Presentation Tip: Stop judging a presentation by the number of slides in the file

When you open a PowerPoint file that has been sent to you, where do you look first? If you are like most people I speak to in my workshops, the first place you look is the lower left corner to see how many slides are in the file. Why do most people do this? Because they think that the number of slides will indicate how effective the content of the presentation is. Nothing could be further from the truth. In this article I want to explain why you need to break this habit.

When you open a PowerPoint file and immediately look at the number of slides, you have some number in mind that you think indicates a good vs. bad presentation. Everyone seems to have their own number, and many have different numbers based on what type of presentation it is. A project status presentation will have a different number than a sales presentation, which will have a different number than a financial results presentation.

Whatever your number is, you will immediately judge the value of the content before you have ever even looked at the content. If the number of slides in the file is larger than what you think it should be, you immediately think it is a poor presentation, before you have even looked to see what the presenter has included. This seems crazy to me. Why do people do this? Because their past experience is with overloaded slides that are really pages from a report instead of slides intended to quickly communicate important messages.

The number of slides is no indication of the effectiveness of the message the presenter will deliver. Next month I will present my webinar on Using an iPad in Business. I will speak for about 50-55 minutes. How many slides should I use? I bet almost none of you said over 90. That’s right, I use 92 slides and last time I did the webinar we had comments that it was the best webinar people had ever seen. How is this possible? Because of the way the slides are designed.

When you design a slide that has a headline that summarizes the one point you want to make and a visual that illustrates that point, you won’t spend a long time on the slide. The slide only has one message, and once you have delivered it to the audience, they expect you to move on to the next point, which is on the next slide. There may be more slides, but the message is more effective. It is not about the number of slides, it is about how effectively you communicate.

When the slide file is sent by email, it is also easy for the viewer to look at the slides because they understand the message of each slide and can move quickly on to the next slide. I would suggest that it is actually quicker to review a larger number of slides that have been prepared effectively than it is to review a smaller number of cluttered, confusing slides. Isn’t clarity of communication more important than number of slides? I hope so.

It will take time to break the habit that many people have fallen into of always judging a PowerPoint file by the number of slides it contains. When you do, you will find yourself open to judging the content of the presentation and how clearly it communicates the important message the presenter intended. When you design slides so they are easy to understand, you may create more slides, but your message will be more effective. I hope we can get to the day when we judge presentations not by the number of slides, but by the content of the message. Start the change today in your organization.

Presentation Tip: Context Before Conclusion

When you show a slide on the screen, the audience will naturally look at it and start to decipher it. When they believe they understand it, they turn back to the presenter to hear what they are saying. Notice the sequence. The audience comes to a conclusion about the meaning of the slide before they have heard a single word from the presenter. What if they came to the wrong conclusion? How easy is it to change their mind? Not very easy at all. In this article, I want to talk about how presenters can give the audience context before they come their own conclusion.

The issue of the audience coming to the wrong conclusion about a slide can only happen if you display the slide with all the content on it from the start. This is the typical way that slides are presented unfortunately. As presenters we may think that the audience is listening to us as they are looking at the slide, but they aren’t. Brain research tells us that the audience can’t read and listen at the same time very well. So they usually focus on the reading of the slide. This leads them to come to a conclusion before we have given them the context for understanding the slide.

That is why in my workshops and my book Present It So They Get It, I suggest that you build your slides piece by piece instead of displaying all the content at once. By building your slides, the audience only sees a portion of the slide content, and their attention comes back to you quickly to understand what they are looking at. Once you have given them an explanation, they come to the conclusion you wanted them to about this piece, and you can move on to display the next piece of the slide content.

The easiest way to build the content on your slides is to use the animation feature of PowerPoint. But I don’t talk about animation much anymore. Why? Because the term animation has a very bad reputation when it refers to PowerPoint. People too often think of the twirling, swirling, flying, and bouncing types of effects that are distracting and annoying. It has even led some organizations to ban the use of animation. I agree that we should severely limit the use of the annoying effects. But a total ban robs the presenter of a useful tool to help focus the audience through the presentation.

