Last week I suggested that a good first step to fixing a PowerPoint presentation is to develop a big idea – a singular, distilled concept that you could build your presentation around. Without that a speech risks bouncing aimlessly from one random idea to the next.
Next up, let’s fix those bloated word and bullet slides. Too many words and the tendency to read them to the audience is the number one complaint from most PowerPoint hating audience members. Let’s try some guidelines:
- Only one concept or thought per slide. All slides should support your goal of delivering your big idea but they should also contain just one thought. Bullets or an outline style hierarchy is OK if it all flows from the one central thought for this slide.
- Use only keywords – no complete sentences. Each bullet or point should be stripped of all unnecessary words. Use just the keywords to identify the topic. Think of it as a sparse chapter title in a novel – only the essential words. Then your spoken words become the rich details that illuminate the subject. This is the critical step. Edit your words on the screen so that there is almost nothing for you or your audience to read at length. This will help keep the focus on you, where it belongs.
- Consider using a build slide. A build is a series of slides that begin with just the first item of a list and then add the next item in the next slide. This allows the presenter to keep the audience from reading ahead.
- Sometimes each bullet point or list item deserves its own slide. If your bullet slides still seem overwhelming, consider breaking them into individual slides. Adding a consistent headline on all the slides in the series may help your viewers keep track of where they are.
- Don’t worry that you are creating many additional slides. If your presentation flows well and is easily understandable the number of total slides means nothing.
The key to fixing text heavy slides is to be a ruthless editor. Reduce all your marvelous text to just keywords. Then let your oral delivery display your dazzling brilliance.
Next week — Step 3: Use big, clear images.
