5 Bits of PowerPoint Advice that will Land You in Presentation Prison

As a presentation designer, I've dealt with a wide array of clients.  Designers of all types probably have stories of clients who try their best to impart their own design advice, but go horribly wrong.  It's not their fault though and it never angers me.  A vast majority of the population have never been taught or researched on their own what effective PowerPoint design is.  Thus, most people don't even realize that the status quo (think bullet points, small font, clip-art, boomerang animations) is wildly ineffective. 

I wanted to share with you some of the presentation "advice" that has been imparted on me by clients that, if I had actually implemented them, would have landed me in presentation prison.  And surely in presentation prison they subject you to listening to hours of monotone presentations that are painfully boring and abrasive to your eyes, complete with the hammering duck.  All of these requests were really asked of me.  Naturally I don't answer them in real life as I answer them here.  I make the same points, only nicely.

1. That font is too big
   I'm sorry, what?  It's too big?  Too big for you to read?  How close is your face to the screen that you can't read a sentence/phrase that fits on a PowerPoint slide.  How big is this screen you're using?  I realize that using large fonts is startling to many because we're so used to squinting while trying to read bullet point sentences.  So to see a slide with just one big impactful word is a bit jarring.  However, using large font is effective and only makes it easier for everyone in the audience to read. 


2. I realize this graph is confusing.  How about we make it so small and have it appear and disappear so quickly that the audience only gets a glimpse of it.
   Presentations are created for nearly every industry and topic, so it is inevitable that the content and data displayed in a graph may be confusing to some.  However, if you believe it is important data that needs to be imparted, don't let the fact that it is a graph get in the way.  There are many ways to display your data without the dull, and even if there is a lot of data, you can use certain techniques to bring out what is most important.  That way the audience focuses on the important bit of the graph and understands that the rest is important but secondary.  Nancy Duarte's slide:ology book (see right column) does a great job of showing you how to creatively and simply display your data.


3. I know the presentation looks better with images and less text, but I need my bullet points to remember what I'm talking about
   This is unfortunate, because the presenter isn't addressing the real problem, which is the fact that he or she doesn't know their content well enough to be presenting it to an audience who is sacrificing their time (and sometimes money) to listen to them.  You don't "need" your bullet points, you need to PRACTICE!  It's not fair to the audience that they are subjected to a bullet point ridden PowerPoint presentation because the presenter failed to prepare and practice. 
   
   I realize that time is sometimes an issue.  Just today I was asked to give a short presentation with only 10 minutes to prepare.  In that case, with or without PowerPoint, it is still acceptable to bring notes with you.  Avoid having notes on a large sheet of paper - opt for index cards instead.  Olivia Mitchell offers some great tips about the lost art of notes at her blog.  


4. Don't worry about the number of slides.  If I can't get to them all, I'll just skip the last few.
   I'm not worried about the number of slides - I'm worried about you presenting all of your slides and delivering what you promised you would to your audience.  The number of slides is generally irrelevant.  I tend to use many slides, but other presenters have successfully used few, or none.  It's not about how many, it's how well. 
   
   Timing is essential.  I so often see presenters mistime their presentations and end up flying through the last few slides, so fast that I only get a fleeting glimpse of what's on them.  What if that was the most important information to me?  It's like having a story read to you but the last chapter is just skimmed over.  Make sure you practice your presentation enough so you know exactly (give or take a few minutes) how long it will take to deliver all of your slides.  If you may go over time, start removing them (but make sure you're not removing slides crucial to your story).  


5. Make sure my logo, website, and phone number is on every slide
   Of course, my first response is "why?"  Are you afraid that the audience is going to forget who they're talking to?  If so, you have a bigger problem.  Or will they want to call your 800 number during your presentation?  Or visit your website?  I hope not, because you're up there presenting! 
   
   It is absolutely not necessary to have this information on every slide.  You're chewing up valuable real estate if you're putting a logo/URL/phone number on every slide.  The first and last slide is perfectly fine.  It's a common understanding that contact info is usually found there.  Granted, it's not impossible to design a nice looking template which includes pieces of information like this, but it's rare. 

I get requests to do some wacky things when designing presentations.  I love my clients and I love when requests like these come up because it only fosters good discussion, which is always welcomed.  When you hire a presentation designer, you're not only paying for their design skills, but you're also paying for the time they spent researching this topic, along with related topics like brain research and principles of education. 

What are some crazy bits of PowerPoint advice or requests have you heard? 

Image courtesy of maistora on Flickr via Compfight

Comments

[Magda Maslowska]

I have a couple from the top of my head.

