There are 6 elements we should check when putting our visuals together. Review this checklist before you start building the slide deck and your presentation will be much more impactful and successful.
1. Make sure you are boss of the visuals and not the other way around
Often, the speaker is overshadowed by the visuals and everyone’s attention is directed toward the screen. We must remember that the screen has limited persuasion power compared to using our facial expressions. We can express disbelief, shock, bemusement, horror, joy, doubt, concentration, scepticism, engagement, hostility, agreement, happiness, etc. No screen can do that and we should be combining our words with our facial expression to really drive home the point we want to make.
We must make the visuals our servant and not allow them to become our master. You see a lot of presenters who are almost invisible, because they have yielded control to what is up on the screen. We should stand stage left to the screen because we read from left to right. We want the audience to be captured by our voice and facial expression and then they look at what is on the screen, rather than just looking at the screen and ignoring us.
If you find that the audience are not looking at you, just stop speaking. That pattern interrupt will draw them all back to your face to find out what is going on. We should also be using our eyes to look directly at members of the audience for six seconds and speak to them One-On-One. That technique has a powerful magnetic grip on our listeners. However, be careful, we can only hold that pressure for six seconds per person or it becomes too intrusive.
2. Tiny fonts are not useful
We have all seen it. The presenter puts up a slide and the font sizes are tiny. Just to rub insult into the wound, they sometimes say dumb things like “I know you cannot read this but….”. But what? Why on earth do we have to sit there and look at a screen that we cannot read?
The Golden Rule with any slide is that if the viewer cannot get the main point within two seconds, then the slide is too complicated. This is especially the case with fonts. Make sure the fonts are big enough to read easily and if there is a fear of not being able to get them to the right size, then that slide probably needs to be broken into two or more slides. This is usually the solution for most slide shows. Get the information on to more slides and then we can easily enlarge the detail on the slide to make it easier to read.
One way to check the sizes are correct during the production process is to print out the slide and place it on the floor in front of you when standing. If you cannot read the detail, then more work is needed to adjust the size so that you can read it at a distance.
3. Graphs, graphs and more graphs
Seeing six graphs on a screen is not uncommon in many presentations. The obvious problem with this idea is that the fonts and numbers are so small, it is impossible to read what is on the graph. In general, the Chart Golden Rule is one graph per slide. That allows us to make the graphs large enough to be easy to parse.
Bar charts are a great tool for comparisons. We can contrast results spread over one or two years. More than that and the bar charts become hard to read.
If we need to see a comparison over longer periods of time then line charts are the best for that. Again, we should probably cap things at three variable because once we get over that number it looks like spaghetti and you have trouble following what is going on.
Pie charts are good for comparing shares of something. Two pie charts are the limit in this regard, because after that it gets hard to see what is on the screen.
4. White space is good
A lot of presentations are trying to cram all the information on to one slide. The various contents are now competing for our attention. Leaving a lot of white space on the screen is an excellent way of highlighting key information and forcing the audience to concentrate on the one thing we want to emphasise. Putting up one number in large font or one word is very powerful. There is only one thing to look at and we can talk to that number and elaborate on why that number or word is significant.
5. Use one photo and attach some mystery
“A picture is worth a thousand words” is a great saying and very true. It really allows us to make our point. We could carry this to the extreme and put up lots of photos, but we are defeating our aim of getting our message across. We are splitting our audience’s attention too thinly.
If we can include people in the photo, then that is even more attractive as we love to see people’s faces compared to cityscapes or landscapes. We are drawn to look at people’s faces. Knowing that, we can find a photo which has that element and which will assist us to make our key point.
For example, if we were talking about the problem of homelessness in San Francisco we could put up some graphs tracing the development of the problem over time. We could also put up a photograph of the homeless and the latter will have a lot more impact than the graph. We can make the same point, but the power is totally different. Always think about where we can use photos to make our point.
We could put up a photo and label it to explain why this photo is important. An even better idea is to tease our audience and just put up a photo and that is all. The audience are looking at it wondering what it means and that ensures we have their 100% attention for when we explain the significance behind the photo.
6. Control the colour exuberance
Too much detail on a slide is bad because we make the audience work hard to understand what they are looking at. Once we introduce more than two colours on a slide, we have increased the degree of difficulty of comprehension substantially. Yes, a couple of colours can provide some contrast and relief from the boredom of just one colour throughout the presentation. We shouldn’t go crazy though and assume more is better. As with everything in the visual presentation world “less is more”. So we need to be careful with colour usage and not let it distract from our key message.
