A trend is a sequence, not a slope
Everyone can see a trend after it has happened. The useful skill is defining it precisely enough that you can tell, right now, whether it is still intact.
The definition that does that:
- Uptrend — higher highs and higher lows
- Downtrend — lower highs and lower lows
- Range — neither sequence holds
This is a structural fact, not an opinion. Either the last swing low is above the previous one or it is not. That is what makes it useful: you can be wrong about a trend, but you cannot argue about it.
Swing points
A swing high is a candle whose high is higher than the candles either side. A swing low is the reverse. Those are the points you connect to read structure.
Mark them on the timeframe you trade, and one above it. Do not mark every wiggle — a swing point that only exists on the 5-minute chart tells you about the last twenty minutes, which is rarely the question you are asking.