Emotional Attachments

I was asked to critique a PowerPoint presentation for a group of colleagues. Having written "Dodging the Bullet Points", and co-authored "Panic to Power Audio CD", I was the obvious choice for this task.

The presenters are all IT professionals. They are presenting the results of a study. The presenters fell into the trap that most PowerPoint presenters fall into, namely:

Step 1 - Open PowerPoint.
Step 2 - Dump all known facts about the topic into PowerPoint.
Step 3 - Voila - we have a presentation.

Fortunately the presenters are receptive to wise feedback and made adjustments to simplify the slides while slashing the volume of text on the slides. Their presentation will stand out from presentations by their peers.

Here's the part which most presenters have trouble with - becoming emotionally attached to text. For example, if your slide lists the top 12 causes for divorce, then at most, discuss three causes with your audience. Why? Because your audience will not remember all twelve causes. You will succeed and can feel proud if your audience walks out and remembers three reasons.

Now - if it is essential for your audience to remember all twelve causes for divorce, then put it on a handout for audience members to take home.

Every time I recommend a presenter slash the text and number of bullet points I see them go into shock. First, the presenter defends their decision to list all twelve points on the slide. Then they want to keep it, but only speak to two or three points. I stop negotiating at the point where we have three bullet points on the slide and the remainder in the notes section of the presentation. Hey - at least it is off the slide and out of view from the audience!!

Do not become emotionally attached to the volume of text on your slides. If you cannot remember all the points on your slide without reading your slide to your audience, then how do you think your audience will remember all of your points?

Rather have your two strongest points on a slide then support and illustrate your points with examples and stories that demonstrate these two points. Your audience will thank you and possibly remember your points as well.