"It's ok, go ahead and make the font smaller". Oh ok thank you official authority on readability. As long as YOU say it's ok, I guess it really is. (can you tell I'm being sarcastic?) This is speaking about already SMALLEST allowable type on the slide. Usually when creating timelines, and the person wants to fit EVERYTHING from the date.

"Let's use yellow to highlight the text so it stands out" I blame yellow highlite markers for this. Business people and lawyers think it adds extra importance to words.

Anytime someone starts a sentence with "please fit as much of THIS on the slide as you can" usually providing a spreadsheet, a diagram, images, etc.

"Just make it look pretty". Usually referring to a slide full of text. As is formatting the type will make it all that better.

"Let's create ALL these slides, I will decide which ones I want to use when presenting."

"I need this text to "POP" more, can we have it blink as I speak"

[Andrew S]

"You know, this is a bit boring, but it could be better with sound effects!"

"You should have transitions for each lines...like those spirals...but not the typewriter effect. I hate that one."

"Why would you use a blank slide? That's so boring. Just keep the previous slide up there so they can think about it..."

all courtesy of my dear mother, who also believes that clip art is cute.

[Jonathan Thomas]

BLINK?!?!?!??!?!

[Jonathan Thomas]

Andrew,

Good call on the blank slide. I am actually going to write a post about the advantages of "going to the dark slide" (credit Adam St. John Lawrence for the term). It seems crazy to people until you explain the importance of returning the audience attention to the presenter.

Jon

[valarywithawhy]

I'd love to add something useful to this discussion but you nailed it. All I can add is Yes, Yes, a thousand times Yes. OK, have to go now and share this with everyone I know. :)

[Jonathan Thomas]

Valary,

Thanks so much!!

Jon

[Philpresents]

Hi Jon - feel free to borrow from my recent post on the 'dark slide'. I call it the World's Best Slide.

http://philpresents.com/2010/06/01/the-worlds-best-slide/

Great post here as always. We've also had the customer who sent us a deck of 50 slides, asked us to make them look nice, but couldn't answer a question on what he was actually going to talk about and what his key messages were. If only all presenters realized they need clear objectives and key messages before they even start to consider their slides!

Cheers,

Phil

[Joby Blume]

Jon - nice article. I'm not sure about number five - maybe the standard corporate template is there because companies know that their slides spread like wild-fire, and they don't want them ending up in the wrong places, unattributed? Not that it isn't easy to change the template... Visually it might not make sense to 'brand' every slide, but practically, I can understand why companies do it.

You might be interested in my article - Presentation Tips that Suck - http://www.m62.net/presentation-theory/presentation-best-practice/10-presentation-tips-that-suck/. It's a similar theme to this, really, but looks at some stuff that's accepted in some places as 'fact' - not just 'advice'.

The 10/20/30 'rule' is the one that gets me, because people who espouse it really think they know what they are talking about. It can be a useful guide, sure, but 'rule'?

[adamstjohn]

Actually, I think I said, ahem, (puts on deep voice and speaks into a glass jar while hissing)...

"Never underestimate the power of the Dark Slide"

Anyway, these are not the slides you are looking for, They are free to go.

Adam

[Theresa Walsh]

Brilliant and spot on points Jonathan!

It's so easy to get too deep into small details of our slides and forget about the big picture.

Good post!

[Jonathan Thomas]

Thanks Joby. I do understand why people use templates, but I really don't think "hijacking" and copyright issues are really valid arguments. If I ever send a presentation, it's via slideshare.net or a locked PDF. Even then, if someone wanted to copy my designs, it wouldn't be that hard. Sacrificing the look of my slides just to slow down "slide thieves" doesn't seem worth it to me.

I'm with you on the 10/20/30 "rule". It's a method, not a rule. In fact, there are many PowerPoint presentation methods.

Regards,
Jon

[Jonathan Thomas]

Thanks Theresa!

[Lisa Fields]

Jon,

When I explain I design presentations, many times I hear folks say "Oh, I know how to do PowerPoint/Keynote so I do myself."

I know I don't make my candle any brighter when I attempt to blow somebody else’s out. Unless I can show a potential customer some of my before and after examples I have found it difficult to explain the difference. If you have coaching ideas and or feedback I'd love to learn how you handle this objection.

Jon, I also agree it's not helpful to our audience when we are asked to
attach a company logo, website and/or phone number to every slide. I know some refer to this repetitive corporate identity as noise.

If I were making a simple verbal presentation with no visual aids I would never stop and mention the name of the company every few minutes. This additional information is distracting and makes a negative impact upon both the function and design of a slide deck. The goal is always to create a clean and clutter free slide presentation so our clients can concentrate upon the message from the presenter.

Great Post, I so enjoy your work.

Cheers,