Powerpoint makes terrible slides the default option. It’s not anything malicious, but a result of a subtle difference between the software’s goals and most presenters’ goals. Powerpoint, and clones like LibreOffice Impress, encourage users to make slide-docs - self-contained visual documents which can be passed around, and which feel like a presentation.
Words words words
You’ve probably presented a slide-doc, or seen it presented. A well informed or skilled presenter can move around and through the projected material, but the audience is distracted by the detail offered on-screen, if they can even read it, and they are tempted to split their attention between the speaker and the screen. Unfortunately, often the speaker simply stands up and reads all the bullet points to the audience, with a few comments here and there.
Less is more
In a good presentation, the slides serve as a complement to the presenter. The best slides have very few words, 12 to 15 at most. Often, an image by itself is all you need. Words should be reserved for a quote, phrase, or chart, but always with the objective of directing the viewer to listen to what the speaker is saying.
Great slides do three things:
1. They invite curiosity and interest.
One of the biggest challenges when speaking to a group is attracting and holding the group’s attention. A good slide invites the viewer to understand what they are seeing, which helps motivate them to listen to your explanation.
2. They give context.
When you need to show something for discussion—a quote, chart, or diagram—leaving that on the screen is helpful so everyone can reference it as you talk. This is an area where slide-docs and presentation slides overlap. The item being discussed should be presented alone, with your commentary staying off-screen, in your talk notes.
3. They serve as a conceptual anchor.
When a new slide appears, especially if the change is visually significant (new background color, breaking a pattern, etc) it signals to the audience that they are entering a new chapter of your narrative. You can use this to help your listeners form organized memories and retain what you tell them.
How to adopt this
- Instead of beginning by making slides, build your speech notes. You can include all the details and bullet points there, and you won’t have to worry about layouts or colors or anything visual.
- After your talk has enough narrative structure that you can identify the places where you transition from idea to idea, THEN you can put in slides, with the objective of guiding and focusing audience attention.
- Finally, if you have time or you want people to have their own access to all the information - lengthy passages of text, detailed points, etc - you can turn your speech notes document into an audience notes document, and put a QR code at the end of your slides for them to save, or bring printouts people can take after the talk.
There aren’t really any hard rules here; these guidelines can be reconstructed by just imagining the experience from a seat in the audience. Your audience will be glad you did.