’s the agenda. You already know what topic I am discussing in this article, the learning object and the link of the article. If I started this article by saying: in this article I cover how to introduce an agenda, that would be redundant. I disclosing your attention and interest almost immediately. In most cases if your audience can see a written agenda before your presentation, then you don’t need to introduce it. You can simply refer to it during your presentation to help keep everyone on track. During the presentation, it’s always a good idea to briefly remind your audience about where are you going, this is where the teaser approach works well.

Teaser Approach

The goal of teaser is to build interest into upcoming agenda items. You do this by giving audience a little bit information that makes them want to know more. For example, you might say: We have some exciting news from our administrator of the academy, which I will share with you. Make sure your audience knows the overall agenda before you are giving a presentation. Provide them with key details in writing, then look for opportunities within presentation to tell your audience, what they have to look forward to. Use the teaser approach to keep your audience alert and interested.

The Agenda Slide: A Short PowerPoint Design Lesson

July 30, 2014 / Blog, PowerPoint ideas, PowerPoint Tips agenda slide, PowerPoint Design, Powerpoint tips

Most business presentations start with an agenda slide, and it’s usually a bullet point list devoid of any design. If you want to capture and retain your audience’s attention, the agenda slide needs to be more than just a flimsy outline.

Discussing the agenda is an effective way to start presentations in a more corporate and formal setting. It’s your opportunity to frame your presentation in the right direction, and show your audience that the information you’re sharing is crucial. But a bullet point list doesn’t stand out. You need an agenda slide that has visual impact.

This is the agenda slide that you’re used to seeing:

As you can see, nothing about this slide stands out. While the text is certainly minimal, there’s nothing else in the slide that we can consider eye-catching. It’s too bland, and it will definitely set the tone that your presentation is going to be a pretty dull affair.

The key to great PowerPoint design, whether it’s for the agenda or any other slide, is the use of interesting images. Visual has enormous effect on our ability to learn and retain information.

Here’s the same slide, enhanced with icons:

Now, you can tell that even simple illustrations make a difference. Each point has more impact because they’re illustrated by symbols that your audience is familiar with. I even added a bit more flair by adding animations. I chose to have each point of the agenda revealed bit by bit, so the audience won’t be tempted to read ahead from where I’m talking.

Try out these ideas for yourself, or check out our other PowerPoint design tips. However you choose to enhance your agenda slide, just make sure that your key points won’t get clouded by too much or too little design elements.

Featured Image: Death to the Stock Photo All icons from The Noun Project Note by Marek Polakovic Rating by Icons8 Target by Juan Garces 15 minutes by Alexander Wiefel

Twitter: Lessons from Social Media

Oscar Speech Sounds A Lot Like…..

Olympians Can Teach Presenters a Thing or Two

Overcoming a Public Speaking Disaster: A Lesson from Michael Bay

The Similarities Between Presentations and Advertisments : Super Bowl Edition

PowerPoint Themes
Latest PowerPoint Templates
Best PowerPoint Templates
Free PowerPoint Templates
Simple PowerPoint Templates
PowerPoint Backgrounds
Project Charter
Project Timeline
Project Team
Project Status
Market Analysis
Marketing Funnel
Market Segmentation
Target Customer
Marketing Mix
Digital Marketing Strategy
Resource Planning
Recruitment
Employee Onboarding
Company Profile
Mission Vision
Meet The Team
Problem & Solution
Business Model
Business Case
Business Strategy
Business Review
Leadership Team
Balance Sheet
Income Statement
Cash Flow Statement
Executive Summary
30 60 90 Day Plan
SWOT Analysis
Flow Charts
Gantt Charts
Text Tables
Infographics
Google Slides Templates
Presentation Services
Ask Us To Make Slides
Data Visualization Services
Business Presentation Tips
PowerPoint Tutorials
Google Slides Tutorials
Presentation Resources

The Best Board Meeting Agenda Guide [With Examples & Sample Agendas]

This Blog will help you understand the dynamics of a Board Meeting Agenda and why you must incorporate one. It will help you effectively outline the topics and items to be discussed and addressed during a board meeting. The presentation serves as a guide to keep the meeting focused and ensure that all necessary topics are covered within the allotted time frame.

You might have had a meeting that went completely off. It might be overly prolonged and had numerous off-topic discussions. It has happened with most professionals at some point in their lives. As far as organizations are concerned, they make all their big decisions in board meetings. So, setting them up is critical to be as effective and productive as possible. A well-planned board meeting agenda is the foundation of any successful meeting, and creating one is a highly responsible task.

You should have a simple and stress-free procedure for this. You can keep the business moving forward and efficiently plan, arrange, and structure the upcoming board of directors meeting with the help of an effective board meeting agenda template.

Read on to learn how to write a meeting agenda and see some amazing meeting agenda templates from SlideUpLift.

What Is A Meeting Agenda?

The first and foremost step is to know what is a meeting agenda. An agenda is a list of subjects or points of discussion scheduled for consideration by the board of directors of a firm during a meeting. It helps guarantee that the meeting is effective and productive by outlining the agenda and order of business.

The corporate secretary and board chair drafts the agenda for a board meeting. It includes details regarding the impending meeting, such as the date, time, attendees, organization mission, goals, reports, and other information. A well-written agenda will motivate all group members to contribute to reporting and decision-making.

An agenda establishes clear expectations before and during the meeting. It enables participants to prepare effectively, optimize their time, ensure timely alignment on subjects, and provide a structured approach to flexible problem-solving.

An agenda for a meeting usually includes a wide range of topics. They are as follows: reviewing committee and board reports, endorsing financial matters, and doing strategic brainstorming.

Benefits Of An Effective Meeting Agenda

For board meetings to be fruitful, an agenda must be well-crafted. It guarantees that all critical topics are covered, encourages participation, and offers structure. A well-crafted agenda guarantees a better knowledge of the issues at hand by outlining the meeting’s objectives and enabling participants to plan.

In addition, it fulfills the function of a legal document by recording discussions and decisions. It is beneficial in creating precise minutes of meetings. An efficient agenda also benefits in establishing the conclusion time, preventing meetings from lasting longer than necessary.

What To Include In Your Meeting Agenda?

Depending on the objectives, you can follow the regular order or vary things regarding the board meeting agenda. However, the following format is the most used:

Make an order call

Modifications to the schedule

Acceptance of the minutes of the meeting.

Old business
New business

Announcements/other business

Make an order call..

Every board meeting starts with a call to order, during which the chairman reads the introductory and vision statements . The corporate secretary logs the meeting time in the minutes and then discusses the following items on the agenda. Call to order is the most formal item on the board meeting agenda.

The board now suggests revisions to the agenda, which they subsequently submit to a vote. The meeting will proceed when the corporate secretary notes the conclusion.

The written record of a meeting, known as the minutes, is an excellent way to inform absent board members of decisions and provides legal defense for an organization in the event of legal action. The majority of states legally require the board to maintain meeting minutes. A meeting agenda template with integrated transcription tools makes taking and approving minutes easier to manage.

It’s also a fantastic approach to monitor the advancement of both your company’s short- and long-term objectives. Before deciding on the minutes of the previous meeting, the board will discuss the specifics of reporting on new and old business.

The executive director and finance departments provide the reports during board sessions. Usually, the executive director presents the initial report. It includes urgent concerns, subjects that need board approval, and advancements toward strategic objectives. The financial director’s report can demonstrate its fiscal aspect by drawing on the prior report.

