Making a presentation in Figma is the process of designing slide decks and presenting them live using the Figma Slides editor, which was purpose-built for creating and sharing presentations. Figma Slides is a presentation tool optimized for design reviews, pitch decks, and conference talks, enabling designers and teammates to collaborate simultaneously on the same live file.
Fundamentals of Making a Presentation with Figma Slides
When preparing presentations within the Figma ecosystem, teams use the Figma Slides editor, which was developed directly as a dedicated presentation tool. Instead of the freeform frames found in standard design files, Figma Slides provides built-in tools for managing narrative flow, handling speaker notes, and engaging audiences.
Figma Slides decks are live and continuously stay up to date. This allows you to work alongside teammates on the same deck at the same time without needing to save, download, or email files back and forth. In the file browser, you can easily distinguish slide decks by the dedicated icon displayed on their file cards. When drafting presentation copy and outlining the overall narrative structure, you can leverage external AI models—as detailed in our Claude presentation workflow guide—and transfer the resulting narrative directly into your Figma Slides setup.
Working Modes: Slides Mode and Design Mode
Figma Slides provides two distinct working modes tailored to a user's design experience and required degree of control. You can switch between these modes using the toggle located in the toolbar:
Slides Mode: The default mode inside Figma Slides. Thanks to its simplified interface, it allows anyone—regardless of design proficiency—to easily select templates, edit content, and insert interactive elements.
Design Mode: Can be activated via the toolbar toggle if the user holds a Full seat. Design mode unlocks core Figma Design capabilities—such as Auto Layout, the layers panel, and advanced design properties—enabling deep customization of slides down to the finest detail.
Interface Areas and Canvas Navigation
The Figma Slides editor consists of four core areas:
Canvas: The workspace where you build and organize your slide deck. It offers two distinct views. Slide view lets you focus on an individual slide to adjust design details and add speaker notes. Grid view provides a bird's-eye view of your entire deck, making it easier to review and adjust your narrative flow. You can switch between these views using the toggle button in the left sidebar.
Left Sidebar: The area where you organize and reorder slides, and access the template picker to add new slide layouts.
Right Sidebar: Controls the appearance and behavior of your slides. The Design tab displays the properties of the currently selected object; when no object is selected, it provides access to the template styles used across the deck. The Animate tab lets you apply transition animations between slides.
Toolbar: Houses all primary tools, including text, shapes, tables, live interactions, Figma Design libraries, and the mode toggle.
To pan around the canvas without accidentally moving objects, you can activate the Hand tool by pressing the H key or clicking it in the toolbar. To navigate, hold the Space key and drag with your mouse, or swipe with two fingers on a trackpad. To zoom in or out, hold Command on Mac or Control on Windows while scrolling the mouse wheel, or pinch to zoom on a trackpad (Source: Figma Learn - Explore Figma Slides).
Building a Slide Deck with Templates and Objects
When creating a slide deck, you typically start with a set of layouts from the template picker. Slide templates provide coordinated colors, typography, and slide layouts to ensure visual consistency. In Figma Slides, you are not restricted to a single template; you can combine layouts from multiple templates within the same deck. Whenever you insert a layout from a template, that template's color and font styles are brought into your deck. Users on paid plans can also publish custom templates tailored to their teams or organizations.
You can enrich your slides using the objects available in the toolbar:
Text: Insert titles and body copy, hyperlink text to external URLs, or link directly to other slides in the deck.
Shapes and Tables: Add shapes to build diagrams and flows, connect them with connectors, and structure information using tables.
Images and Videos: Copy and paste or drag and drop images to replace placeholder elements. You can crop images, add borders, and apply overlay or blur effects. If you are exploring different desktop publishing approaches, you can also review our guide on designing presentations in InDesign.
Libraries: Access and reuse components, styles, and variables created in Figma Design directly inside your slides.
Live Prototypes, Polls, and Interactive Elements
Figma Slides includes live slide elements that transform passive presentations into two-way conversations. From the toolbar, you can insert live polls, alignment scales, and clickable prototypes.
