The Canva presentation pathway
You do not have to start at Level 1. If you already build clean slides, start at Level 2. Each course stands on its own.
Canva at Work: Create Effective Business Presentations
Make your slides clearer and quicker to build. Start here if you have no design background.
Business Presentations: Storytelling, Infographics & AI
You can already build a tidy slide. Now add structure, storytelling, infographics and AI.
AI-Powered Presentations: Create Beautiful Slides, Faster
Use AI to challenge the argument and the order, then rebuild and deliver it.
Structure the message, tell a clearer story, and turn complex information into visuals that work.
Effective business presentations do more than display information. They help an audience understand a problem, follow an argument, recognise what matters and decide what to do next.
This two-day, hands-on workshop goes past templates and basic slide design. You will structure presentations using SCQA, AIDA and STAR, apply visual hierarchy deliberately, build reusable presentation layouts, and turn processes, comparisons and data into clear infographics and visual explanations.
You will also use accessible AI tools to develop and critique presentation content, while keeping judgement over the final message. The workshop ends with a presentation project that combines message structure, visual design and information visualisation.
This is not a longer version of the one-day course. If you want practical Canva skills and better-looking slides, start with Canva at Work instead.
- Professionals who regularly prepare business presentations, proposals and reports
- Managers and team leaders communicating plans, recommendations and project outcomes
- Sales, marketing, communications and business development professionals
- HR and learning professionals who present information or explain processes
- Consultants, project managers and business owners explaining complex information
- Canva users wanting stronger presentation design and storytelling skills
- Evaluate and customise presentation layouts for different business communication needs
- Apply visual hierarchy, alignment, contrast, spacing and consistency to improve slide design
- Use SCQA, AIDA and STAR to structure presentations for different audiences and objectives
- Build reusable presentation layouts that support consistent business communication
- Convert complex concepts, processes, comparisons and data into clear infographics and visualisations
- Use accessible AI tools to support content development, while checking accuracy, logic and relevance
- Develop, review and refine a structured business presentation in Canva
What we cover
| Day 1 | Presentation Design — From Template to Communication Tool What business presentations are for: informing, explaining, proposing, persuading. Identifying audience, purpose and desired outcome before opening Canva. The usual problems — too much text, weak hierarchy, inconsistent layouts, unclear messages. Evaluating templates by purpose rather than looks. Separating decoration from communication. Activity: review a sample presentation and identify improvements to message, structure and design. | 60 min |
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| Day 1 | Visual Hierarchy and Slide Layout Contrast, alignment, proximity, repetition and white space. Establishing hierarchy with headings, subheadings and supporting content. Typography, colour combinations and text sizes. Grids, columns, margins. Designing for projected screens. Layouts for title, content, comparison, process and summary slides. Consistency without making every slide identical. Activity: redesign a set of poorly structured slides and explain why the changes help. | 90 min |
| Day 1 | Business Storytelling with SCQA, AIDA and STAR SCQA — Situation, Complication, Question, Answer: for proposals, problem-solving and management updates. AIDA — Attention, Interest, Desire, Action: for pitches, marketing and persuasion. STAR — Situation, Task, Action, Result: for project updates, case studies and achievements. Then choosing between them: what each is for, how to turn a framework into a sequence of slides, and writing headlines that carry the point. Activity: take a workplace scenario, choose a framework, build a storyline with draft headlines. | 90 min |
| Day 1 | Building a Reusable Presentation Template Establishing a consistent visual style. Applying organisational colours, typography and identity. Reusable layouts for common slide types — title, content, comparison, process, summary. Organising and reusing design elements. Canva brand and template features. Balancing consistency against flexibility. Activity: develop a small set of reusable Canva layouts for a recurring presentation. | 60 min |
| Day 2 | Turning Information into Infographics Knowing when an infographic beats a paragraph. Visual formats for processes, timelines, comparisons, hierarchies and relationships. Icons, shapes, connectors, labels and grouping. Simplifying without losing meaning. Establishing a reading order. Avoiding clutter and decoration. Infographics that still read in a presentation. Activity: convert a text-heavy explanation or process into an infographic slide. | 90 min |
| Day 2 | Visualising Data and Business Information Choosing formats for numbers, comparisons, trends and relationships. Charts, tables, diagrams and callouts. Deciding what the audience needs to take from the data. Highlighting the finding rather than displaying figures. Labels, titles and annotations. How scales, missing context and the wrong chart mislead. Simplifying data-heavy slides without losing accuracy. Activity: turn a set of business figures into a slide that communicates one clear finding. | 75 min |
| Day 2 | Improving Presentation Content with AI and Other Accessible Tools Using AI to brainstorm, organise and refine. Giving it context, audience, objective and constraints. Turning long information into concise headlines. Asking AI to critique a storyline and find the gaps. Checking output for accuracy, logic and tone. Moving refined content into Canva. Some Canva AI features need a paid subscription and are not required here. Activity: improve a presentation storyline with an AI tool, then build it out in Canva. | 60 min |
| Day 2 | Presentation Project, Review and Refinement Choosing a real workplace scenario and defining audience and objective. Selecting SCQA, AIDA or STAR. Building the storyline and headlines. Applying hierarchy, layout and consistency. Including at least one infographic or data visualisation. Peer feedback, then refining and presenting key sections. Activity: develop and review a short presentation combining storyline, design and visual explanation. | 105 min |
Outline shown for the two-day public run.
