A friend and former colleague of mine recently emailed me and asked, “What does the perfect PowerPoint presentation look like?”
Great question, but also a tough one because the answer changes for every audience. It’s impossible to show a visual example of the perfect presentation – what’s suitable for one setting is useless in another. But, when thinking generally about the role of PowerPoint (or other presentation software) in a presentation, I think the following rule is fairly on-point:
The perfect PowerPoint presentation enhances the words coming out of the presenter’s mouth with the least amount of content.
Let’s break that sentence down into its two parts and analyze both.
1. “Enhances the words coming out of the presenter’s mouth.”
The word “enhance” suggests that the slides are there to improve a message that’s already being shared. That’s because the presentation is you, not the slides. As such, the core message needs to come from you, not from the slides. They exist to support your content, not contain it. You’re the main act, your slides are the supporting cast. You’re Batman, your slides are Robin.
Most presentations are bad because presenters flip this role. They make the slides the focus, and they cower off to the side adding some additional commentary here and there. The key to giving a great presentation is using less technology and more you.
2. “With the least amount of content.”
I use and advocate what I call the “five second rule,” defined as follows:
Whenever you put something in front of an audience to make a point, they should be able to get it within five seconds.
This means that, when using slides, the audience should be able to absorb the content and bring their focus back to you within 5 seconds of the slide appearing on-screen. If your slides are full of information, they become intimidating and confusing. The audience doesn’t know what to focus on, so they choose to focus on nothing. Following the “five second rule” by showing just one clear and simple idea per slide allows you to:
- Get your point across quickly before people tune out.
- Bring the attention immediately back to you and your commentary.
What type of content can be easily processed within five seconds? Pictures, super simple charts, and short snippets of text (e.g., quotes or statistics) displayed in a large font size are all good ideas. They’ll add extra clarity to the points you’re making verbally without interfering or confusing your audience.
In summary, the perfect PowerPoint presentation backs up your existing message, then gets out of the way. It’s the supporting actor that helps move the story forward, not the leading role. Never forget that you’re the star of the show. After all, your body animates way better than PowerPoint.