Instead I suggest you talk about building your slides. While you do end up using the animation feature, building is a more acceptable term to use than animation. It shows a focus on serving the audience and helping them understand your message. Many features in PowerPoint can be used well or poorly. Just because some presenters have gotten too excited and used the crazy effects doesn’t mean we should ban animation all together. It would be like banning text from presentations because a few presenters have used the crazy WordArt text effects. Be conscious of your choices and focus on helping your audience understand the valuable message you have to share by building your slides piece by piece to give the audience context before they come to a conclusion.

Presentation Tip: Word clues to better organize information

With information overload being the number one issue for audiences today, how can presenters better organize their information so it is easier to understand? I see hundreds and hundreds of slides for each customized workshop I do as I create the slide makeovers for that group. I have come up with four clues that I look for in the words being used on the slide that indicate an opportunity to better organize the message for the audience.

One of the common mistakes I see presenters make is to have the same titles on a series of slides or use the word “continued” in the slide title. The problem is that this assumes that the audience can remember all the points across multiple slides and put all of the information together to figure out the message. The audience just won’t do it, even if they have a handout to refer to. Instead, have a slide to introduce this section that shows how the different parts are related. Then you can have one slide for each of the parts that you want to explain. This way, the audience has context for the points and can then follow along much easier.

If I see a series of bullet points with the same word repeated in each point, it triggers the thought that the presenter is probably trying to compare items on multiple criteria. A slide I looked at had bullet points that contained pros and cons for each type of cable, with many of the items in each category repeated for the different cables. A much better way to organize the information is in a comparison table. Have the criteria on the left side, and each column can then show how that cable measures up on that criteria. When I showed the group the “after” slide, they saw how much easier it was to understand.

Another clue I look for is a title that says either “high level”, “summary”, “overview”, or a similar term at the top of a dense slide packed with information. An overview is supposed to be just that. The few key points that the audience needs to know. Not everything you know about the subject. If you are creating a summary or overview slide, force yourself to a limit of four to six short points at most. This gives the audience and idea of where you will be going. Then you can have additional slides for each of the points including the details you want to share.

The fourth clue I look for is in the Speaker Notes section for the slide. If I see instructions that say “Read this slide” and the slide is not a legal disclaimer that must be read as is, I know the slide has a big problem. The problem is that slide is not for the benefit of the audience, it is for the benefit of the speaker, to remind them what to say. Organize your information into two parts. The first part is what the audience needs to see in order to keep them on track, and this can go on your slide. The second part are your notes, which can go in the Speaker Notes section of the slide so you can see them in Presenter View when you are speaking. You can also put your notes on cue cards, paper, your iPad, or whatever method will remind you of important points to emphasize. The slides the audience sees should never be your speaker notes.

When you are creating slides or reviewing slides from others, look for these four word clues in order to better organize the information. You will find it easier to present, and your presentation will be more effective.

Presentation Tip: Reduce the words in each point

In my latest book, Present It So They Get It, I provide five strategies for reducing the information in your presentation down to just what the audience needs to know. Information overload is the single biggest issue in presentations today, and in my workshops, this section on reducing information overload is always a popular one for the participants. Today I want to extend one of the strategies so it is even more applicable to many presentations.

One strategy I share in the book and my workshops is the 3R’s strategy for reducing the number of bullet points on a slide. It works well, and people see how it can reduce a list of fifteen or twenty bullet points down to four or five. What I also discovered is that this strategy can be used to reduce the text within a bullet point as well.

Sometimes I see slides where they have five or six bullet points on a slide, but each one is three or four lines long. All that text overwhelms the audience and they can’t figure out what the message is. Research by Prof. Richard Meyer has shown that additional detail on our slides makes it harder for the audience to comprehend what we are trying to say.

To reduce the text in a single bullet point, I apply the 3R’s, which are Rank, Reduce, and Rephrase. I rank the words or phrases in the text by importance to the audience. There are usually a few words or phrases that capture the essence of the point. Second, I reduce the text down to just the most important words or phrases, dramatically reducing the length of the point. Finally, I rephrase the selected words and phrases so that they make sense to the audience. Sometimes this means creating a second point because the first one contained two key points.