This report’s material typically relates to the income statement, balance sheet, and budget. The board development committee reports quarterly or annually, with the most information about recruiting new board members, while the executive and financial directors report at each meeting.

Old Business

Board members will evaluate recent and previous action items during the old business debate. They couldn’t agree on a recommendation that now has fresh information that could influence the outcome; in this case, discussing the old business in your board meeting agenda can significantly help.

New Business

Both planned and unforeseen new business agenda items can be on the meeting agenda:

A scheduled new business includes subjects the board members had previously decided to cover during the current meeting. A new business item is an impromptu suggestion made by board members during the conference.

The board chairman should use this opportunity to introduce new members and give a sneak peek at upcoming initiatives. Board members can submit themes for the following meeting during this item on the agenda.

It concludes the agenda items. The board chairman extended his gratitude to everybody. In addition, the chairman announces the time and date of the next board meeting, which the secretary noted in the meeting minutes.

How to Write a Meeting Agenda?

You can use these steps to help you draft an agenda for a meeting:

1. State the purpose of the meeting:

Starting with your goal will help you ensure that everyone in the meeting understands its purpose and that every action you want to take will help you reach your goal. Setting a goal for the meeting can encourage people to pay close attention to the crucial points during the conference.

2. Request feedback from the attendees:

Get feedback from your attendees in advance to ensure that the meeting fulfills their needs and maintains their interest. You can invite them to ask any questions about the subjects or take up any recommendations they may have. After receiving a list of recommendations from the attendees, you can go over them and decide which to implement in your agenda.

3. Make a list of the questions you would like to ask:

Knowing the purpose of the meeting can help you construct a list of questions for it. After that, you can go over the topics you wish to cover. Some agendas list topics as phrases, like “rental equipment.” By framing each topic as a question, you can clarify what the agenda items are for. With these prompts, you can be sure to generate dialogue and gather all the information required for each agenda item.

4. Establish each task’s objective:

It is a great practice to ensure that every activity you complete in a meeting has a clear objective. These objectives could be to give advice, solicit input, or make a decision. As you go through your schedule, take note of the purpose behind each assignment. This stage will let meeting attendees realize when to decide and when you need their opinion.

5. Determine how much time you’ll devote to each assignment:

Thanks to this section of the agenda, you will have enough time to cover every item on your agenda. It also helps the participants fit their questions and comments into the given time frame. You can make the most of your time by allocating additional time for issues you think will take longer to discuss or arranging for more important topics to be covered sooner in the conversation.

Suppose a large number of team members are attending the meeting. Consider setting time limits for specific themes to facilitate discussion, promote prompt decision-making , and maintain the meeting’s agenda.

6. Include supporting documentation:

Documents that are attached to the agenda items can aid in the participants’ understanding of the subject. Additionally, you can save participants time who would otherwise have to look for these papers on their personal computers. Besides, it facilitates your job as the meeting’s facilitator.

7. Define the leader of each issue:

In meetings, the leaders typically take the lead. Still, the team members occasionally do so while the leaders watch over them. You can designate subjects in advance to those who fit the bill. It ensures that everyone is ready for their assigned tasks and keeps the meeting on track.

8. Conclude every gathering with a review:

Allowing time for a review after each meeting can assist participants in better understanding the decisions they made and the information they discussed. It enables them to take any necessary action following the meeting. You and the other meeting attendees should also consider responding to questions about what went well and what needs improvement during this evaluation.

How to Take Effective Minutes from Your Meeting Agenda

Minutes of board meetings are kept on file to help explain the choices made by the board. In the best-case scenario, minutes from board meetings assist in tracking and trending toward corporate goals or objectives and key results (OKRs), providing board members with future points of reference, and helping to clarify plans.

Providing notes for future reference and thorough meeting minutes also reduces meeting boredom. They enable you to start your new meeting without spending much time reviewing past business.

Usually, the secretary is in charge of taking notes. However, any team member will do the job. Effective note-takers should make sure to write down the following points in plain, concise language because it’s a crucial task:

A thorough and precise recording of the statements made
An evaluation of any conversation in conjunction with an actual context
Recall that meeting notes and minutes differ depending on how we utilize them. Minutes are usually a more official report from a meeting, whereas notes are a shorter type of informal recordkeeping. Ultimately, the most crucial thing is to record the conversation.

This Image Shows How to Take Effective Minutes from Your Meeting Agenda

How Members Can Take Notes During the Meeting

Below are a few tips on how members can make practical notes during a meeting:

1. Prepare ahead of time by making notes:

Take notes before the meeting to help you get organized and prepare any thoughts or ideas you may have. You’ll be more productive once the meeting begins and better understand the discussion topics. As the team leader or person responsible for presiding over the meeting, you can assist your team in getting ready by providing an agenda in advance and giving participants ample time to examine it. Facilitators should also take pre-meeting notes to clarify goals and talking points. To give structure, you can either base this on the things on the board meeting agenda or list some preliminary thoughts for the subjects you want to cover at your next meeting.

2. Decide on a uniform structure with your group:

If a team member needs to catch up on the daily update, they shouldn’t have to figure out new formats or how to read the meeting notes. To guarantee that your records maintain a consistent structure over extended periods, consider utilizing templates to standardize the format of your meeting notes.

3. Efficiently summarize by emphasizing key points:

Practical meeting notes should balance a concise synopsis of the proceedings with an exact written account of all discussed and decisions made. They should be composed in a style encouraging you to jot down your observations, take in knowledge, and consider concepts.

Another technique to help you connect thoughts and themes across a variety of topics and stimulate creativity is mind mapping. It’s a graphic approach where supporting concepts radiate from the central themes or ideas. It is typically a suitable choice for learners who learn differently. When gathering insights from several meetings over time, mind maps can help identify recurring themes and how various topics relate. For instance, facilitators can plot ideas from your team and construct a collaborative mind map during brainstorming sessions.

4. Provide proper background:

Ensure you give context to help readers understand the reasoning behind your notes, judgments, and action items. To ensure that team members who were not there at the meeting don’t miss any crucial information, include supplementary material when appropriate or include a section devoted to pertinent resources.

5. Create action items from your notes:

Good meeting notes encourage action in addition to helping you maintain a record of the team’s talks. Your talks will only be fruitful if there are clear action items. Note specific action items and your part in completing them after each meeting. Be detailed – include:

Each action item’s next step.
The method to complete it.
The person who will carry it out.
The intended deadline.

6. Utilize your memos during retrospectives:

You have compiled and synthesized your notes, identified the main ideas, and made action items. What took place next? What were the practical consequences of those action items?

