Written by: Marko Moshtaghi, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
We have all felt it, sitting in the meeting trying to digest a dense slide shown by the presenter. Seemingly totally disconnected from what the presenter is saying (or repeating the exact words from the slides). We are experiencing death by PowerPoint.
As a former management consultant and a current corporate trainer of more than a thousand business professionals on slide writing, I have seen it all. In this article, I want to show you four central communication principles to improve your slides. So that you can create convincing presentations and ensuring you get your point across.
Let's use the example slides below to navigate through these core slide writing principles. You will see how the page transforms as we implement the changes.
1. Only one key message per slide?
The most common mistake I see with slides is that they contain too much information! This could be too much analysis, charts, text, pictures or numbers. Usually this is a result of having a mindset:
“I want to show how much work I have done” vs. “This is truly what the audience needs to know”
In our example:
The last bullet point regarding Walmart profitability is removed (and it would be presented on a separate slide with more data to support and provide context for the claim).
Take away:
Before you create a slide, define the one key message you want to get across
Make sure that your slide only contains information that supports your key message (it’s better to have more slides, than one cramped one)
2. Key message comes across in the slide title
Make sure that the defined key message comes across in the title: Inform, don’t describe!
In our example, compare the two slide titles:
Original: “Market shares of top 21 players in the American grocery retail business”
Improved: ”Walmart with 17% market share dominates the American grocery retail business”
The original title is a description explaining what the audience should expect the slide to contain, but does not provide any useful insights.
The improved title tells the key message of the slide. The main message has already been delivered to the audience, before they even start digesting all the information on the slide body.
Take away:
Put a powerful key message on the slide title, instead of using the title to describe what the slide contains
Use “newspaper headline” style of wording in your slide title versus table of contents style
3. Slide design and elements guide the reader
Ensure that the design of your slides is simple and logical, so that the reader can easily understand what is presented on the slide, and how it supports your key message (your slide title).
Instead of only using long text heavy slides, try to replace some of the text with pictures, diagrams, charts or icons, so that the reader can also visualize the message for easy digestion. Further, clear visuals make your message more memorable!
In our example:
We increase focus on the top 10 players, by removing the detailed listing of all small players
Smaller players are then combined into “others” bucket to provide context and the full picture of market shares
We add a small arrow to show how the data (left hand side) supports the two key claims (right hand side) we make
Take away:
Choose the design and layout of your slide so that it best illustrates your point and easily guides the reader
Simplify your data sets and highlight the relevant numbers by choosing appropriate chart types
Think about what is truly needed to support your claims, instead of including all the info you have
4. Clear and simple language supports your message
Make sure the text has clear conclusions and is aligned with the key message your title aims to convey. Be careful not to overwhelm the reader with long text paragraphs.
In our example:
We have de-worded a lot of the text to only highlight the relevant info
Next we add sources at the bottom of the page to make space in the core slide body
Take away:
Define what you need to tell the audience to support your key message presented in the slide title
Ensure the language you use is concise and to the point, less is more
Utilizing these principles, I´m sure, you will have a significant improvement in your slide designs. More importantly you enhance your ability to convey your message, convince your audience, and get them to act in line with your recommendations!
Marko Moshtaghi, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Marko Moshtaghi is an enthusiastic corporate trainer and leadership coach with a passion for supporting organizations to unlock their people’s full potential and help them thrive at work. After spending years with the global management consultancy, Boston Consulting Group, designing and implementing new strategies he realized that it is not the new strategy that makes a company successful, but rather the people within it that does. Therefore he has as co-founded LAUMA Growth Group, a people development company teaching communication, leadership and problem-solving skills. Marko is best known for his captivating style where he blends knowledge, humour and storytelling to capture his audience in any setting.
