Sliding...

I do a lot of work with one particular large corporation, and some time ago was tasked with training a whole department in presentation skills, as briefings and mini-conferences were a major part of the communication strategy and it was felt that some development would be useful.

I quickly discovered that virtually every team member was totally hooked on PowerPoint, and their first action when called upon to prepare a presentation would be to open Microsoft's little baby and start creating slides.

I think the record was 147 slides for a 35 minute presentation.

However, when I asked a few people within the department how they felt about being in the audience for a presentation full of slides, they all groaned and told me how much they hated it!

For some reason, they couldn't see both sides of the equation;
"It's OK for ME to use a load of slides, but no-one else should, because that's boring" seemed to be their attitude.

Since then I've had some success in weaning them off their dependence on slides, but I still meet and work with many people for whom a presentation isn't 'real' without a few dozen bullet-points and a graph or two.

One useful rule of thumb is the 10-20-30 guideline:

10 slides - 20 minutes - 30 pt the smallest typeface

Another way to limit the number of slides is to forego words completely in favour of pictures. Relevant images which back up or reinforce the message you are delivering can pack a powerful punch.

While on the topic of PowerPoint (or whatever other slide software), there's a habit that's all too easy to fall into of putting so much of your material onto your sllides that you end up virtually reading them instead of using them to create emphasis.

This is often (maybe even always) counter-productive. the audience will read the slide, and because they will read faster than you speak they'll finish before you. Then they'll listen to you telling them what they have already read. Unfortunately this doesn't mean they pay any more attention. It just means they're getting the same info twice. Why not just give them the handout? What's happened is that the slides have become the presentation, rather than supporting it.

As ever, my advice is just that...advice. It's not rules or obligations...just advice.

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