Blended working has led to an increase in online presentations and course delivery. This requires far greater concentration compared to in-person events. It’s all too easy for participants to switch off if your slide content is not engaging. It’s tempting for attendees to sneak a look at their messages or social media and not give you their undivided attention. It’s also harder to monitor audience engagement when you’re not physically ‘in the room.’ It’s therefore critical to ensure your audience wants to engage with you and that your content commands their attention.
I have endured some dreadful presentations; text-heavy slides, complex diagrams, tiny font size and inputs that exceeded my ability to concentrate (around 20 minutes).
As I was preparing to refresh some of my slide presentations a colleague serendipitously recommended a TEDx talk on this exact topic. So all credit goes to David JP Phillips for the tips in his talk.
Phillips makes a number of observations which explain why we find it hard to engage with poorly designed slide content. Understanding this makes it easier to take these into account when creating presentations.
His talk video entertainingly demonstrates each of the following five key points:
- One message per slide. Our working memory is very limited, so overloading content onto slides means you simply can’t absorb the all the words on the screen. You should have just one message per slide. Don’t be tempted to cram content on to fewer slides. Having more slides is not a problem. Keep your text short and have one image to amplify your message. Don’t read out text on the screen verbatim. People cannot read and listen at the same time. Use the ppt ‘Notes’ section to capture what you want to say and read from your notes.
- Content is more important than the heading. The most important part of a slide is not the headline, it’s the content. So make the headline smaller and the content larger (i.e. the opposite way round to a standard ppt template).
- Beware distractions. People are distracted by moving objects, contrasting images, big objects and by red, orange and yellow. So leave your clown outfit in the wardrobe. Beware using these colours and of your own visual background as a presenter.
- Use a dark background. The ppt Background should be dark, not white. A darker shade is far more restful on the eyes and therefore less tiring for participants.
- Use a maximum of 6 points. Six is the maximum number of points on a slide that the brain can cope with. Go through each point, illuminating them one at a time so the others fade into the background.
In conclusion:
Remember that you are your presentation. Use your slides to enhance and reinforce your messages and to make your content memorable. Have fun watching others’ presentations. Play ‘slide bingo’ to see whether others follow the principles above. Share the TEDx talk and tips with your colleagues. And remember to refresh your own slide content.
What are your top tips- as either presenter or consumer of others’ content?
Everything is designed. Few things are designed well. Brian Reed.