To simplify my presentation for greater impact, I would focus on your core message. I shall start by reducing text-heavy slides—use key points, images, or diagrams instead. Highlight only the most important data or findings, eliminating unnecessary details. Speak in clear, concise language and avoid jargon, unless it’s essential and understood by the audience. Summarize complex ideas in a few powerful sentences, and use pauses to let key points sink in. Engage my audience by asking questions or offering examples. Finally, ensure that my pace is steady, giving them time to process and stay engaged throughout the presentation.

I attended a course by TJ Walker that taught me how to use PowerPoint presentations. He makes recommendation that you should have five key ideas for each presentation. Out of the 5, you should have three main points. He suggests that you should concentrate on understanding your content, and slides should not be used for reading notes but to guide your points. Try this next time.

1. Cut to the core: I build each slide around one idea—enough to guide the conversation, not take it over. 2. Design that helps, not distracts: Clean layouts, readable fonts, and plenty of breathing room keep things on point. I try to keep the # of words to >10. 3. Use slides only as prompts, and make it about the audience: If they’re looking at me instead of reading every slide, I know the visuals are doing their job.

I’ll take this problem as a most practical one, and I’d imagine you were caught up with this discovery in the midst of a presentation. Here’s what to do in that instance: First, create a story, especially a humorous one, around the images or visual aids, but keep it short. Let humor do the linking. Second, minimize your content volume by focusing on the key or central points. Frankly, it helps in this breadth to know that you mustn’t give everything in your presentation. Highlight the main ideas. Third, you mustn’t go through all the slides. Feel free to skip some slides, especially if going through will lead to needless repetition of points or ideas. This only creates further boredom. In all, keep it brief, the briefer the better.

If your audience feels overwhelmed by your visual aids, it’s time to go back to basics. The Keep it simple principle needs to be adopted. Focus on the key message you want your audience to remember. Use fewer slides, simple images, and clear words - like telling a story one step at a time. Ask yourself before creating each slide - What’s the most important thing your audience needs to know? Focus on that and avoid cramming too much information - instead, give examples or pictures that make your idea easy to understand. Your slides should be clean with the key point clearly stated. Remember, the goal isn’t to impress with fancy visuals but to connect and leave a lasting message. Simple is powerful - less noise, more clarity!