It will be tough to understand where you ended up if you never look back at where you started. Because of this, having a shared area where all participants are encouraged to contribute is beneficial for both synchronous and real-time communication and for developing scalable procedures that lead to long-term success.

slideuplift's leaderboard ad, download unlimited presentation templates buy membership

Tips for Creating a Better Meeting Agenda

To help you make the most of your agendas, let us begin with some of our most helpful tips on writing effective board meeting agendas:

As soon as possible, draft and distribute the agenda for your meeting. You should distribute your board meeting agenda at least one hour before. Everyone can now get ready for what’s about to happen. To make any necessary adjustments before the meeting, your team can also bring any questions or new things to your attention. In addition, your team members will find it much easier to concentrate during the meeting if they have had time to prepare adequately.
Provide a link to any relevant pre-reading resources beforehand. Instead of asking irrelevant questions that consume valuable time, everyone arriving at the meeting should prepare to advance the conversation.
Assign coordinators to every item on the agenda. Do you recall how it felt to be called upon in class without knowing the answer? We’re confident you don’t want to incite this awful sensation in your teammates. You can give the facilitator time to prepare for a summary of the topic, questions, and feedback by designating a facilitator for each agenda item before the meeting.
Sort and rank the items on your agenda. Make a distinction between the three types of agenda items: action items, conversation topics, and informational items. Giving each agenda item a clear purpose aids in helping your team members prioritize and grasp what matters most. Moreover, you should prioritize tasks based on importance, determining which items to address during the meeting and which to postpone if time runs out.
Track notes and action items during the meeting by using your agenda. In this manner, all meeting-related information is centrally located. There is a clear place to go for anyone with questions regarding choices or action items from the meeting.
Sort your agenda items into categories to create flow. You should draft a well-flowing board meeting agenda to maximize productivity. Make sure comparable products can build upon each other by batching them together. To ensure that everyone on your team has access to all the material before the conversation, for instance, list any informational things before the discussion items.
Make sure you give each item on your agenda enough time. Nobody will be upset if a meeting ends sooner than expected because keeping everyone longer than expected isn’t as enjoyable. Calculate the approximate time for each item on the agenda and add a few minutes to allow for wiggle room. It will make it easier for your group to stay on task and move on to the next topic when the allotted time is over.

By adhering to these best practices, You can ensure your board meeting agenda is a trustworthy tool that works before, during, and after your meeting.

Explore Our Collection: Agenda Slide PowerPoint Templates

Meeting Agenda Examples

Let’s examine the example agenda for a project kickoff meeting :

For everyone to know when it is their turn and how long they have to talk or deliver their presentation, each item has a timebox and a colleague allocated. For increased visibility and improved teamwork, the agenda is shared with all team members and includes pertinent files attached.

Professional settings often involve meetings with a distinct purpose and set of dynamics. Effective communication and teamwork are contingent upon your ability to customize your meeting agenda to the specific type of gathering you are hosting. These are a few typical meeting examples:

Agenda for a team meeting

Decision-making, brainstorming, and team development are all facilitated by team meetings. They can differ in length and frequency, but they are necessary to guarantee forward motion and alignment. Agendas for effective team meetings should have space for fresh, ad hoc issues and recurring items for frequent sessions. Monitoring the duties and actions delegated at the meeting is also essential. An agenda item for a 45-minute team meeting can include analytics, a round-table strategy, identifying roadblocks, and acknowledging the contributions of team members.

Sample Agenda for the daily scrum meetings

What is a Daily Scrum Meetings Agenda PowerPoint Template?

Stand-ups, often known as daily scrum meetings, are concentrated, short sessions to maintain team cohesion during a sprint. A summary of the previous day’s work, today’s goals, and sprint goal progress are usually discussed in these meetings. These meetings’ adaptability aids in keeping things moving forward and quickly resolving problems.

Sample Agenda for the project kickoff meeting

What Is A Project Kickoff Meeting PowerPoint Template

Cross-functional teams come together for project launch meetings to begin a new project . These sessions establish the project’s tone and align everyone’s expectations and goals. The agenda should cover the project brief, roles and duties, meeting rhythm, practical next steps, and a Q&A session to clear up any misunderstandings and ensure everyone agrees.

Agenda for a retrospective meeting

What Is A Retrospective Meeting PowerPoint Template

Retrospectives are meetings typically held after a project cycle or timeframe to reflect on a previous work period. Its primary goal is to inform team members about what went well and what didn’t. The entire team addresses a range of meeting issues during the meeting, such as obstacles that have affected their work and triumphs and problems. This procedure assists in pinpointing areas in need of development and formulating plans to deal with any issues. Meetings for reflection are essential for ongoing team development and guaranteeing improved results in upcoming work cycles.

Sample Agenda for one-on-one meetings

What is a One-On-One Meeting Agenda PowerPoint Template

Peer-to-peer, cross-level, or manager-direct report one-on-one meetings are all essential for discussing work tasks, obstacles, and career advancement. They serve as the cornerstone of trust development. These meetings should have a balanced agenda that includes themes like growth, motivation, communication, and work-related conversations. A weekly one-on-one could involve discussing obstacles, evaluating the week’s highs and lows, and asking about work-life balance.

Sample Agenda for a remote one-on-one meeting

What Is a Remote One-On-One Meeting PowerPoint Template

Remote one-on-one encounters require a slightly different approach, emphasizing rapport-building and unambiguous communication. These meetings benefit from a typical online agenda available to all attendees because there is no physical presence. Important topics can be assessing overall well-being, discussing current tasks, and attending to urgent issues or requests for help.

Agenda for skip-level meetings

What is a Skip-Level Meetings Agenda PowerPoint Template

Skip-level meetings allow cross-organizational connections between senior managers and staff members who are not directly reporting to them. These are the best forums for discussing general career development and giving senior leadership input. The agenda includes organizational improvement recommendations, corporate strategy and goals clarification, and individual professional aspirations.

Agenda for the leadership team meeting

What Is A Leadership Team Meeting Agenda PowerPoint Template

Leadership team meetings are essential for strategic decision-making and problem-solving at the highest levels of an organization. A productive meeting agenda might include personal updates, reviewing key metrics, sharing successes and insights, discussing important messages, addressing urgent issues, and allocating time for an open discussion or “hot seat” session focused on specific topics.

An agenda must be carefully created for every meeting, including team brainstorming sessions, performance reviews, all-hands meetings, and one-on-one conversations, to prevent wasting time and maintain focus. Using these sample board meeting agendas ensures that every meeting, regardless of format, significantly advances the company’s objectives and fosters cooperation and teamwork.

Meeting Agenda Templates from SlideUpLift

SlideUpLift is the best solution available to people and companies who want to improve the visual impact of their presentations. Acknowledging the vital function of captivating images in efficient communication, SlideUpLift provides a wide range of expertly designed PowerPoint templates , carefully selected to fit a variety of meeting agendas.

Business Agenda PowerPoint Template

The Business Agenda PowerPoint Template features a dynamic and visually engaging design. The main text is prominently placed at the center, surrounded by four vibrant rays extending to the left and four to the right. Each of these rays serves as a dedicated space for you to outline eight distinct agendas succinctly. Using colors adds vibrancy to the template, making it an eye-catching and effective tool for presenting a comprehensive business agenda. This versatile design ensures clarity and impact in communicating critical points during your presentations or meetings.

Meeting Agenda PowerPoint Template

The Meeting Agenda Template provides a clean and organized layout for structuring your meeting content. The main topic of the meeting is written on the left side of the slide, surrounded by a semicircle featuring six agendas. Each icon describes specific meeting topics. This template combines simplicity and visual appeal, allowing you to effectively convey essential information while maintaining a professional and engaging presentation format.

Board Meeting Agenda PowerPoint Template

The Board Meeting Agenda slide has a structured and straightforward layout, featuring five distinct agenda items: “About Company,” “Project Status,” “Team,” “Charts,” and “Portfolio.” Each agenda point has a dedicated space for you to provide detailed descriptions or critical talking points. These points are editable, and you can alter them according to your company’s needs. This template ensures a clear and organized presentation of crucial meeting topics, allowing you to efficiently communicate information related to the company overview, project status, team updates, charts or data insights, and portfolio highlights.