By having shorter, more meaningful points on the slide, you make it easier for the audience to understand the key point and then listen to you as you expand on it. They are doing less reading of the slide and paying more attention to you. It is also easier as a presenter because you can expand as much or as little as you want on each point, depending on the timing and audience.

Here are two examples from a slide I used this strategy on for a workshop a few months ago:

Original point: Maintain the Company’s Records for the duration of the retention period specified in the Records Retention Schedule and conduct the deletion or destruction of Records in accordance with this Policy.
Revised point: Maintain records during retention period

Original point: Identify the Company’s Records to facilitate access to information required to conduct the Company’s business and to comply with applicable statutes and regulations, including recordkeeping, privacy, security and confidentiality requirements.
Revised points:
Facilitate access to information

Comply with applicable statutes and regulations 

See how much easier it is for both audience and presenter when you reduce the words in each point on your slides. Try it on one or two of your slides and see how much more effective your presentation will be.

Presentation Tip: Raise the average two slides at a time

At the end of my workshops, I ask the participants if they have practical ideas that they can implement immediately to improve the effectiveness of their slides. Without exception, they all say that they have plenty of ideas they can use. In fact, the challenge is that they feel overwhelmed with everything they want to start doing to their presentations.

If they tried to apply all the learning to all the slides in their typical presentation, it wouldn't work. They would end up spending too much time and give up with few, if any, changes being made. I want the participants in my workshops to apply what they have learned, so I share with them an approach that will help manage the work of improving their presentations.

I call it the "raise the average quality by working on the bottom two" strategy. Here is how it works. If you look at the average quality of all the slides in your normal presentation, it will be at a level that you know could be better. Some slides are good, some are average, and some are below average.

Chances are that there are a few slides, I use two as a typical number, that are the worst slides in your presentation. You don't really like them, they are hard to present, and the audience doesn't connect with them. What I suggest is that you work on just those two worst slides and improve them for your next presentation. Working on only two slides is a manageable amount and almost everyone says they could certainly redo two slides.

By improving the bottom two slides in your presentation, you raise the average quality of the entire presentation. Next time, work on the next bottom two slides. Every time you present, work on the worst two slides in the deck. After five or ten presentations, you will have addressed almost all the slides that need improving and your presentation will be much better than when you started. It may have taken some time, but the results are worth it. By tackling the presentation two slides at a time, you break the work up into manageable chunks that anyone can handle. 

I really want my workshop participants to improve their presentations, and this "raise the average quality by working on the bottom two" strategy allows them to see a path to be able to apply what they have learned. Start today by looking at the two worst slides in your presentation and improve them. If you are looking for ways to improve your slides, check out the articles I have available on my site. The articles are organized by category so you can quickly find what you are looking for.

Presentation Tip: Testing Your Slides

What does the audience think when they see a spelling error or other mistake on your slides? They start to wonder if you really took the time to look at your slides before you presented and they question how much you care about delivering a great presentation for them. A lot of the mistakes I see could have been prevented. In this article, I want to examine five common problem areas and how presenters can avoid them.

Spelling and grammar
On a slide I was sent for a workshop last fall, I found two spelling errors on one slide. One of them was the word "video" spelled as "vidio". What does your audience think when they see spelling or grammatical errors? It is likely that your credibility will take a hit. A good way to catch these mistakes is to read the words on your slide in reverse order. By reading in reverse order, your brain won't anticipate the next word and skip over it even if it is misspelled (you have probably seen some of these example paragraphs on the Internet where a lot of the letters in the words are missing and you can still read all the words just fine because your brain anticipates what the word should be).

Text wrapping
On one client slide the text inside a rounded rectangle was a little too long, so the last letter of the word wrapped on to the next line. This is how the slide was used when presenting to a prospective client. The audience sees this and wonders what is wrong. It shifts their focus away from the message to trying to figure out why the slide looks strange. If you can't make the shape bigger, adjust the internal margin of the text within the shape. When I made this adjustment, the last letter joined the rest of the word and looked proper again.

