If your audience can understand your presentation just by reading your slides, why do they need you?
This is the question I ask in every workshop, and it usually causes some nervous laughter. Because most of us have sat through presentations where the speaker turned to the screen and read bullet points aloud, slide after slide.
What slides are for
Slides should do what your voice cannot:
- Show an image, a chart, a map, a face.
- Emphasise a single key word or number.
- Structure the journey, so people know where they are.
They should not hold your full script.
Simple rules that transform slides
- One idea per slide. If you need two ideas, use two slides.
- Fewer words. Aim for a handful of words per slide. Put your detailed notes in the speaker notes, not on the screen.
- Big images. A full-screen photograph speaks more than a paragraph.
- Readable from the back. If someone in the last row cannot read it, it is too small.
- Face the audience. Glance at the screen if you must, but speak to people.
Try presenting without slides
Once in a while, give a talk with no slides at all. It forces you to know your material and to connect directly. Many people find it liberating.
You are the presentation. The slides are the backdrop.