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.

Related posts:

1. The power of storytelling
2. The power of You
3. The power of numbers
4. The power of personalisation
5. Signposts, reminders and the power of repetition

This week I laughed – a lot. And the reason was Seth Godin.

He’s been described by Forbes.com as:

“..a demigod on the Web, a best-selling author, highly sought-after lecturer, successful entrepreneur, respected pundit and high-profile blogger.”

I’ve mentioned him before.

His book All Marketers Are Liars is crammed full of useful insights into the world of corporate storytelling. It’s one of almost a dozen he’s written, all with arresting titles (how could you resist Purple Cow, Meatball Sundae or The Big Red Fez?).

His presentation too has a title that’ll make you look twice: Sliced bread and other marketing delights.

In a wide-ranging talk, Godin explores how marketers get our attention. And yes, he mentions sliced bread (it took fifteen years to catch on) together with otaku (the Japanese for obsessive behaviour) and turning your grandmother into a piece of jewellery.

His point is that strange ideas (even bad strange ideas) stand out. Ordinary ones just get ignored.

The most compelling argument in favour of his theory isn’t anything he says. It’s what he does.

Notice how entertaining Godin is. That makes his message easier to understand and digest. He’s a skilled performer who knows just how to get the audience on his side – and that’s important when you’re standing on a stage, peering into the darkness.

I should know. In a past life, I did many hundreds of presentations, and it’s a fine art to read the mood of the audience and carry them with you.

If you want to see a performance that doesn’t work as well, check out Chris Anderson’s presentation.

There’s no reason why it should be any less interesting. Anderson has a wealth of solid experience behind him. For seven years, he wrote about technology in The Economist. He’s editor-in-chief of Wired magazine and he coined the term ‘the long tail’.

In fact, his presentation is probably more compelling than Seth’s. On paper.

Right from the start, he looks uncomfortable. He rushes through his slides, and skips over the humorous slides with obvious embarrassment (they’re always a great idea when you’re at your desk – but less great when you’re in front of 1,000 pairs of squinting eyes).

Two presentations. But only one stands out.

And that’s the one you’ll remember.

• Seth Godin: Sliced bread and other marketing delights
• Chris Anderson: Technology’s long tail

Related posts:

1. Add more power to your PowerPoint
2. Spaghetti sauce and Shakespeare's dad
3. Three things you should remember
4. Learning, communicating and inventing
5. Who gets your vote?