PowerPoint celebrates its 20th birthday this year. The Wall Street Journal has a retrospective article that provides some insights on the evolution (or devolution) of presentations in that time.
Broadstreet produces hundreds of presentations every year. We write the speeches and then design and assemble the visuals in the form of video, animation, PowerPoint and Keynote. Since its introduction, PowerPoint quickly replaced slides, transparencies and flip charts and has become the ubiquitous tool for presentations. Today everybody uses PowerPoint–from elementary school teachers and church preachers to rocket scientists and nonprofits.
There are even blogs dedicated to PowerPoint presentations. One of the best is Garr Reynolds’ Presentation Zen. There are websites for presentations. SlideShare is the MySpace for presentations and recently had a competition for the world’s best slide presentation.
In all these winning presentations there’s not a bullet to be found; instead, they tell a story. Now, don’t get me wrong; these are beautiful. Great design and imagery. But where does the presenter fit in? These examples are, in a sense, graphic novellas, short stories with short sentences and interesting images. But they’re designed to be viewed, not presented.
When it comes to standing up and giving a presentation, the PPT is meant to SUPPORT the presenter, not tell the entire story on its own. Single images in the form of pictures, words and measures that illuminate a key point in the message are ideal; something like the presentations in SlideShare but without the whole story included. Steve Jobs does this well as do many others. It takes a little more work on the design of the presentation, but it’s not as daunting as it may seem.
Here are a few quick steps on how to boil down your slides to a deck that supports your presentation rather than spells it all out:
- Outline your entire presentation in PowerPoint Headers, Subjects and Sub-bullets. (Most people call it a day at this point and head to the front of the room with laser pointer in hand.)
- Now, take every bullet and make it its own slide. “Huh? My 30 slides have multiplied into 300; how is this ‘saying more with less’?” Don’t fret! Step back and look at how many thoughts you’re asking your audience to remember. “But I’m just supporting my point,” you’re thinking. That’s fine, but most people retain visual cues rather than vocal cues. Unless you want your audience to remember something long term, don’t make it a bullet.
- Remove all the bullets that are supporting a point. (Move them into the notes section because that’s what they really are.) “Wait!” you’re saying, “I’ve cut 20 – 30% of the slides … what happens to the remaining deck?”
- For the remaining slides, take each bullet (which is a slide unto itself) and figure out the executive summary for that bullet–the one or two words that capture the essence of your point. Better yet, make it a picture or an image. Bottom line: What’s the one key point of this bullet? Remember: less is more, and even though you have 150 slides instead of 30, it’s the same amount of information. What this means is that you will be clicking more, a lot more. That’s a good thing. Why? Because it keeps the idea you’re thinking about and the supporting visual in sync, on point. The audience can’t get ahead, so they stick with you. And with 150 slides quickly changing, you naturally feed into short attention spans with ever-changing information.
- Now, review the deck again and see if there are redundancies or if the story has lost its flow. Remember, the story is coming from you not the slides; they are only reinforcing the key points you make in the conversation with the audience.
- Lastly: know your presentation. The slides are for your audience. It’s up to you to fill in the details that aren’t spelled out on the slides. So rehearse, make some notes, and you’re GUARANTEED a better presentation.
This format keeps the audience’s attention focused on the presenter, not the slides. It energizes the room with images that are refreshed 150 x rather than 30.
More slides, less words, more retention, less frustration.
