Dec 28, 2012, 05.01AM IST
By: Abhijit Bhaduri
Slides have become the weapons of mass destruction in organizations... The trick (of a great presentation) lies in (offering visuals) that will tell the
story.
Here are some rules about making slides that I have learnt from
the Zen masters.
1. SLIDES ARE FOR AUDIENCE, NOT SPEAKER
That means, slides are not meant to be used as a teleprompter.
Do not
read off the slides! The
audience will always read them ahead and not focus on what you have to
say for the first point on the slide.
Need notes? Make sure they are bullet points, NOT complete sentences (or a
paragraph of text).
If you need to refer to a document or a spreadsheet, rather than putting that document/spreadsheet onto a slide, print it out for the audience to refer to.
The slides are memory aides for the
audience, not for the speaker.
2. LESS INFORMATION MAKES IT EASIER TO RECALL
I once saw the head of one of the largest banks hold the audience
spellbound with just 3 slides.
She spoke for an hour about the
evolution of private banking in India. Each slide had the name of a
common bird: pigeon, crow and eagle, which she used as metaphors. She
got a standing ovation at the end of her presentation.
Be miserly with the words you use on
a slide. Avoid having more
than 4-5 words on a slide. Telegraphic language is better than writing full paragraphs.
3. SAY IT VISUALLY THROUGH GRAPHICS
Use graphics to create a visual summary of the idea on the slide. Use original photography whenever possible to demonstrate that your presentation is also unique. \
Use graphics to help the audience remember the
conclusion from data tables or pie charts. If you want people to
remember that they can save 15% of their marketing budget by using your
services, just write the number 15% on the slide as you explain to the
audience how that would happen.
4. TRY IT OUT
After you
have made the slides, have someone sit through your presentation and
listen to you practise your presentation. At the end, ask the person to
describe the slides they remember.
Those are the only slides you should
retain. The human mind cannot remember more than seven pieces of
information, says an oft-quoted piece of research.
