I’ve got news for you: You can’t blame your slides much longer. Audiences are wising-up.
A poor tradesman blames his tools.
PowerPoint, Keynote, OpenOffice… They’re all the same. They are just tools.
If your presentation sucks, it’s down to your delivery or your slide design skills, or both.
If you want to improve your delivery skills, check out:
10 Things awesome public speakers do differently.
In this post I’ll talk about some simple key points you can do to improve your slides. These apply to PowerPoint, Keynote, or any other tool you might want to use.
This list does not cover everything, but if you follow these 4 essentials you go a long way to improving your slide deck:
Ditch the bullet points
You know what bullet points are good for?… Giving the audience advance notice that the slide they are looking at is going to be read to them. It tells them the slides will be extremely boring. It let’s them know the slides will be more digestible if they were read in seclusion back at their desk.
Seriously, ditch ’em.
Showing a slide with bullet points is a sure-fire way to turn listeners off.
Here’s a trick:
If you’ve got four bullets on a slide, try convert each bullet into its own slide, ie. One slide becomes at least four.
Minimize text
People want to listen to your expertise. People want to be engaged. People don’t want story time while they’re at work.
Minimize the text on your slides so you are forced to explain the details as an expert rather than read from the slides as an amateur.
Be consistent
Do you know how to look like an amateur?
Use an inconsistent theme, thousands of colors and animations, a variety of fonts and sizes.
In any kind of presentation, you will look far more professional and credible if you have a consistent slide deck.
Stick to one font set. Only have varying font sizes for a reason. Stick to a consistent color palette (with minimal colors). Be wary of animations (if you are putting an animation on your slide simply because “you can” it’s probably unnecessary).
Does each slide pass the reading test?
Really simple test to see if your slides are up to scratch:
Can I digest the slide in a glance or do I have to read it?
If you only need a glance to digest the slide, you’re winning. If you need to read it, there’s more work to be done.
Read more about how to add impact to you here:
How to add impact to your slides
What slide design principles work for you?
Susan Williams says
Dave, Thank you for nice article, with interesting and valuable comments that prove the point you made: YOU are the presenter, not the tools you use. You can use your tools effectively or ineffectively, which will show your skill as a presenter.
margaret hartley says
You see so many presenters who use PowerPoint as a ‘script on the wall’ and all that has been said is really valuable. I like the idea of no bullet points – but one point per slide – after all PowerPoint is just that – a powerful point! Great article thanks
Ray Eisenberg says
Changing a slide with 8 bullet points to eight slides with an image and one line of text each transformed my presentation. Totally agree with that recommendation.
John A Rohe says
The insanity of meetings or presentations with ppt is you telling me how many slides it will take to SUPPORT my meeting or presentation. Or better yet, a group meeting or series of presentations where everyone is restricted to a set number of slides. And the biggest joke is determining how long the meeting or presentation will last based on the number of slides. If everything is in the ppt, it is a document and should be sent to the participants to read on their own. Anyone who reads a ppt slide to their participants or audience should be shot. There is always a perfect opportunity for this when they turn their back to the audience to read it.
I can train any willing participant to be a pro, but first, forget the nonsense.
Steve Douglas says
Great read Dave
I’ve always thought of PowerPoint as being a skeleton to put the flesh, muscle, and sinew of my presentation. The words or images used on each slide should support and enhance the presentation, not a “word dump”.
It is also important to be mindful of the audiences’ cultural and language abilities. I have presented to numerous classes where English was not the students’ primary language. Having the bulleted the main points bridged the language barrier. When using pictures being attentive to cultural sensitivities can reduce minor distractions or major offense.
Gigi M says
PowerPoint is a wonderful tool, but I agree many times it is not used correctly.
Not only do you have to use the tool correctly, you need to be sensitive to different cultures/languages.
Maria Stadler says
To quote Jim DePiante who gave the best PowerPoint presentation I have seen in person. “A PowerPoint is not a thing.” Meaning if the slides stand alone without the insight and information from the presenter then what you have done is written a report and read it to the audience. PowerPoint is a tool used by a skilled presenter to show information that is best presented visually. If you want to use bullet points and lots of text. write a report or a memo. If you want to communicate ideas with an audience create a presentation and then show up. Be the most important part of the story- the star of the show with the “deck” as a minor supporting character.
Dave Mac says
Beautifully put, Maria!
Sally Herbert says
In my role as a Change Consultant, I was recently informed by my Executive Project Sponsor that she would prefer no powerpoint slides by used for in-person stakeholder sessions. Kudos to her for being so brave and for focusing on what really matters, audience engagement and participation. PowerPoint slides are a wonderful tool and should be used sparingly during an in-person meeting. Alternatively, I tend to use informational hand-outs that audience members can refer to during or after the meeting.
Lisa Lambeth says
Hi Dave,
I wholeheartedly concur! Not all of my workshops even use PowerPoints, but those that do use interesting images, with little to no text at all. For example, in a workshop where I talk about “power poses,” I use a slide with a photo of Mick Jagger in a power pose-like stance. In a workshop where I use a gameified icebreaker activity challenging participants to move around, talk to each other and form groups with people who have at least 6 similar skills, *without telling each other anything about their past or present occupations*–I use a slide that has a photo of Prince dressed in red and gold, framed right beside a photo of red and gold macawthat looks very similar to the Prince image (all in the same slide). Things like this help create curiousity, humour and surprise, keeping participants interested and engaged.
KIM WENNERBERG says
I once viewed a TED talk which the presenter had one word or one image on each slide. It worked well. The count of slides is a silly metric– the purpose and content determines length of presentation and number of slides.
Dave Mac says
Well said, Kim!
zakarya nusairat says
Dear Mike
Greetings
I think if the presenter talk from his/her heart he/she will touch the audience heart and the knowledge will delivered properly.
Mike says
Would love to see an example of what you consider a good PowerPoint presentation!
Dave Mac says
Hi Mike! I don’t think you can separate the delivery and the deck. For example, the deck may look great but the presenter butchers any chance it had with an awful delivery. I think the best slide decks are ones which support what the presenter is saying, but the audience is barely aware of.