Meeting Agenda 3D template

What is a Meeting Agenda 3D PowerPoint Template

The Agenda 3D template introduces a unique and visually striking design for your presentation needs. The agendas are presented in a 3D flag-shaped figure, adding a dynamic element to your slides. The slide provides three distinct agenda headers with dedicated space below for detailed descriptions. This innovative design captures attention and offers a structured format for presenting key meeting topics or points of discussion.

New Employee Orientation Day Agenda PowerPoint Template

What is a New Employee Orientation Agenda Template

The New Employee Orientation Day Agenda PowerPoint template provides a structured and visually appealing framework for introducing new team members to the organization. Commencing with the foundational “Employee Orientation” session, the template employs a clear and concise format. Each agenda item is accompanied by designated times, facilitating a well-organized progression throughout the day. With a streamlined design accommodating up to six agenda items, this template ensures a smooth and engaging orientation day for new employees.

With the creative templates from SlideUpLift, users can improve their presentations by seamlessly combining form and function. These PowerPoint templates enhance every story with stunning visuals, whether creating captivating business agendas, coordinating smooth employee orientations, or exploring the subtleties of personnel management.

Establishing a strategic board agenda should be taken seriously because it will enable the organization to grow significantly. You should complete this critical task precisely because the outcome will determine the business’s performance. Conduct your meetings with confidence and trust. You can capture essential action items in one location and maintain focus and productivity in your meetings by utilizing the board meeting agenda template from SlideUpLift.

What is a Meeting Agenda?

A meeting agenda is a structured document outlining the topics, purpose, and order of discussion for a meeting. It serves as a guide to ensure a focused and productive gathering.

To write a board meeting agenda, define the purpose, list key topics, allocate time, and prioritize crucial items. Share the agenda in advance to ensure participants come prepared.

Why is a board meeting agenda important?

A board meeting agenda ensures clarity, sets expectations, and facilitates organized discussions, enhancing overall meeting effectiveness.

How can a well-crafted board meeting agenda enhance productivity?

A well-crafted board meeting agenda ensures focus, minimizes time wastage, and promotes efficient decision-making, contributing to overall meeting productivity.

Are there templates available for creating effective board meeting agendas?

Yes, SlideUpLift has a vast collection of templates to guide the creation of effective board meeting agendas, ensuring a structured and streamlined approach to governance.

Table Of Content

Agenda Templates Collection For PowerPoint & Google Slides

Presentation Agenda PowerPoint Template

Related blogs

10 Bad PowerPoint Slides Examples to Avoid

10 Best Animated PowerPoint Templates

10 Best Business PowerPoint Templates for Presentations

10 Best Business Presentation Topics to Captivate Your Audience

Tags and categories, privacy overview.

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.

.css-s5s6ko{margin-right:42px;color:#F5F4F3;}@media (max-width: 1120px){.css-s5s6ko{margin-right:12px;}} AI that works. Coming June 5th, Asana redefines work management—again. .css-1ixh9fn{display:inline-block;}@media (max-width: 480px){.css-1ixh9fn{display:block;margin-top:12px;}} .css-1uaoevr-heading-6{font-size:14px;line-height:24px;font-weight:500;-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;color:#F5F4F3;}.css-1uaoevr-heading-6:hover{color:#F5F4F3;} .css-ora5nu-heading-6{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;-webkit-box-pack:start;-ms-flex-pack:start;-webkit-justify-content:flex-start;justify-content:flex-start;color:#0D0E10;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s;transition:all 0.3s;position:relative;font-size:16px;line-height:28px;padding:0;font-size:14px;line-height:24px;font-weight:500;-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;color:#F5F4F3;}.css-ora5nu-heading-6:hover{border-bottom:0;color:#CD4848;}.css-ora5nu-heading-6:hover path{fill:#CD4848;}.css-ora5nu-heading-6:hover div{border-color:#CD4848;}.css-ora5nu-heading-6:hover div:before{border-left-color:#CD4848;}.css-ora5nu-heading-6:active{border-bottom:0;background-color:#EBE8E8;color:#0D0E10;}.css-ora5nu-heading-6:active path{fill:#0D0E10;}.css-ora5nu-heading-6:active div{border-color:#0D0E10;}.css-ora5nu-heading-6:active div:before{border-left-color:#0D0E10;}.css-ora5nu-heading-6:hover{color:#F5F4F3;} Get early access .css-1k6cidy{width:11px;height:11px;margin-left:8px;}.css-1k6cidy path{fill:currentColor;}

Project management |
Meeting agenda examples: How to plan, w ...

Meeting agenda examples: How to plan, write, and implement

How to write an effective meeting agenda + template article banner image

Your agenda tells your team what to expect during a meeting and how they can prepare for it. Ideally, you’ll use your agenda to connect your team with the meeting’s purpose, assign tasks or items to team members, and designate a realistic amount of time to each agenda item. A great meeting agenda maximizes the meeting’s effectiveness and keeps your team on track.

An effective agenda communicates the purpose of your meeting, gives your team the chance to prepare their agenda items, and keeps everyone on track.

Whether you’re preparing for your next board meeting, staff meeting, or business meeting, we’ll help you write an agenda that will maximize your meeting’s potential.

What is a meeting agenda?

A meeting agenda serves as a structured roadmap for your meeting, detailing the topics and activities planned. Its primary role is to provide meeting participants with a clear framework, outlining the sequence of events, the leader for each agenda item, and the time allocated for each task. By having this agenda as a guide both before and throughout the meeting, it helps to facilitate an efficient and productive flow of discussion.

How to write a meeting agenda

Crafting a meeting agenda is a key step in ensuring a focused and productive meeting. Here's how to do it effectively.

1. Clarify meeting objectives

The first step in writing a meeting agenda is to clearly define any goals. In clarifying the goal, be as specific as possible. This specificity helps guide the discussion and ensure that the meeting remains focused. It also helps stakeholders prepare for the meeting.

For example, if the goal is to finalize the budget for the next quarter or discuss new business, participants would come prepared with relevant data and insights.

A well-defined goal also helps set the meeting's tone and align everyone's expectations. This clarity leads to a more structured discussion and a more productive meeting overall.

[inline illustration] how to state the purpose of a meeting in an agenda (infographic)

2. Invite participant input

Inviting input from participants before finalizing the agenda is a critical step in creating a comprehensive and inclusive meeting plan. This involves reaching out to potential attendees and asking if there's anything specific they would like to discuss or add to the meeting agenda.

For example, if you're planning a meeting for a project team, you could send an email asking each member to suggest topics they feel are important to address. This could reveal issues or ideas you hadn't considered, ensuring a more well-rounded agenda.

Incorporating participant input not only makes the agenda more comprehensive but also increases engagement. When team members see their suggestions included, they feel valued and are more likely to participate actively in the meeting. It also ensures that the meeting addresses the concerns of all attendees.

Gathering input can be done through various channels, like email, shared docs, or team collaboration tools. The key is to make it easy for meeting participants to contribute and to ensure their suggestions are considered and, where appropriate, included in the final agenda.

3. Outline key questions for discussion

Making a list of important things to talk about is important for keeping the meeting on track and focused. Start by identifying the main meeting topics that need to be addressed and framing them as questions.

For instance, if the meeting is to discuss the progress of an ongoing project, key questions might include:

What are the current roadblocks in the project?

How are we tracking against the project timeline

What resources are needed to maintain the pace of work?

These questions serve as talking points and a guide for the discussion, ensuring that all relevant topics are covered. They also help in structuring the conversation, making it easier for participants to prepare and engage effectively.

4. Define each task’s purpose

Each task or topic on the agenda should have a clearly defined purpose. This transparency helps participants understand the importance of each discussion point and how it relates to the overall goal of the meeting.