Specific access requirements must be met for the audience to engage with these interactive elements. To vote in polls or respond to alignment scales, audience members must have at least "can view" permissions on the presentation deck. Participants must also be logged into their Figma accounts to use live interactions and open the audience view. If a slide includes a clickable prototype, viewers must have at least "can view" access to both the presentation deck and the underlying prototype source file (Source: Figma Learn - Present a slide deck).
Collaboration and Live Co-Presenting Controls
Figma Slides incorporates built-in collaboration features designed for co-presenters. Users with "can edit" permissions on the deck can modify objects, present, and use multiplayer tools. Team members with "can view" access can also present, leave comments, participate in cursor chat, and use the Spotlight feature.
When co-presenting, each speaker should open the deck in presenter view. This ensures that when it is a speaker's turn, they can seamlessly take over Spotlight without having to ask someone to advance to the next slide. The Present menu in the right sidebar offers two presentation modes:
Present: Opens the selected slide in full screen in a new browser tab without showing speaker notes.
Present + Notes: Opens the selected slide with speaker notes in a new browser tab, while simultaneously launching a separate window displaying the audience view. When sharing your screen via video conferencing software, make sure to share the audience view window rather than your presenter tab to keep your notes private.
Example Scenario: Product Design Review Presentation
To demonstrate Figma Slides in action, consider a hypothetical SaaS product design review workflow:
Slide 1 (Opening): Using a title layout chosen from the template picker, create the cover slide titled "Q4 Design System Review".
Slide 2 (Metrics and Goals): A two-column layout is used. The left column highlights a hypothetical metric ("Conversion goal: 18%"), while the right column lists qualitative user feedback excerpts.
Slide 3 (Live Prototype): A clickable filter panel prototype linked directly from a Figma Design file is embedded. Attendees interact with and test the prototype buttons directly on the slide canvas.
Slide 4 (Team Alignment Poll): An alignment scale is added from the toolbar, prompting participants with the question "Is the new flow ready for release?" to gather instant team consensus.
Slide 5 (Closing): An action item table is placed on the slide, and the meeting is concluded using the speaker notes visible in presenter view.
Common Pitfalls and Troubleshooting Offline Presentations
To safeguard against connectivity dropouts, Figma Slides decks can be preloaded for offline presenting. To do this, click Present in the right sidebar, open the options menu in the top toolbar, select "Make available offline", and wait until the "Available to present while offline" icon appears in the header. However, two critical requirements must be kept in mind:
You must keep the presenter view tab open. If the tab is closed, the deck will have to be reloaded to be presented offline.
While offline, embedded Figma prototypes and YouTube videos cannot be interacted with. If you anticipate presenting without an internet connection, prepare fallback slide content for your interactive media.
If audience members are unable to participate in interactive elements, verify whether they are logged into their Figma accounts and have opened the presentation link directly via Copy presentation link. Audience members who are only watching a video conference screen share cannot interact directly with live polls.
Pre-Presentation Verification Checklist
Before sharing your deck, verify the following details:
Permission Check: If you see an "Ask to edit" button in the toolbar, you lack edit access to the deck; request editing access if changes are required.
Speaker Permissions: Confirm that all co-presenters have at least "can view" access and know how to take over Spotlight.
Prototype File Permissions: Ensure your audience has view access to the original source files for any clickable prototypes embedded in the slides.
Screen Share Window: When presenting with notes, double-check that your video conferencing tool is sharing the audience view window rather than your private presenter tab.
Offline Readiness: If presenting from an unreliable network environment, preload the deck offline beforehand and do not close the presenter browser tab.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can presentations created in Figma Slides be exported?
Yes. You can export a copy of your Figma Slides deck for local archiving. From the main menu, navigate to File > Export slides to and export the entire deck or selected slides as PPTX or PDF files. In addition, users working in Design Mode with a Full seat can export slides or individual assets in PNG, JPG, SVG, and PDF formats using the Export panel in the right sidebar. Decks can also be saved locally as .deck files via File > Save local copy.
Can I use Auto Layout and the layers panel in Figma Slides?
Yes, but these tools are available exclusively in Design mode rather than the default Slides mode. To toggle into Design mode via the toolbar switch, the user must hold a Full seat.
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