Let us first say, we prefer simple presentation slides and not just because we're fans of pleasing design. One of our big reasons: When you simplify the slides in your PowerPoint deck, you're better able to keep audience focus on you and what you're saying.
Simplifying some slides, our clients often insist, is not an option. When we come up against that wall, here's how we work to find a better way to present the slide they have.
1. Start by orienting the audience with the simplest of statements.
When you put up a complex slide, your audience is tempted to figure it out (and not listen closely to you). Relieve them of that burden and keep their attention with a simple statement to tell them what they're looking at:
- These charts show which investments generated the strongest returns in two key markets.
- This is a map of our locations in Europe.
- This is the form you'll see when you begin your report.
Despite the simplicity of the statement, you may find it surprisingly challenging to start this way. Many presenters are eager to dive into the details. Others have told us these statements feel "too basic."
Yet we see, time and again, that a simple sentence orienting the audience helps them stay with the presenter, no matter how many charts and words are on the screen.
2. Deliver the key takeaway up front.
Nearly every slide is a mini presentation, one that needs an open, some content, and a conclusion. After you've oriented the audience, tell them the main idea and why they care. In essence, create a strong open. Or as our clients in the military might say, give us the BLUF—bottom line up front.
When you lead with the main idea, rather than build to it, you give your audience a framework on which they can place all the details that follow. When you identify the benefit for them in this information, you motivate them to pay attention.
3. Structure the message to further explain what we're seeing
Here's where you'll have to use your judgment and what you know about the audience:
- What information here is most important for them to know?
- Which details will they care about?
- Which details can you leave out?
If you're teetering on the edge of an information dump, consider how the slide might tell a story or if limiting yourself to three points might help you avoid delivering too much.
As you work through how to deliver a complex slide, here are a few more tips.
Avoid:
- Apologizing for the slide: Your audience might think if the presenter knows it's an eye chart, why didn't they fix it.
- Getting too far into the weeds: When a slide is loaded with information, it's tempting to deliver more details than your audience wants or needs.
- Reading the slide to the audience: While it can be effective for your audience to hear the key words they see on the screen, they will not appreciate you reading to them (see below).
- Telling the audience they can read it themselves: Audiences make the effort and time to hear you present. If they can read it, they don't need you and can read this at their leisure.
Consider:
- Writing a better header: When you put the key point (a.k.a. the takeaway) at the top of your slide, you frame the message from the start.
- Removing any words you can: Even when you resist simplifying a slide, you may be able to reduce the number of words on it. Try moving from complete sentences to bulleted phrases, for example, or cutting fluff phrases.
- Simplifying charts when possible: For example, do you need all 10 years on this chart or will five years suffice?
- Making one slide into two (or three): Is there a compelling reason for all the information to be together? If not, consider making multiple slides, so you control how and when the audience gets each piece.
LEARN MORE
Here's some help if you would like to make slides more audience-friendly.
Find more tips here for organizing a message for each slide.
A strong open helps your presentation. Here's a how-to for creating one.