Animation sequence
On a slide being used to present to a Board of Directors, the client was building a graph piece by piece. But they had never tested it in Slide Show mode, because they had the labels for the axes coming on last. The audience would have been confused about what the graph was showing until the very end when the axes labels appeared, explaining what was being measured on the graph. Presenters can easily fix these errors by carefully walking through each slide in Slide Show mode in advance and focusing on the sequence of builds to ensure they tell the story properly.

Contrast of Colors
At a conference last fall, a presenter used grey text on a blue background. The words were the focus of the point he was making, but we couldn't see the text because the colors he chose did not have enough contrast. It is deceiving to look at our laptop or flat panel screen when trying to determine if the colors we are using have enough contrast. Those screens are much brighter than a projector, which dulls almost every color in a well-lit room. Make sure you have tested your colors using the Color Contrast Calculator, and you test your slides on a projector, if possible, in the room you will be speaking in.

Broken or Misdirected Hyperlinks
I have been guilty of this mistake myself. During a customized workshop, I clicked on a hyperlink to show slide makeovers that I had done, but the link went to the makeover file for a different client. I had forgotten to update the link before I started. I had not followed my own advice to double check all hyperlinks in your presentation before you start. This is especially important if you are presenting on a different computer. To make sure links don't break when you move between computers, put all the files you will be linking to in the same folder as the PowerPoint file before you create the links.

Will checking these five areas prevent all potential problems in your presentation? No, but they will help avoid the ones that you know should not happen. Add these checks to your pre-presentation checklist and invest the time to make sure you avoid these common errors.

Presentation Tip: Five tips for preparing financial slides

Financial information is a part of many presentations today. Whether you are presenting the budget for next year, current project spending status, or any other financial information, resist the temptation to just copy a spreadsheet and paste it on a slide. Copied spreadsheets overwhelm the audience and leave them confused. At the Presentation Summit last fall, I shared five steps for creating effective financial slides and in this article I want to share them with you.

Step 1: What is the point?
Somewhere in all those numbers is a message you want the audience to hear. Start by determining what that message is. What is the point you want to make sure the audience understands and leaves with? Numbers are used to document a story that the presenter wants to share, and you need to be clear on what story you are trying to tell. Write a headline for your slide that summarizes this key point or message.

Step 2: What numbers tell the story?
Now that you know what story you are trying to tell, look at the numbers you have and determine which numbers, out of all those you could use, really tell the story. For example, if you are discussing the difference between a measured value and a standard, don’t make the mistake of selecting all the numbers. Too many presenters copy the column of measured values, the standard, the difference and the percentage difference. You can likely eliminate 75% of the numbers because the audience probably only needs to see the % difference.

Step 3: How can you use these numbers to tell the story?
Don’t just copy the numbers on to a slide. Look for more visual ways to present the numbers. If you are comparing measured values, perhaps a column graph would show the difference better. If you are showing the trend of data, a line graph will probably work best. If you are showing % difference, a summary table with arrows indicating whether the difference is positive or negative could be best. If you are showing how numbers are related to a whole, a pie chart shows that message well. Look for opportunities to show the numbers visually.

Step 4: Sketch the visual
I always find it helpful to sketch out what I think the visual should look like before creating it in PowerPoint. This allows me to make sure that my idea will work visually. It also allows you to check your idea with others before you have spent a lot of time creating a visual in PowerPoint. Once you are satisfied that the visual will work, you can create it in PowerPoint.

Step 5: Determine what backup you may need
The most common reason that presenters overload their slides with numbers is that they want to have the answer to every possible question on the slide just in case someone asks. These overloaded slides don’t help the audience understand your message. It is a good idea to anticipate questions that might come up, but the better approach is to create hidden slides or hyperlinks to source documents in order to answer the questions. Hidden slides are not shown in Slide Show mode, but can be accessed during the presentation if needed. Hyperlinks to spreadsheets allow you to show how changes to assumptions or other inputs will affect the resulting calculations. I have a tutorial video on linking to external files here.

It doesn’t matter what financial background you have, you can use these five steps to make financial information easier for your audience to understand.