Presentation Summit 2026: Conversation with Mike Parkinson

     Mike Parkinson is a geek. He is 1 of 36 Microsoft PowerPoint MVPs in the world, is an internationally recognized communication and presentation expert, best-selling author, and professional trainer. Mike’s keynotes, training, books, and tools such as Build-a-Graphic help companies succeed while saving money and time. He owns Billion Dollar Graphics and is a partner at 24 Hour Company, a premier creative services firm.

In this conversation, Mike talks about his participation at the upcoming Presentation Summit 2026, being held virtually from September 13 to 16, 2026.

Indezine.com is the official media partner for the Presentation Summit.

Geetesh: Mike, you’re delivering three sessions this year, Design Doctor, Rapid Redesign, and Wordy to Wow. That’s a full slate. Can you give a brief intro to each of these sessions. Also, how do you decide what goes into each one, so they complement rather than repeat each other?

Mike: They each solve a different presentation problem.

Design Doctor is about fixing slides. We start with “triage,” the quick design changes that can make an immediate difference, then move into “surgery,” where we fix deeper problems with the content and message.

Rapid Redesign is a real-world makeover. I start with an actual client presentation and redesign it in PowerPoint so attendees can see the decisions, techniques, shortcuts, and occasional wrong turns that happen along the way.

Wordy to Wow tackles one of the biggest presentation problems: too much text. I share six practical ways to turn dense content into slides that are easier to understand, remember, and present.

I try to make sure every session gives attendees something different they can use immediately. Design Doctor teaches you how to diagnose and repair. Rapid Redesign lets you watch the work happen. Wordy to Wow gives you a repeatable way to attack text-heavy slides.

Geetesh: Rapid Redesign works on a real client deck in front of the room. What’s the biggest benefit for the audience in doing a live makeover like that?

Mike: Participants get to see the decisions made, not just the finished product.

A polished before-and-after is useful but it often hides all the thinking in between. During a live redesign, I explain why I’m changing something, what I’m looking for, what I try first, and sometimes why something doesn’t work. That’s where real learning happens.

My goal is for people to leave thinking, “I can do that.” You don’t need to be an artist or reinvent every slide from scratch. You need a good process and a handful of techniques that work.

Geetesh: Wordy to Wow promises six ways to turn text-heavy slides into compelling visuals. Without giving away the whole session, can you share one technique that consistently surprises people the first time they try it?

Mike: One of my favorites is Delete the Duplicate.

Presenters often put information on the slide that is already being communicated somewhere else. The title repeats the main point. A paragraph repeats what the speaker is going to say. Labels explain something the audience can already see.

When you start hunting for duplication, you’re surprised by how much you can remove without losing anything important.

Sometimes the fastest way to make a slide more visual isn’t to add a graphic. It’s to delete the stuff that never needed to be there.

Geetesh: You’ve spoken at the Presentation Summit for many years now, and session titles and tools keep changing around you, especially in today’s world of AI. What’s the one design principle you’ve never had to update or replace?

Mike: Make the important thing obvious. Tools change. Styles change. Technology changes. But the audience still has the same brain. If people have to work to figure out what matters on your slide, the slide isn’t done. There are exceptions to the “rule” but 99% of presentations would benefit from following this principle.

Good presentation design guides attention. It helps people quickly understand what you want them to know, feel, or do. I’ve never had to update that principle, and I don’t expect I ever will.

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