Most people don’t do a good job of their presentations. They spend most of their preparation time on the slide deck construction, rather than allowing important time for rehearsal. Use this checklist to make sure your slides are adding value to your talk. By avoiding these mistakes you can create the time needed for rehearsal and your talk will be all the better for it.
It's been a while since I attended a highly technical talk by serious experts. The audience, however, was not as expert, so the two speakers knew they were addressing a less specialized group. Complex topics require special handling.Piling a lot of data onto one slide is a big no-no, but that didn’t stop our intrepid, geeky speakers. One of them, a retired professor, you’d think would be better at this given he taught it at a university. Perhaps I’m too optimistic about academics and technical specialists having actual teaching abilities compared to their true passion—research.
Most of the slides were terrible.There was one slide, in particular, that showed a key timeline and included important projections into the future. It looked amazing.Yet, I still wonder what it said. The font was so tiny, and there were so many colours. Audience members like me had no ability to decipher the actual content. This slide was crucial, given the future implications of the technology they were discussing.
So folks, the simple lesson here is to carefully consider how you present information on-screen. If it’s too complex, provide handouts so attendees can at least grasp what is going on. If you are going to show difficult content on-screen, make the fonts large, and keep the slides simple and easy to understand. Also, please scale back on the wild color palettes.
As I sat there, I thought that horizontal timeline could have been magnified on the next slide to highlight key turning points in the continuum. It could have been like a blow-up of a part of the timeline, with the rest of the sequence becoming background wallpaper. The key components would be magnified on-screen for easy digestion, or they could have just broken up the timeline into larger sections on separate slides. None of this is complex.These were seriously well-educated, intelligent people giving this presentation. So, there's no doubt this is not beyond them. But if you don’t get it, you don’t get it.
The subject is absolutely topical and exciting, yet the talk was very dry. Like many technical people, they got lost in the tech aspects.This might be fine for a presentation to scientists or specialists, but we, the audience, were not as familiar with the finer points. In this case, a different approach should have been taken.
The visuals need to be more simplified. Key points should be kept clear and accessible. Analogies are a wonderful tool for taking complex, difficult subjects and making them clearer. For example, strategic plans are like gelato. Initially, this seems puzzling—what’s the connection between ice cream and business planning? But just like with gelato, we have many flavors and options. We don’t know which is best until we taste them. Similarly, a strategic plan might seem comprehensive, but we won’t know if it works until we execute it.
The speakers also missed the opportunity to use storytelling.
We were stuck at a theoretical and technical level, with no stories to elevate the key points.This area of science is full of stories—about the scientists, breakthroughs, triumphs, and setbacks. But we didn’t hear any of that. There was no “flesh on the bones” of the science.Think about how complex technical subjects are presented in movies or TV dramas. Progress is always depicted through a rich tapestry of stories.That talk was just yesterday, but right now, I can’t recall the name of even one key person who contributed to the rise of the technology, nor do I have any stories to tie the information together. This is key: stories are like glue.They help us connect complex topics over time by creating a narrative about who was involved, what they did, where and when it happened, and the outcomes.
Drama grabs our interest and holds our attention.Without stories, it was hard for the speakers to connect with their non-technical audience. Even harder to make the key messages memorable. Hammering the audience with facts and details doesn’t ensure the message gets through. I can’t recall any of the statistics they shared. Had they wrapped those numbers in a story, I might remember. So, technical presenters, be sure to craft stories we can all recall later.
Make sure that what’s presented visually is simplified so we can easily absorb the key points. Analogies are a great tool for explaining complex subjects and should be in every technical speaker’s toolbox. Having an amazing brain and decades of research experience won’t help if you can’t engage your audience and convey your message effectively.
As a vigorous networker, constantly in motion, always looking for new clients, I attend a lot of events. Usually there are speakers or panel discussions or sometimes both. In this regard, I probably see over 100 people a year presenting in Japan. One consistent theme across all of these presentations is the lack of understanding of the “ba” (場) when speaking. This “ba” in Japanese means the physical locale or place or occasion, in this context. What I notice is that the speakers are confusing the “ba” as a presenter.
