Earlier this week I was sent a couple of power point files to review. It came as no great surprise to open them and find each contained over power point 60 slides. Now it is easy to get hung up on the number of slides people use for a presentation, and it does depend on the length of the presentation. I have regularly experienced examples of 20 minute presentations containing 70+ power point slides. This is clearly far too many. The audience almost have to watch the presentation subliminally as slides whiz up on the screen and disappear equally fast (often with lots of spins and twists – but let’s not go there today). The files in question were for significantly longer presentations and so one could debate the quantity, although in my view there were far too many. The simple rule of thumb to adopt is ‘less is more’. This applies to content of the presentation as well as to supporting slides.
The number of slides was not really the issue. It was the content that struck me. In over 60 power point slides – NOT ONE PICTURE! Forgive the frustrated shouting, but there are only so many bullet points a man can take. The old fashioned term for power point slides, or if you are ancient OHP’s, is a visual aid. The clue is in the title. A slide full of text is not a visual aid. At its absolute best, it is a picture of some words that offers no visual stimulus at all. The saying ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ makes clear why we need to use images as part of our presentation. Images are easier for your audience to remember and easier to help them establish context and emotional associations relevant to them. Here is a quick and crude example to make the point.
Which is more likely to resonate with your audience?
So why do business presenters continue to fill their slides with pages of bullet point text?
In short, because their focus is on themselves, rather than their audience. Their slides are really their cue cards (they may have those as well) and each point is there to remind them of what they are saying, and what they are going to say next. The chances are that they have used their chosen slide package (not everything is power point) to actually write their presentation, which is why the end result looks like a set of presentation notes.
To help you get the most from your presentations remember:
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Less is more
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Make one prime point per slide
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Don’t forget to make use of headlines
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A picture is worth a thousand words
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Focus on the needs of your audience
OR
What is the largest number of dull slides you have experienced in a presentation?
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Engaging trainer, facilitator, coach, and presenter. Pioneer of socially responsible learning. Cause Related Learning provides high impact, high emotion learning experiences and challenges that motivate, improve communication, challenge thinking and inspire people to make a difference.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Great thoughts Richard, indeed PowerPoint isn’t an autocue and it’s frustrating to see it used as one. I refuse to create slide sets for anything that I do, how can it be tailored to the audience and their needs if it’s pre-written? ok, don’t answer that question
I like to focus on the person and what they are saying and not on the slides, I think they detract from the message, but that’s just me
Interesting viewpoint Sarah, and one I have an element of sympathy with. The majority of people have a preference for visual communication and many of the business presentations you see believe that they use power point slides (other packages are available) as their ‘visual aid’. The reality is that most contain text based slides, and they are not really visuals in the same way that a book is not really a visual aid. Using bullet points does not turn a text based slide into a visual. A good slide presentation is there to support and enhance the words that are being said.
Focusing attention on your audience is a great way to engage with them, give them real value and get your message across. I look forward to hearing one of your sessions in due course.