slides to keep your audience awake

Here’s a way to keep your audience from falling asleep.

Look at a typical PowerPoint

slide like this one.

Title of this slide

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Series 3

Series 2

Series 1

This is the text

important point 1

another important thing

really important!

Things I want to say

point 4

point 5

point 6

point 7

point 8

X Y Z C o m p a n y , s i n c e 1 9 8 4 !LOGO

Cognitive scientists say

that most people can only

process around 5 to 7

pieces of information at

one time.

More than that, they start

getting confused.

Title of this slide

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Series 3

Series 2

Series 1

This is the text

important point 1

another important thing

really important!

Things I want to say

point 4

point 5

point 6

point 7

point 8

X Y Z C o m p a n y , s i n c e 1 9 8 4 !LOGO

How much information is

on that typical slide?

Let’s count.

6 large elements:1. The t i t le

2. The graph

3. Big bul let 1

4. Big bul let 2

5. The company name

6. The company logo

6 smaller elements:1. The labels on the x-axis

2. The labels on the y-axis

3. The labels on the colors

4. The bars on the graph

5. The 3 bul lets under big point 1

6. The 5 bul lets under big point 2

There are 5 kinds of color.

Title of this slide

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Series 3

Series 2

Series 1

This is the text

important point 1

another important thing

really important!

Things I want to say

point 4

point 5

point 6

point 7

point 8

X Y Z C o m p a n y , s i n c e 1 9 8 4 !LOGO

There are 5 different fonts

and one emphasized text.

Title of this slide

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Series 3

Series 2

Series 1

This is the text

important point 1

another important thing

really important!

Things I want to say

point 4

point 5

point 6

point 7

point 8

X Y Z C o m p a n y , s i n c e 1 9 8 4 !LOGO

And there is a mixture of

shapes (bullets, logo, bars

on graph, etc.)

Title of this slide

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Series 3

Series 2

Series 1

This is the text

important point 1

another important thing

really important!

Things I want to say

point 4

point 5

point 6

point 7

point 8

X Y Z C o m p a n y , s i n c e 1 9 8 4 !LOGO

You can count as well as I can.

Way more than 7 pieces of

information.

No wonder audiences

are getting confused

and falling asleep.

What to do?

Remove the logo and the

company name.

You showed them a t the beg inn ing , you ’ l l

show them a t the end , they ’ re on your

handouts and your bus iness cards , and

you were in t roduced. I t ’s j us t ex t ra

i n fo rmat ion a t th is po in t .

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Series 3

Series 2

Series 1

Title of this slide

This is the text

important point 1

another important thing

really important!

Things I want to say

point 4

point 5

point 6

point 7

point 8

Remove the title.

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Series 3

Series 2

Series 1

This is the text

important point 1

another important thing

really important!

Things I want to say

point 4

point 5

point 6

point 7

point 8

Make a tit le slide.

I f you fee l i t i s necessary to have a

t i t l e , make a t i t l e s l ide .

Then ge t on to the con ten t .

Title of this section

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Series 3

Series 2

Series 1

This is the text

important point 1

another important thing

really important!

Things I want to say

point 4

point 5

point 6

point 7

point 8

Remove some of the bullets.

Why are the bu l le t po in ts there?

I f you rea l l y want the aud ience to read

them, then keep them.

I f they a re fo r the p resen te r to read ,

wel l ,

wr i te them on a no tecard…

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Series 3

Series 2

Series 1

This is the text

important point 1

another important thing

really important!

Put the graph on its own

slide.

I f you a re ta lk ing about the g raph ,

then ta lk abou t the g raph .

Make i t b ig enough fo r everyone to see .

Make i t c lear.

What i s impor tan t about the g raph?

Exp la in i t w i th no d is t rac t ions .

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Category 1 Category 2 Category 3 Category 4

Series 3

Series 2

Series 1

Give the graph a tit le.

Otherw ise , peop le ge t con fused.

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Category 1 Category 2 Category 3 Category 4

Series 3

Series 2

Series 1

title of the graph

Put the bullets on their own slide.

Make the tex t la rge enough to read f rom the back

of the room.

Remember tha t we can rea l l y on ly comfor tab ly

process 5 th ings a t a t ime. Make sure there a re

never too many po in ts .

Group them in an unders tandab le way.

• This is the text

• important point 1

• another important thing

• really important!

Change to an easy font.

Sans ser i f f on ts can be read eas i l y f rom fa r.

They a lso work be t te r w i th weaker beamers o r

when there i s too much l igh t in the room.

This is the text

• important point 1

• another important thing

• really important!

Keep the audience with you.

Put the bu l le t po in ts on a ser ies o f s l ides so

t ha t they appear when you are ready to ta lk

about them.

This is the text

This is the text

important point 1

This is the text

important point 1

another important thing

This is the text

important point 1

another important thing

really important!

The idea is to communicate,

rather than to confuse.

So,

The next time you see this on

your screen.

Title of this slide

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Series 3

Series 2

Series 1

This is the text

important point 1

another important thing

really important!

Things I want to say

point 4

point 5

point 6

point 7

point 8

X Y Z C o m p a n y , s i n c e 1 9 8 4 !LOGO

Please change it.

Or, you could just pass out

pillows and blankets in order

to help your audience sleep

better.