We've all experienced the famous 'death by PowerPoint'. It's a painful
process: slide after endless slide, oceans of text (usually in a tiny point
size), and enough bullets to wipe out an entire regiment.
It's stressful
enough standing in front of people without having a presentation that works
against you. So here are some tips to cut it down and liven it up:
Don't use PowerPoint as a script: If all you do is read
word-for-word off the screen, you might as well sit down and let the
presentation run by itself.
Limit the number of bullets: keep it to six maximum, or fewer
if you have lots of sub-points. Go to the back of the room when you're
rehearsing and see if you can read everything.
Hold something back: don't give everything away on your
slides. Consider animating your points so they follow your presentation,
but don't go wild or it will affect readability. Try using consistent
animation on all slides.
'Chunk' information: break it down into manageable bits,
which are arranged logically. Remember, your audience is reading your
slide and listening to you, so make sure it flows smoothly.
Split it up: sometimes, there's just too much information for
one slide, even after you've edited, chunked and deleted. Consider
splitting one slide into two. The information will be much easier to
digest.
Preview, review: it's always a good idea at the beginning of
a presentation to set the agenda. And at the end, it's useful to wrap up
with a summary of what you've covered. That way, the audience is in no
doubt about your message.
OK, example time. Here's a slide that breaks all these guidelines:
And here's the same information spread over two slides, but radically
cut down. I've also changed the template to make the copy more readable:
See the difference? The first slide holds nothing back: it's a stream
of consciousness. The second two are short and concise, and don't give
everything away. Which means the audience is left wanting more detail.
And they'll get it - from you.