For example, if one of the agenda items is to review recent client feedback and performance metrics, the purpose might be to identify areas for improvement in customer service. By stating this purpose, participants can focus their thoughts on this specific objective, leading to a more targeted and fruitful discussion.

Defining the purpose of each task also helps prevent the meeting from going off track. When participants understand why a topic is being discussed, they are less likely to veer off-topic, making the meeting more efficient.

5. Allocate time for agenda items

Effective meeting management requires allotting time for each item on the agenda. This includes determining the amount of time needed for each meeting topic or task and scheduling the meeting appropriately.

For instance, if you have five items on your agenda, you might allocate 10 minutes for a brief update, 20 minutes for brainstorming, and 15 minutes for discussing action items. This time allocation should be based on the complexity and importance of each topic.

Effective time management requires being realistic with your time estimates and factoring in extra time for unforeseen conversations or inquiries. This approach helps in keeping the meeting within the scheduled time frame, respecting everyone's time, and maintaining focus.

6. Assign topic facilitators

Assigning facilitators for each topic on the agenda can greatly enhance the effectiveness of the meeting. A facilitator’s role is to guide the discussion, make certain that the conversation stays on track, and that all voices are heard.

For example, if one of the agenda items is to discuss sales strategies, you might assign this topic to a senior salesperson. Their expertise and familiarity with the subject can help steer the conversation productively.

Facilitators should be chosen based on their knowledge of the topic and their ability to manage group discussions. They should also be briefed on their role and the expectations for the discussion.

7. Write the meeting agenda

Finally, compile all the elements into a structured and comprehensive agenda. The agenda should include the meeting’s goal, a list of topics to be discussed with their purposes, time allocations, and assigned facilitators. This structure provides a clear roadmap for the meeting, ensuring that all important points are covered.

Share the agenda with all participants well in advance of the meeting. This allows them to prepare and ensures that everyone is on the same page. A well-written agenda is a key tool in running an effective and productive meeting.

Tips to create an effective meeting agenda

Let’s start with some of our favorite tips on creating great meeting agendas so you can make the most of yours:

Create and share your meeting agenda as early as possible. At the very latest, you should share your meeting agenda an hour before the meeting time. This allows everyone to prepare for what’s going to happen. Your team can also relay questions or additional agenda items to you for a potential adjustment before the meeting. Besides, when your team members have a chance to properly prepare themselves, they’ll have a much easier time focusing during the meeting.

Link to any relevant pre-reading materials in advance. This can be the presentation deck, additional context, or a previous decision. Everyone arriving at the meeting will be on the same page and ready to move the discussion forward rather than asking a ton of questions that take up relevant time.

Assign facilitators for each agenda item. Remember that feeling of being called on in school when you didn’t know the answer? It’s a pretty terrible feeling that we’re sure you don’t want to evoke in your teammates. By assigning a facilitator for each agenda item before the meeting, you allow them to prepare for a quick rundown of the topic, questions, and feedback.

Define and prioritize your agenda items. Differentiate between the three categories of agenda items: informational, discussion topics, and action items. Clarifying the purpose of each agenda item helps your team member understand what’s most important and what to focus on. You’ll also want to prioritize which items are most important and absolutely have to be discussed during the meeting and which ones can be addressed asynchronously, should the clock run out.

Use your meeting agenda during the meeting to track notes and action items. That way, all of the meeting information is in one place. If anyone has questions about decisions or action items from the meeting, they have an easy place to find it. Bonus: Do this in Asana so you can assign out action items and next steps to ensure nothing falls through the cracks. Asana also integrates with Zoom and pulls in your Zoom recording or meeting transcript directly into the meeting agenda task.

[inline illustration] 3 types of agenda items (infographic)

Create flow by categorizing your agenda items. To maximize productivity, you’ll want to create a meeting agenda that flows well. Batch similar items together and ensure they can build off of one another. For example, list any informational items before the discussion items so your team has all of the information going into the discussion.

Allocate enough time for each item on your agenda. Nobody will complain about a meeting that runs short—keeping everyone longer than anticipated isn’t as much fun. Plan sufficient time for each agenda item by calculating an estimated time and adding a couple of minutes as a buffer. This will help with keeping your team on track and moving on from a topic when the time runs out.

By sticking to these best practices, you can ensure that your meeting agenda is a reliable tool and does the job—before, during, and after your meeting.

Why are meeting agendas important?

Whether you work from home and take virtual calls or sit in the office and meet in person, meetings can be incredibly draining. Beginning with some small talk may be nice to get to know each other better or catch up on what everyone did this past weekend but it certainly isn’t goal-oriented or productive. A meeting agenda can help your team maximize the potential of each meeting you hold.

Our research shows that unnecessary meetings accounted for 157 hours of “work” in 2020, compared to 103 in 2019. Considering a 40-hour work week, that’s almost four weeks of wasted time. This is where your meeting agenda comes in. If you’re doing it right, writing your meeting agenda is the first and best indicator of whether or not your meeting is actually necessary. If you find that everything on your meeting agenda can be discussed asynchronously , you can cancel the meeting and share your message in a time-saving email.

That isn’t to say all meetings should be replaced by emails. If you’re sure that the meeting is justified and necessary in order to drive your team’s progress, have that meeting. However, always make sure that you create an agenda before getting together so your team members know what you’ll be discussing and why the meeting matters.

Here are a few more great reasons to have meeting agendas:

Your agenda allows everyone to prepare for the meeting. Ideally, every item on your agenda will have a dedicated topic facilitator. When everyone going into the meeting knows what their responsibilities are in advance, they have time to prepare and will be more efficient during the meeting.

It shows you’re considerate of your team’s time. When your team receives a well-thought-out meeting agenda, they’ll immediately see that the meeting is actually necessary. Besides, it’s also a roadmap that will keep you on track during the meeting and ensure no time is wasted.

[inline illustration] be considerate of your team's time in a meeting (infographic)

An agenda sets clear expectations of what will and won’t be discussed. Think of a meeting agenda as a way of setting boundaries and ensuring that only topics on the agenda will be talked about. If anything comes up during the meeting that needs to be discussed, write it down in your minutes and return to it later. Either at the end of your meeting—if you got through it faster than expected—asynchronously, or in the next meeting.

It keeps your team on track. Your meeting agenda will prevent your team from drifting off—whether that’s discussing non-agenda topics (like the barbecue at Kat’s place last night) or taking too much time for an item that had specific time allocated.

Your agenda will provide purpose, structure, and opportunities to collaborate. With a clear plan for everyone to follow, your team will go into the meeting knowing the purpose and goal of the meeting. Your meeting agenda also allows your team to direct their attention toward opportunities to collaborate, whether that’s during a brainstorming session , a town hall, or your daily standup.

Track next steps and action items so nothing falls through the cracks. Keep your agenda open during the meeting to capture any next steps or action items . By adding them directly into the agenda, these items won’t be forgotten when the meeting ends.

Meetings are great opportunities for your team to bond but the time spent on small talk can be worked into the first few minutes of the agenda rather than surfacing every now and then during the meeting, disrupting the flow and productivity or your team’s discussion.

Meeting agenda examples

We’ve discussed what makes a good meeting agenda and what you should avoid doing but, as always, it’s easiest to learn from a real life example. Let’s take a look at a project kickoff meeting agenda created in Asana:

[Product UI] Meeting agenda, project kickoff in Asana (Tasks)

As you can see, each item has a timebox and a teammate assigned to ensure everyone knows when it’s their turn and how long they have to lead their discussion or give their presentation. The agenda also has relevant files attached and is shared with all team members for visibility and better collaboration.

