Presenting #5: Slide Rules

2022 will see Microsoft PowerPoint reach its 35th birthday. For my entire adult life, PowerPoint has been the slideshow-maker of choice in every business I’ve worked in. And yet, we’re still not getting it right.

I’ve seen thousands of presentations prepared on the software. I remember one of my more eccentric boss’s eyes lighting up when they discovered the Typewriter effect and directed me to use it on every one of a 36 slide presentation (on a dark night I can still hear the echoes of the clickety clack noise that accompanies it). I recall gasping in amazement when one colleague showed me that pressing the ‘B’ key during the presentation makes the screen go black, then almost applauding when she pressed the ‘W’ key. And I have seen the fear in an interviewee’s eyes when their clicker runs out of battery mid-presentation, or they tie themselves up in knots when they realise the gremlins have had their way with their animation sequence.

Slides can make or break a presentation, so here are five Do’s and Don’ts to apply to your next show and help you help PowerPoint to help you:

#1 Do use images over words

If you’re thinking everyone already knows this, I wish you were right, but it still seems common for presenters to use PowerPoint to stick their script up on the screen. This might make sense at the design stage and makes presenting easy as you can just read through your content, but it actually makes you completely redundant as the presenter. Just like we often think some meetings could have been an email, watching a slideshow filled with text makes your audience think your presentation could have been a handout.

The key message here is that the slides should complement your words, not replicate them. People find it difficult to read words on screen while listening to words being spoken, so when these forces compete the screen normally wins; that means any energy, intonation or passion that you’re employing in your speech can easily be lost.

Instead, look for images that marry nicely with the point you’re making. Images can be ‘read’ much more quickly than words, so the audience will take in the visual presented to them in just a few seconds before turning their attention back to you as you explain your key points.

#2 Don’t get carried away

Unless you’re applying for a PowerPoint specialist role, use slides sparingly. I was recently asked to review a presentation prepared by a colleague who had put together 64 slides for an hour long session. Absolutely everything was up there on the screen and it looked amazing, but there was no way it was all going to sink in with the audience. Add to this the pressure the colleague would have felt to whip through the slides and you have a recipe for a rushed presentation.

Adopt a less-is-more approach. One or two key slides per topic should open the door for you to verbally share the information you need to. If your slides are all valid, then think carefully about how long your session will last and how long you expect your colleagues to spend staring at a screen, particularly in a modern world where so many of them may be tuning in online with the temptation of emails, instant messaging and kids or pets to distract them.

#3 Do use SmartArt

Up until a few years ago I always shyed away from SmartArt: it looked like more effort than it was worth. I couldn’t have been more wrong. SmartArt is easy to use, does all of the fiddly formatting for you, and can be a great way to add colour and create visual stimulus out of plain text.

Bullet point lists can become flowcharts; key points can be softened in circles or emphasised through embossment. The opportunities are endless, and if you start small you’ll be amazed at how quickly your confidence will grow. For a beginner’s guide, try this YouTube tutorial.

#4 Don’t animate for animation’s sake

It can be tempting to add animation to give your slides the Wow factor, but it is more likely to irritate than engage. When you present without slides, the animation comes from your face, your hand gestures and your body language, so imagine how distracting it would be to watch a presenter whose body was constantly twitching one way or another – that’s how over use of animation comes across when slides are brought into the mix.

Aim to use animation only when it aids the presentation, such as the reveal of some information at a crucial time to match the moment you deliver a message verbally, or the fading of a message that is no longer relevant or required in favour of the appearance of its replacement. This more subtle approach turns the combination of presenter and slideshow into something greater than the sum of its parts.

#5 Do stay consistent

Decide on a style and stick to it. Many organisations will have a branded template that staff can use as their opening slide in any corporate presentation, but after that, anything goes! This can lead to a mish mash of fonts, font sizes, colours, image styles and image positioning that to the creator looks edgy, but to the audience just looks confusing.

People like consistency, so make your approach to each slide uniform in key aspects, such as the slide title and the positioning of the key focal point of the slide. This may feel boring, but it’s not PowerPoint’s job to make the slides leap off the page – it’s your job to do that with the way you explain the content.

PowerPoint offers so much more, but don’t run before you can walk. Unfortunately, it’s too easy for us to stop walking and start using slideshows as a crutch to lean on. These five tips will help you strike the balance between hobbling and running, and also create the space for you to deliver the slides in a memorable and effective manner.