Our client, Otto, asked us a question while we were working on their industrial automation presentation:
"How do we make automation sound exciting instead of just technical?"
Our Creative Director answered, "By turning complexity into a story people actually want to hear."
As a presentation design agency, we work on many industrial automation presentations throughout the year, and we’ve observed a common challenge: they often get lost in data, jargon, and specs, making them hard to follow for decision-makers.
So, in this blog, we’ll cover how to make an industrial automation presentation that is engaging, persuasive, and easy to understand, even for non-technical stakeholders.
Why Most Industrial Automation Presentations Fail
Let’s be brutally honest, most industrial automation presentations are boring. They are overloaded with technical specs, endless bullet points, and complicated flowcharts that make sense to engineers but leave decision-makers lost.
And that’s a huge problem.
Because let’s face it, your audience isn’t just made up of automation engineers. It includes CEOs, CFOs, plant managers, and procurement heads; people who make the final call on investments but don’t necessarily speak the language of PLCs, SCADA, or predictive maintenance algorithms.
Here’s what typically goes wrong:
Too Much Jargon, Not Enough Clarity
Instead of explaining why automation matters, most presentations drown in acronyms and tech-heavy slides. The result? Stakeholders zone out, and you lose their buy-in.
Features Over Business Value
Many presentations focus on specs—faster cycle times, energy efficiency, real-time monitoring. But what business leaders care about is cost savings, risk reduction, and ROI. If your presentation doesn’t connect automation to these benefits, it won’t persuade.
No Narrative, Just Data Dumps
Data is great. But dumping charts and graphs on slides without a story is a guaranteed way to lose engagement. A compelling presentation walks the audience through a problem, solution, and impact—not just numbers.
Design That Works Against You
Text-heavy slides, outdated graphics, and cluttered layouts make it harder to communicate ideas. A well-designed deck isn’t just about looking good—it’s about helping your message land.
If you’ve seen industrial automation presentations fall flat, chances are they suffered from one (or all) of these issues.
How to Make an Industrial Automation Presentation that Engages
Now that we’ve covered why most industrial automation presentations fail, let’s get into how to build one that actually engages, persuades, and drives decisions.
This isn’t about just making slides look pretty. It’s about crafting a presentation that simplifies complexity, keeps decision-makers hooked, and makes automation feel like a no-brainer investment.
Start with a Strong Opening That Frames the Problem
Most industrial automation presentations jump straight into features, which is a mistake. Before you talk about what your automation solution does, you need to establish why it matters. This means starting with the problem your audience is facing.
Instead of opening with a generic company overview or a list of technologies, paint a picture of the challenge that your audience is dealing with. Maybe they’re struggling with labor shortages, unplanned downtime, rising operational costs, or inefficient production cycles.
For example, a weak opening sounds like this:
"Our company has been a leader in industrial automation for 20 years, providing solutions for manufacturing, logistics, and supply chain management."
Compare that to a strong opening:
"Every hour of unplanned downtime costs manufacturers thousands of dollars. Yet, most factories still rely on outdated processes that make breakdowns inevitable. What if there was a way to predict failures before they happened?"
The second version immediately grabs attention because it makes the problem feel urgent and relevant. It creates curiosity and sets up your automation solution as the answer to a critical issue.
Tell a Story, Don’t Just List Features
Industrial automation is a highly technical field, but your presentation doesn’t have to feel like an instruction manual. The best presentations follow a narrative structure—problem, solution, impact.
Instead of listing features one by one, structure your content so it builds towards a clear, compelling conclusion. Here’s a simple way to do this:
Describe the Problem: What specific challenge is your audience facing?
Introduce the Solution: How does your automation technology solve that problem?
Show the Impact: What measurable benefits does it deliver?
For example, rather than saying:
"Our AI-powered predictive maintenance system analyzes equipment performance and detects potential failures."
You could say:
"Last year, one of our clients faced constant equipment failures that led to $500,000 in lost production time. After implementing our predictive maintenance system, they reduced unexpected breakdowns by 80% and saved $300,000 in just six months."
See the difference? It’s not just about what your technology does, it’s about what it achieves.