Meetings are a staple in the professional world, each with its own unique focus and dynamics. Understanding how to tailor your meeting agenda to the type of meeting you're conducting is key to ensuring effective communication and teamwork. Here are some common types of meetings and examples of how to structure their agendas.

Team meeting agenda

Team meetings serve as a platform for team building, decision making, and brainstorming. They can vary in frequency and duration but are essential for ensuring alignment and forward momentum. Effective team meeting agendas should include recurring items for regular meetings and space for new, ad-hoc topics. It’s also vital to track next steps and responsibilities assigned during the meeting. An example of a 45-minute team meeting agenda might cover metrics, a round-table plan, identification of blockers, and recognition of team members' contributions.

Daily Scrum meeting agenda

Daily scrum meetings, or stand-ups , are brief, focused gatherings aimed at keeping the team aligned during a sprint. These meetings typically cover blockers, a recap of the previous day’s work, goals for the current day, and progress towards sprint goals. The agility of these meetings helps in maintaining momentum and addressing issues promptly.

Project kickoff meeting agenda

Project kickoff meetings bring together cross-functional teams to start a new project. These meetings set the tone for the project and align everyone on objectives and expectations. The agenda should cover the project brief, roles and responsibilities, meeting cadence, actionable next steps, and a Q&A session to clarify doubts and ensure everyone is on the same page.

Retrospective meeting agenda

A retrospective meeting is a type of recurring meeting focused on reflecting on a past period of work, usually at the end of a project cycle or sprint. Its main purpose is to share information among team members about what worked well and what didn't. During the meeting, the entire team discusses various meeting topics, including successes, challenges, and blockers that impacted their work. This process helps in identifying areas for improvement and developing strategies to address any issues. Retrospective meetings are vital for continuous team development and ensuring better outcomes in future work cycles.

One-on-one meeting agenda

One-on-one meetings , whether they are between a manager and a direct report, peer-to-peer, or skip-level, are crucial for discussing work projects, roadblocks, and career development. They are foundational for building trust.

A good agenda for these meetings should balance topics like motivation, communication, growth, and work-related discussions. Avoid status updates; those are better suited for stand-up meetings. Sample questions for a weekly one-on-one might include assessing highlights and lowlights of the week, discussing any blockers, and inquiring about work-life balance.

Remote one-on-one meeting agenda

Remote one-on-one meetings require a slightly different approach, with a focus on rapport-building and clear communication. Since physical presence is lacking, these meetings benefit from a shared online agenda accessible to all participants. Key points could include checking in on general well-being, discussing current work assignments, and addressing any immediate concerns or assistance needed.

Skip-level meeting agenda

Skip-level meetings, involving senior managers and employees not in their direct report chain, offer a chance to connect across organizational levels. These meetings are ideal for discussing broader career development and providing feedback to senior leadership. Agenda items might cover clarity on company strategies and goals, personal professional objectives, and suggestions for organizational improvements.

Leadership team meeting agenda

Leadership team meetings are vital for strategic decision-making and issue resolution at the highest levels of an organization. An effective agenda for such meetings might include personal updates, reviewing key metrics, sharing wins and insights, discussing important messages, addressing pressing issues, and allocating time for an open discussion or "hot seat" session where specific topics are addressed in-depth.

Each type of meeting, be it an all-hands gathering, one-on-one discussion, performance review, or team brainstorming session, requires a thoughtfully crafted agenda to avoid unproductive meetings and keep discussions on track.

By using these meeting agenda examples, you can ensure that each meeting, regardless of its format, contributes meaningfully to the organization's goals and enhances teamwork and collaboration.

Running an effective meeting

It’s one thing to have an amazingly organized and detailed agenda that your team can reference before the meeting—using it as a tool during the meeting is a whole other ballpark. These tips will help you make your meeting agenda as useful during the meeting as it is as a preparation tool

Stick to your agenda. The best agenda becomes useless if you don’t stick to it during the meeting. Try not to bounce back and forth between agenda items but rather stick to the priorities you established earlier.

Stick to your timeboxes. It absolutely helps release some tension and lighten the mood if you have a bit of small talk or a quick check-in at the beginning of your meeting. That’s why you should allocate three to five minutes to this—and stick to the timeframe. Pictures of Kabir’s son’s adorable Halloween costume can be shared elsewhere so you have enough time to reach your meeting’s goals now.

Designate a note taker. At the beginning of the meeting, designate a note taker who will write down any questions, feedback, tasks, and ideas that come up during the meeting. You can rotate this position so everyone on your team gets to contribute at some point. Ideally, these notes are taken in the same place as the meeting agenda—this will make it a lot easier for team members to follow the notes and link them to agenda items. Notes can also be directly entered into Asana for real-time updating and tracking

Follow up after the meeting. Typically, the note taker will be responsible for following up with the meeting notes afterward. The notes should include any decisions that were made during the meeting, tasks that need to be completed, and questions that remained unanswered. If possible, assign teammates and add due dates to action items to keep accountability high. To ensure that these action items are tracked and completed, they should be promptly added to our Asana project management tool.

Make the most out of every meeting

With Asana, you can keep your meeting agenda, meeting minutes, and meeting action items in one place. Effortlessly share the agenda with your team and assign agenda items in real time so nothing falls through the cracks.

Streamlining your meetings with one central tool will reduce the amount of work about work your team faces, connect everyone to the purpose of the meeting, and allow for productive meetings everyone enjoys.

Related resources

3 visual project management layouts (and how to use them)

Grant management: A nonprofit’s guide

Everything you need to know about waterfall project management

Smooth product launches are simpler than you think

Home PowerPoint Templates Agenda

Agenda PowerPoint Templates & Presentation Slides

Agenda PowerPoint Templates are a collection of premium quality presentation templates with highly customizable layouts.

You can use our 100% editable agenda templates for making agenda presentations for project proposals, business plans and strategies, brainstorming sessions and the like. A visually appealing agenda template can produce a wow factor in your audience, by revealing a meeting agenda or presenting the different topics to be covered in a presentation.

Featured Templates

Table of Content 7 Items Circular PowerPoint Template

1 to 7 Item Agenda Slides Template for PowerPoint

Vision Presentation of Agenda in 4 Steps

4 Steps Agenda Vision Slide for PowerPoint

4 Item Agenda Slide Design for PowerPoint

Simple Agenda Slides For PowerPoint

Latest templates.

8-Item Focus PowerPoint Template

Meeting Agenda Template for PowerPoint

6-Item Layout PowerPoint Template

Spaceship Agenda Roadmap PowerPoint Template

6-Item Agenda Slide Template for PowerPoint

Creative Table of Contents PowerPoint Template

5-Item Talking Points PowerPoint Template

Highlights and Lowlights PowerPoint Template

5-Item Circular Agenda Diagram Slide Template for PowerPoint

6-Item Circular Agenda Diagram Slide Template for PowerPoint

6-Item Mind Map PowerPoint Template

Electricity Lesson PowerPoint Template

Our Agenda slides for presentations have been designed professionally, to cater for very precise needs of presenters, allowing them to customize not only the basic layout but also objects within sample slides, so that the given slide designs can be fully customized.

The PowerPoint agenda slides are 100% editable and customizable in Microsoft PowerPoint but also in Google Slides. Business professionals can use the Agenda slide templates to organize their presentations and engage their audience with a visually appealing agenda slide.

