No More FrankenSlides! Tips for Better Presentations

Dr. Barrett Mosbacker

Dr. Barrett Mosbacker

— 2 min read

By Dr. Barrett Mosbacker

April 19, 2014

If you are a leader or a teacher, you probably use PowerPoint or Apple’s Keynote. Nothing personal, but you are probably using them incorrectly and, in the process, boring your audience.

I have.

Not wishing to bore my audience, I have read several excellent books on presentation design and delivery. What I have learned has transformed the way I design presentations. No more FrankenSlides.

Here are some tips that will make your presentations stand out from the dreaded “PowerPointless” presentations we have all endured.

Rules for Better Presentations

  • Do Not Read From Your Slides

    • There is one cardinal rule you must never violate: do not read from your slides. Your slides are not a teleprompter. Memorize your presentation or use a separate document for your notes.

  • Use Very Little Text

    • Because you will not be reading from your slides, you will use very little text. There are several reasons for this.

    • You are not going to read from your slides.
    • You do not want your audience reading your slides; you want them listening to and engaging with you. You want eye contact, not slide contact.
    • Text on slides is hard to read.
    • Text on slides is visually unappealing.

  • Use Bullet Points Sparingly

    • Almost never use bullet points. Since you will use very little text, you will seldom, if ever, need them.

  • Use Blank Templates

    • Use only the blank templates in your presentation software. The other templates encourage or force you to violate the rules above.

  • Use Good Photos and Graphics

    • Do not use clipart. Always use good graphics and excellent photos. Take the time — and it does take time — to find and format quality graphics and slide layouts.

  • Keep Graphs Simple

    • Keep tables and graphs simple. They should be easy to understand at a glance.

  • Less Is More

    • Eliminate everything you do not need. Then remove more.

  • Leave Plenty of Empty Space

    • Empty space is your friend. Crowded and busy slides are hard to understand and visually unappealing.

  • Use Few Special Effects

    • Use transition and animation effects sparingly. They may seem engaging, but they are distracting. If you use them at all, choose them carefully, apply them judiciously, and be consistent.

  • Keep Fonts Simple

    • Use no more than three fonts and match them to the idea or illustration on the slide.

  • Proofread

    • Proof your presentation for typos and spelling errors. Errors on screen are embarrassing for you and distracting for your audience.

  • Prepare Handouts

    • Prepare handouts or copies of your presentation to share with your audience afterward. Research on learning suggests that audiences retain very little of a presentation after twenty-four hours. A handout extends the life of your content.

  • Have a Paper Backup

    • Carry a paper backup copy of your notes. Hardware fails, software freezes, and Murphy’s Law will make an appearance. Technical difficulties are uncomfortable for everyone — and they are another good reason not to rely on your slides as speaking notes.

    Resources

    For those who wish to go deeper, Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds is an excellent and accessible guide to presentation design and delivery. Stock photo libraries and illustration services are widely available online for sourcing quality visuals.

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