Speak the Language of Decision-Makers
Not everyone in your audience is an automation expert, and that’s where most presentations fail. If your slides are packed with technical terms, acronyms, and complex explanations, you risk losing the attention of key decision-makers.
The reality is, CEOs, CFOs, and operations leaders don’t care about technical specs. They care about business impact. Your presentation should make it clear how automation improves efficiency, reduces costs, and increases productivity.
Instead of saying:
"Our robotic automation system features advanced sensor integration and adaptive AI algorithms for real-time adjustments."
Reframe it in terms of value:
"Our automation system speeds up production by 30%, reduces labor costs, and minimizes errors—helping companies save millions in operational expenses."
Always ask yourself: Would a business leader understand this slide without an engineering degree? If not, simplify it.
Use Data, But Make It Digestible
Data is essential in an industrial automation presentation, but most presenters make one of two mistakes: they either overload slides with too many numbers or present raw statistics without context.
Instead of just throwing a graph on a slide and expecting it to speak for itself, give your audience a clear takeaway. For example, rather than displaying a chart showing how automation reduces downtime, spell it out:
"Companies that implemented our automation system reduced downtime by an average of 42%, translating to $1.2 million in annual savings."
This makes the data immediately meaningful instead of forcing the audience to figure it out themselves.
If you must include a chart or graph, keep it clean, simple, and focused. Avoid cluttered visuals with excessive labels or complicated legends. Your goal isn’t to impress with numbers—it’s to make the message stick.
Keep Your Slides Clean and Visual
Industrial automation presentations often suffer from overcrowded slides. Huge blocks of text, endless bullet points, and outdated graphics make it harder for your audience to absorb information.
Here’s how to fix it:
One main idea per slide. Don’t try to cram multiple concepts onto a single slide. Break them up to improve clarity.
Minimal text. If a slide looks like a dense report, it’s too much. Keep text short and use visuals to support key points.
Use diagrams, not descriptions. If you’re explaining a process, a well-designed flowchart or infographic works far better than a paragraph of text.
Ditch generic stock photos. Use real-world images, custom illustrations, or high-quality renders that actually relate to your automation solution.
Your slides should enhance your message, not distract from it. If your audience is reading instead of listening, your presentation isn’t doing its job.
Make Automation Feel Like an Urgent Opportunity
Even if your presentation is clear and well-designed, it won’t be effective unless your audience feels a sense of urgency to act.
A common mistake in industrial automation presentations is treating automation as a “nice to have” instead of a business necessity. The reality is, companies that hesitate to adopt automation are falling behind.
Your presentation should make that clear. Highlight:
The cost of inaction. What happens if companies don’t automate? Will they lose efficiency? Struggle with labor shortages? Fall behind competitors?
Industry trends. Show how automation adoption is accelerating and why staying ahead of the curve is crucial.
Competitor examples. If competitors are automating and seeing success, call it out. No one wants to be left behind.
For example:
"In the last five years, manufacturers that embraced automation increased productivity by 40% on average. Those that didn’t? They’re still facing the same bottlenecks and rising costs."
When you present automation as an urgent competitive advantage, you create a stronger case for immediate action.
End with a Clear Next Step
A great industrial automation presentation shouldn’t just inform—it should drive decisions. That means ending with a clear next step, whether it’s a follow-up meeting, a live demo, or a pilot project.
Avoid vague conclusions like:
"That’s our automation solution. Let us know if you have any questions."
Instead, guide the conversation forward:
"Let’s schedule a site visit to assess your automation needs and identify immediate opportunities for optimization."
The more specific and actionable your closing is, the more likely your audience is to move forward.
Why Hire Us to Build your Presentation?
If you're reading this, you're probably working on a presentation right now. You could do it all yourself. But the reality is - that’s not going to give you the high-impact presentation you need. It’s a lot of guesswork, a lot of trial and error. And at the end of the day, you’ll be left with a presentation that’s “good enough,” not one that gets results. On the other hand, we’ve spent years crafting thousands of presentations, mastering both storytelling and design. Let us handle this for you, so you can focus on what you do best.