The TextUnread Rule

The Great TextUnread rule states: "The more text displayed on a PowerPoint slide, the less likely the presenter will read or explain the text, and the more likely the presenter will skip over the slide with a lame excuse.

Such excuses include, but are not limited to those listed below" (My comments are in parenthesis).

1. This slide is busy on purpose. (Why, why would anyone purposely create a slide that is busy? Your purpose as a presenter is to clarify and assist your audience to understand your message. Why would you place obstacles in the path of your communication to the audience?)

2. I know that you can't read this slide, but it illustrates my point. (What point? That you are an idiot to create a slide that you know no-one can read?)

3. I won't go through this now, but you can read it after my presentation. (Wait - let me understand how little you value my time in the audience. First, you created a slide that you did not intend to discuss with me. Then you did not rehearse your presentation where you would have seen that this slide should clearly have been culled from your presentation. Now, after you have insulted me by wasting my precious time, you think that I am going to invest more time trying to decipher your slide. I don't think so. Your busy slide does not motivate me to want to invest time reading your slide as a result of your lack of preparation.)

Over the next few weeks, as you observe presenters wade through "busy" slides with poor excuses, make a pledge to yourself to never, ever fall foul of the Great TextUnread rule yourself. keep your visually impactful slides simple and to your point.

Always limit the amount of text on your slides. Remember that less text on the screen means more probability that it will be conveying your carefully crafted message.