Structuring your presentation will help you engage your audience, tell a story, and get to the final product faster. Here’s our quick-start guide to get you started.
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Quick-start: structure your Prezi in 5 steps
Tip: Build for a guided flow and a natural, conversational delivery—Prezi’s zooming and movement can help your audience see how ideas connect. |
How do I structure my Prezi presentation?
In any presentation tool, you structure content using building blocks (like slides, sections, and visuals). In Prezi Present, you get a few extra ways to organize information and guide what your audience sees, when they see it:
- Overview: the big-picture layout of your entire presentation
- Frames: focused areas that work like slides (great for key sections and reveals)
- Topics: grouped content you can zoom into for details (Planets or Pages)
- Timeline: the step-by-step order your presentation follows
Pro tip: Before you start designing, sketch a quick outline or mind map of your main points. It makes it easier to decide what goes in the Overview, what becomes a Frame, and what belongs inside a Topic.
What is the Overview in Prezi Present?
The Overview is the big picture of your presentation—think of it as the full canvas. It can contain everything in your presentation, or it can zoom out to reveal a larger context around your frames and topics.
You can resize the Overview anytime by dragging from a corner.
When to use the Overview
- To give your audience context and orientation (“here’s where we are”)
- To connect sections visually so the structure is easy to understand
- To zoom back out between parts of your presentation when it helps the flow
If it fits your guided flow, you can zoom out from a Frame or Topic back to the Overview before continuing—especially helpful when transitioning between main sections.
What are Frames in Prezi Present?
Frames are the main way to structure a Prezi presentation. They’re focused areas that direct attention and reveal information—similar to slides in other presentation tools.
Why Frames matter
- They create clear sections for your content
- They help you control pacing and “big reveals”
- They make it easy to build a clean path in the Timeline
How to use Frames (simple workflow)
- Place your content on the canvas in the rough layout you want.
- Add Frames around the key pieces to define each step or section.
- Refine the order in the Timeline.
- Add animations and zooming to control what the audience sees and when.
One of the most effective ways to use Frames is progressive zoom: start with the big idea, then zoom into details step by step.
What are Topics in Prezi?
Topics help you organize detailed content you may not want to show all at once. You can think of Topics as grouped content with built-in zoom animations.
There are two types of Topics in Prezi Present:
- Planet topics
- Page topics
What are Planet topics?
Planet topics are great for grouping related subtopics around one main idea. Use them when you want to:
- break a big section into smaller parts
- jump between related points
- keep the Overview clean while still giving a clear map of your ideas
What are Page topics?
Page topics contain slides of content that display in a linear order. Use them when you want to reveal information step by step.
When you present a Page topic:
- each page shows separately, in order
- the left sidebar shows the number of pages and their order
How do I order or reorder my Prezi presentation?
Your presentation order is controlled by the Timeline on the left side of the editor. The Timeline shows your presentation as a list of steps that you can reorder anytime.
By default, new steps are added to the bottom of the Timeline. To change the order, select a step and drag it to the position you want.
How do I set a different path for my topics in Prezi?
You can set a default path for Topics and subtopics—for example:
- whether you zoom out to the Overview between topics or go straight to the next topic
- whether you return to the main topic between subtopics or zoom directly into the next subtopic
To learn more, see how to set a path for topics and subtopics in Prezi Present.
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FAQ
What’s the best way to structure a Prezi Present presentation?
Start with a simple outline (intro, main points, wrap-up), place content on the canvas, then use Frames for your main sections, Topics for deeper details, and the Timeline to set the order.
What’s the difference between the Overview, Frames, and Topics in Prezi Present?
The Overview is the big-picture canvas, Frames are focused sections (like slides), and Topics are grouped content you can zoom into (Planets or Pages) to keep details organized.
When should I use a Frame vs a Topic?
Use a Frame for content you want everyone to see in the main flow. Use a Topic when you want to tuck details away and zoom in only when it fits your guided flow.
How do I add slides in Prezi?
Use Frames (slide-like steps on the canvas) or a Page topic (a linear stack of pages).
How do I stop my topic from going back to the overview every time?
Change the topic path settings so it goes directly to the next topic/step instead of zooming out to the Overview between topics.
Can I add a Planet topic inside a Page topic?
Page topics are meant for linear, slide-by-slide content. If you need a Planet topic, place it outside the Page topic and link to it from your main flow.
Can I add a frame inside a topic?
Yes. Frames work well inside a Topic to structure what your audience sees after you zoom in.
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