slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations Paperback Kindle

If a slide contains more than 75 words, it has become a document. You can either reduce the amount of content on the slide and put it in the notes, or admit that this is a document and not a presentation. If it is the latter, host a meeting instead of a presentation, and circulate the slideument ahead of time or allow the audience to read it at the start. Then you can use the remainder of the meeting to discuss the content and build action plans.

Presentations with 50 or so words per slide serve as a teleprompter. This less-than-engaging approach often results from a lack of time spent rehearsing the content, and is the default style of many professionals. Unfortunately, presenters who rely on the teleprompter approach also usually turn their backs to the audience. The audience may even perceive such presenters as slow, as the audience reads ahead and has to wait for the presenter to catch up.

True presentations focus on the presenter and the visionary ideas and concepts they want to communicate. The slides reinforce the content visually rather than create distraction, allowing the audience to comfortably focus on both. It takes an investment of time on the part of the presenter to develop and rehearse this type of content, but the results are worth it.