At SlideModel we have created a Free Agenda Slide Template that will surely help you make your PowerPoint presentation and save you time. Alternatively to our 100% editable agenda PowerPoint templates listed here, you can download table of contents slides for PowerPoint and Google Slides presentations.

What is an Agenda Slide for PowerPoint?

An Agenda Slide for PowerPoint is a predesigned template that visually represents the schedule of your meeting, event, or conference, ensuring that all important points are covered. It gives the audience a glimpse into the planned activities and a clear understanding of the purpose of the discussion.

The Agenda Slide also serves as a roadmap for your audience to follow and a reference throughout the presentation. It is usually presented in bullet points or numbers and outlines the main topics to be addressed in the order in which they will be discussed.

Should I include an Agenda Slide in the presentation?

Yes, including an agenda slide in your presentation is a good idea. It establishes audience expectations and provides a concise overview of the topics covered. The agenda slide aids the audience’s comprehension of the presentation structure and is a reference point.

How do you create an Agenda Slide in PowerPoint?

You can make an agenda slide in PowerPoint by following these steps:

Open PowerPoint and navigate to the slide you want to include in the agenda.
In the menu, select the “Insert” tab.
Select “Text Box” and then click on the slide to which you want to add the agenda.
To indicate that this is the agenda slide, type “Agenda” or a similar heading.
List the topics or sections you will cover in your presentation below the heading, typically in bullet points or numbered format.

What should be included in an Agenda Slide?

Make sure to include the following elements in your agenda slide:

Title: Use a descriptive title to clearly state the purpose of the slide, such as “Agenda” or “Meeting Agenda.”
Date and time: Include the date and time of the presentation or meeting so that participants can plan accordingly.
Agenda items: List the main topics or sections with concise and clear descriptions.
Arrange the agenda items in the order they will be addressed to assist participants in following along.
Time allocation: To effectively manage time, indicate the estimated time allotted for each agenda item.
Presenter or responsible person: If applicable, name the people in charge of presenting or leading each agenda item.
Include relevant details such as location, virtual meeting details, or specific instructions.
Ensure your agenda slide is visually attractive, easy to read, and provides a clear roadmap of the topics to be covered.

Does PowerPoint have Agenda Template?

Yes, PowerPoint has several built-in templates, including Agenda Slides. Open PowerPoint and navigate to the “File” menu to access these templates. Then click “New” to open the template gallery. To find specific templates that include predesigned Agenda Slides, type “agenda” or related keywords into the search bar. These templates will save you time and effort by assisting you in creating a professional layout for your agenda slide. Agenda Slides Template can also be downloaded from our collection of well-designed templates, which you can download and customize to your liking.

Download Unlimited Content

Our annual unlimited plan let you download unlimited content from slidemodel. save hours of manual work and use awesome slide designs in your next presentation..

An official website of the United States government

Here's how you know

The .gov means it's official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

What the New Overtime Rule Means for Workers

Collage shows four professionals in business casual clothing.

One of the basic principles of the American workplace is that a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay. Simply put, every worker’s time has value. A cornerstone of that promise is the Fair Labor Standards Act ’s (FLSA) requirement that when most workers work more than 40 hours in a week, they get paid more. The Department of Labor ’s new overtime regulation is restoring and extending this promise for millions more lower-paid salaried workers in the U.S.

Overtime protections have been a critical part of the FLSA since 1938 and were established to protect workers from exploitation and to benefit workers, their families and our communities. Strong overtime protections help build America’s middle class and ensure that workers are not overworked and underpaid.

Some workers are specifically exempt from the FLSA’s minimum wage and overtime protections, including bona fide executive, administrative or professional employees. This exemption, typically referred to as the “EAP” exemption, applies when:

1. An employee is paid a salary,

2. The salary is not less than a minimum salary threshold amount, and

3. The employee primarily performs executive, administrative or professional duties.

While the department increased the minimum salary required for the EAP exemption from overtime pay every 5 to 9 years between 1938 and 1975, long periods between increases to the salary requirement after 1975 have caused an erosion of the real value of the salary threshold, lessening its effectiveness in helping to identify exempt EAP employees.

The department’s new overtime rule was developed based on almost 30 listening sessions across the country and the final rule was issued after reviewing over 33,000 written comments. We heard from a wide variety of members of the public who shared valuable insights to help us develop this Administration’s overtime rule, including from workers who told us: “I would love the opportunity to...be compensated for time worked beyond 40 hours, or alternately be given a raise,” and “I make around $40,000 a year and most week[s] work well over 40 hours (likely in the 45-50 range). This rule change would benefit me greatly and ensure that my time is paid for!” and “Please, I would love to be paid for the extra hours I work!”

The department’s final rule, which will go into effect on July 1, 2024, will increase the standard salary level that helps define and delimit which salaried workers are entitled to overtime pay protections under the FLSA.

Starting July 1, most salaried workers who earn less than $844 per week will become eligible for overtime pay under the final rule. And on Jan. 1, 2025, most salaried workers who make less than $1,128 per week will become eligible for overtime pay. As these changes occur, job duties will continue to determine overtime exemption status for most salaried employees.

Who will become eligible for overtime pay under the final rule? Currently most salaried workers earning less than $684/week. Starting July 1, 2024, most salaried workers earning less than $844/week. Starting Jan. 1, 2025, most salaried workers earning less than $1,128/week. Starting July 1, 2027, the eligibility thresholds will be updated every three years, based on current wage data. DOL.gov/OT

The rule will also increase the total annual compensation requirement for highly compensated employees (who are not entitled to overtime pay under the FLSA if certain requirements are met) from $107,432 per year to $132,964 per year on July 1, 2024, and then set it equal to $151,164 per year on Jan. 1, 2025.

Starting July 1, 2027, these earnings thresholds will be updated every three years so they keep pace with changes in worker salaries, ensuring that employers can adapt more easily because they’ll know when salary updates will happen and how they’ll be calculated.

The final rule will restore and extend the right to overtime pay to many salaried workers, including workers who historically were entitled to overtime pay under the FLSA because of their lower pay or the type of work they performed.

We urge workers and employers to visit our website to learn more about the final rule.

Jessica Looman is the administrator for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. Follow the Wage and Hour Division on Twitter at  @WHD_DOL and LinkedIn . Editor's note: This blog was edited to correct a typo (changing "administrator" to "administrative.")