Upcoming public runs:
Business Presentations: Storytelling, Infographics & AI
If you're enquiring for 8 pax and above, we're able to offer you a private run. Ask us about it.
Small classes, better learning
We recommend 10 to 15 participants, and cap every run at 20. These are hands-on workshops — above twenty we can no longer get round the room, look at each person’s screen and fix the actual problem, which is the whole point of coming. Public runs are capped at 10.
Our office @ Raffles Place
- Where every public run is held
- Central, and close to Raffles Place MRT
- Capped at 10, so nobody gets lost at the back
A larger venue, or your own office
- External venues include Paya Lebar Square and the Synergy Room at 190 Clemenceau Avenue, subject to availability
- Or we come to you, which most corporate clients prefer
- Please give us 30 days’ notice for an on-site run, so the room and equipment can be sorted
Bring a laptop with internet access and a Canva account — a free account is enough. Basic computer skills are assumed and some familiarity with Canva helps, but no professional design experience is required. AI tools are used as supporting resources; no core activity depends on paid Canva AI features or a paid AI subscription. Indicative guided learning time is 5 hours on Day 1 and 5.5 hours on Day 2, excluding breaks and transitions. This course runs in the classroom only.
Charmaine Lee
Charmaine Lee is an ACTA-certified trainer registered under TAEPP (AE250000925) with over 16 years of digital marketing experience and more than 4,500 learners trained. She specialises in practical, hands-on training in visual design, Canva, digital content creation, storytelling, presentations and generative AI. She also develops vocational curricula and supports educator training through international education initiatives.
LinkedInLaunching June 2027
- LevelLevel 2 · builds on Level 1
- Duration16 hours (2 days)
- DeliveryIn person
- Course Fee$850/pax
- Class SizeMax. 10 pax
Dates are not open yet. Join the waitlist and we will contact you first when the June 2027 intake opens.
Inside a workshop
A short look at how our sessions run: less lecture, more making.
Every level, in detail
The same progression as the PowerPoint track, built in Canva instead. Both tracks meet at the AI level, because that one is about the thinking rather than the tool.
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For: Beginners. No design background needed — this is where you learn to build a clean, professional deck in Canva.
- Choosing and customising templates by purpose
- Visual hierarchy, spacing and contrast
- Using images, icons and simple diagrams with intent
- Working efficiently with Canva’s everyday tools
- Sharing, presenting and exporting
You leave with: A short, polished business presentation of your own.
See this course -
For: People comfortable building slides in Canva who now want structure, storytelling and information design.
- Structuring a presentation with SCQA, AIDA or STAR
- Building reusable layouts for recurring presentations
- Turning processes, comparisons and data into infographics
- Visualising data so one finding lands
- Using AI to develop and critique presentation content
You leave with: A presentation combining storyline, design and visual explanation.
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For: People who already structure and design well, in either tool, and want AI to speed up the thinking rather than the formatting.
- Briefing AI with audience, objective and constraints
- Using AI to challenge the argument and the running order
- Drafting and critiquing headlines
- Checking AI output for accuracy, logic and tone
- Rebuilding the deck and delivering it
You leave with: A rebuilt deck, and a method you can use again next week.
See this course
Create Business Presentations That Convince
Build a presentation that changes someone’s mind: one clear message, a structure that carries it, and slides that stay out of the way.
- Find the one message the audience has to leave with
- Structure the argument so each slide earns the next
- Design slides that support the point rather than decorate it
- Handle questions and objections without losing the thread
Business Presentations: Storytelling, Infographics & AI
Go past templates: structure the message with storytelling frameworks, then turn complex information into infographics, data visuals and AI-assisted drafts.
- Structure a presentation with SCQA, AIDA or STAR
- Build reusable layouts for recurring presentations
- Turn processes, comparisons and data into clear infographics
- Use AI to develop and critique presentation content