Wage and Hour Division (WHD)
Fair Labor Standards Act
overtime rule

IMAGES

How to Create a Fantastic PowerPoint Agenda Slide Template in 5 Steps
Agenda Template for PowerPoint and Keynote Presentation
6 Step Presentation Agenda Diagram for PowerPoint
How to Create a Fantastic PowerPoint Agenda Slide Easily
Agenda Template for PowerPoint and Keynote Presentation
Presentation Agenda

VIDEO

Agenda Ppt Powerpoint Presentation Pictures Example Topics
What's an Agenda and Why Should I Care?
Agenda Presentation || Uday || Candidate: General Secretary -1 || Gymkhana Election IITH 2024
SMTA Guadalajara Expo 2023 Presentations
04/04/24
Study Loan For International Students In USA

COMMENTS

Presentation Agenda Slides: The Ultimate Guide to Create Spectacular
A presentation's table of contents, or agenda slide, lists the subjects that will be covered throughout the presentation. It typically includes the headings for each portion and subsection, as well as, on occasion, the start and finish timings and the speaker for each one. It outlines the presentation's format and serves as a primer for the ...
What's an Agenda Slide & Why You Should Add It To Your Next Presentation
An agenda slide is like a roadmap that brings structure and organization to your presentation, outlining the main sections and logical flow. It provides more clarity for both the presenter and the audience. A well-designed agenda slide includes main sections or topics, time allocation, slide numbers and visual elements.
PowerPoint Agenda Slide: What It Is & Easy Ways to Make One
When you're creating a PowerPoint presentation, it's extremely important to have an agenda slide. An agenda slide in PowerPoint is the first slide of your presentation. This is the slide that tells your audience what you're going to be talking about. It tells the audience what they are going to see and in what order.
Creative Presentation Agenda Examples
A good agenda slide serves as a guide post for your presentation. After you finish every point in the agenda, repeat the agenda slide to show your audience what is covered and what is left to be covered. Use your agenda slide to help your audience from getting lost in your sea of thoughts. Its also a great place to summarize the presentation ...
How to an Agenda in PowerPoint (2022)
Automatically generating Agenda in PowerPoint. First of all, you need to open your PowerPoint presentation and create a new slide. The next step is to switch to "Outline view" in the "View" tab. Now you should see the headings and their subheadings on the left-hand side. Next, go to the left side with the right mouse button, where you click on ...
How to Structure your Presentation, with Examples
This clarifies the overall purpose of your talk and reinforces your reason for being there. Follow these steps: Signal that it's nearly the end of your presentation, for example, "As we wrap up/as we wind down the talk…". Restate the topic and purpose of your presentation - "In this speech I wanted to compare…". 5.
How to Create the Perfect Meeting Agenda
Read any book on running effective meetings and, chances are, one of the first recommendations is going to be to set an agenda. Managers are often led to believe that having a written plan is the ...
How to write a meeting agenda (and run better meetings!)
A meeting agenda is usually created in a clear, shareable format, such as a Word document or SessionLab agenda. This makes it easy to follow and share with meeting participants. You can see some examples of a meeting agenda template here. These meeting agendas include meeting objectives and a step by step process complete with timings so you ...
How to Present a Meeting Agenda The Right Way
Include your presentation, if you have one, and any other links, graphs, articles, or documents. These elements are the main things that you'll come across on a sample agenda. While some agendas don't include all of them, the majority will contain a balance of these items. ... Having an agenda helps key decisions, conversations, and ...
Presentation Agenda
A presentation agenda refers to a list of activities and discussions that are to be addressed to an audience. It typically includes the work schedule, the list of speakers, and the topics to be covered during each session. It is very distinct from the common agenda templates & examples as it often comes in tables with specific instructions and ...
How to Design an Agenda for an Effective Meeting
An effective agenda sets clear expectations for what needs to occur before and during a meeting. It helps team members prepare, allocates time wisely, quickly gets everyone on the same topic, and ...
How to Create a Fantastic PowerPoint Agenda Slide Easily
Drag to draw the rectangle on the slide. Under the Format tab, click the Rotate dropdown menu. Click Rotate Right 90 degree. Select the rounded rectangle shape and drag the yellow dot on the rounded side (see screenshot below) to the center of that side. Duplicate the shape till you have six such tags.
How to Present a Best Agenda of a Presentation or Speech
You do this by giving audience a little bit information that makes them want to know more. For example, you might say: We have some exciting news from our administrator of the academy, which I will share with you.Make sure your audience knows the overall agenda before you are giving a presentation. Provide them with key details in writing, then ...
Agenda Slide: Give Your Presentation A Perfect Head Start
The agenda slide is essential for all presentations. This slide helps presenters structure the presentation, set the stage, guide the audience throughout, and keep them attentive.. Let's understand the importance of agenda slides assuming a scenario. Imagine you are a project manager, and you have been tasked to present a project proposal to high-stakes clients.
The Agenda Slide: A Short PowerPoint Design Lesson
Discussing the agenda is an effective way to start presentations in a more corporate and formal setting. It's your opportunity to frame your presentation in the right direction, and show your audience that the information you're sharing is crucial. But a bullet point list doesn't stand out. You need an agenda slide that has visual impact.
Best Board Meeting Agenda Guide [Examples & Sample Agendas]
The Best Board Meeting Agenda Guide [With Examples & Sample Agendas] This Blog will help you understand the dynamics of a Board Meeting Agenda and why you must incorporate one. It will help you effectively outline the topics and items to be discussed and addressed during a board meeting. The presentation serves as a guide to keep the meeting ...
Meeting agenda examples: How to plan, write, and implement
How to write a meeting agenda. Crafting a meeting agenda is a key step in ensuring a focused and productive meeting. Here's how to do it effectively. 1. Clarify meeting objectives. The first step in writing a meeting agenda is to clearly define any goals. In clarifying the goal, be as specific as possible.
30 Best PowerPoint Agenda Slide Template Designs (2022)
Marketin' - PowerPoint Presentation Agenda Template. The Marketin' PowerPoint presentation agenda template is a slideshow with a nice layout. This template has a total of 110 slides. Marketin' has two color schemes to choose from. This PowerPoint agenda template has image placeholders that let you easily add your own images.
How to Write a Meeting Agenda (Examples and Tips)
Team meeting agendas usually include the basic elements, plus any of the following components: An overview of team goals and key performance indicators. Important dates and announcements. A list of priorities to be completed by the next meeting. Any challenges and how they can be resolved.
How to write a meeting agenda with examples
Step 1: Define the meeting objectives. The first step in creating a meeting agenda is understanding the purpose of the meeting. From here, you should set out agenda items for your meeting that align with the overall purpose. It's essential to make sure the overarching purpose and any individual meeting items are clear and achievable.
Agenda PowerPoint Templates & Presentation Slides
Agenda PowerPoint Templates are a collection of premium quality presentation templates with highly customizable layouts. You can use our 100% editable agenda templates for making agenda presentations for project proposals, business plans and strategies, brainstorming sessions and the like.
6 Top Items To Include In A Project Kickoff Meeting Presentation
Project Management. Here, cover the standard project management items mentioned in the agenda: Project plan. Project timelines and milestones ( Gantt charts are great visuals here!) Methodology. Specific tasks and deliverables (a quick overview of your RACI chart is usually a good idea) Risks and dependencies.
What the New Overtime Rule Means for Workers
The Department of Labor's new overtime regulation is restoring and extending this promise for millions more lower-paid salaried workers in the U.S.
NO WAY TO M . T . A. POLLUTION TRAFFIC NOISE
Norwalk's Planning & Zoning Commission is considering approval of a Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Transportation Maintenance Terminal at 10 Norden Place in East Norwalk. The Commission has scheduled a Public Hearing on May 8th at 6pm (see City meeting calendar for agenda, meeting room and zoom link) and they DO NOT intend to have a complete presentation of the plan to the Commission
Performance Portability Series: Kokkos Training, Apr 25-26, 2024
The Kokkos training session is part of the Performance Portability training series. AMReX supports the development of block-structured AMR algorithms for solving PDEs.The session will give a general overview of AMReX and its applications to develop simulation codes that will work for both CPU and GPU systems.
Hawai'i Community Development Authority
AGENDA 05-01-2024.pdf HAWAIʻI COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY KAKAʻAKO BOARD MEETING Wednesday, May 1, 2024 9:00 a.m. AGENDA I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. ... Presentation by the HCDA Staff of a Contemplated Acquisition of the Following Parcels: Tax Map Key (1) 2-4-031-039 Postal Address: 576 Halekauwila Street ...