They address the audience in the same voice strength, body language projection and gesture application, as they would use if they were sitting together having a chat over coffee with their friend. You might wonder why they would do that when they are there facing an audience of fifty people or more? Why can’t they scale up what they are doing to suit the much larger assembly? Don’t they feel the need to engage the entire audience once they have been given the shot to address the masses?
Basically, they have no clue because they have never received any training on presenting. Their only reference point is coffee chats with a friend and they just keep that template for the larger occasion. Now I am sure they have seen someone present professionally, but I feel there must be a mental disconnect between what they are witnessing and how they see themselves.
Perhaps even that is too optimistic for Japan, because they may have never seen a professional presentation here because they are so rare. Regardless, if they have ever seen a professional presentation they were just observers rather than students. They didn’t see what was going on as a model. They were just passive audience members observing someone else going through the motions. Once you have been trained, you automatically become a critic and keen observer of what the speaker is doing, because you have a range of relevant reference points to compare against.
The combination of panelists and speakers I saw in a recent event had a common theme – no differentiation of the “ba” for this occasion and chatting over coffee with a friend. The voices were quiet. The energy low to non-existent. The body language turned off completely. No passion, no highlights, no take-aways, no persuasion attempted. It was as flat as a pancake.
Yet here were a large number of company representatives giving their ideas on a particular subject, without much in the way of real commitment or passion. A number of them were youngish, if late twenties- early thirties counts as youngish. Is that an excuse? I don’t think so. Whatever age they were, no one on that stage had given much thought to what they were doing and what they wanted to achieve. It was obvious that representing their firm well as professionals was not in their minds. And yet here they were – on stage speaking to us in the audience.
Just speaking more strongly would have made a big difference. Not yelling. They had microphones so there was no need for yelling but there was a big need to more vocal power and especially hitting key words. It was all a series of monotone deliveries, one after another. There was no passion for their subject or their point of view and that is a death sentence in the persuasion business.
No storytelling either. They gave up such a major opportunity to connect with their audience by telling personal stories which would have made the point they were getting at. It was just a lot of talking without much to say really and so very disappointing. Engaging the crowd was not in their minds whatsoever. This makes sense if coffee chats are your only reference point for presenting. One-on-one over coffee you don’t have to project yourself, engage the other person or lift your voice.
The average person is just not trained to know what to look for. At the event, I was chatting with a female lawyer about how poor lawyers are as speakers at their own seminars where they are trying to find clients. She had no idea what I was talking about. As it turned out the hosting firm’s senior legal counsel gave a speech at the event and afterwards I referenced it to my lawyer companion, as an example of what the problem is with the way lawyers are trained. She had just seen the same speech, but she couldn’t distinguish what was missing. Like most people she had no clue what to look for. I gave her some examples from the talk and I could see a glimmer of a lightbulb going on inside her mind. A faint glimmer to be sure.
The coffee chat “ba” and the stage “ba” are totally different. On stage we have to be more. Bigger, bolder, louder, more energized, more persuasive , more engaging. We have to be “on”, rather than passive and acting like a spectator, when in fact we are the main act.
This seems a ridiculous construct – of course we when we are presenting in business we shouldn’t lie. However, look at what is happening in the rest of the world. Kellyanne Conway introduced “alternative facts” into the American political debate to explain lies. Donald Trump rails against the fake media and fake news. It would appear that many people, including leading Republicans, think he lies a lot, and yet half of the American electorate support him. Are we now in a free fall where anything goes? I know this is dangerous territory to wade into, because to paraphrase basketball legend and entrepreneur Michael Jordan, “Republicans also buy sneakers and corporate training”.
Donald Trump wrote in the Art Of the Deal that, “I call it truthful hyperbole. It’s an innocent form of exaggeration – and a very effective form of promotion”. This idea is often linked to German Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels quote, “If you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes the truth”.
So when we are presenting, is it allowed to introduce exaggeration? You could answer that question by applying a gauge on the extent of the exaggeration. Is a small exaggeration acceptable or is the line struck such that no exaggerations are allowed? In Japan, at least, I would suggest that no one in business uses any “truthful hyperbole” or “alternative facts”, or exaggeration whatsoever.
This whole focus on fake news has created an audience full of cynics and doubters. We all feel it. Every single day, I receive multiple fake emails and messages trying to get me to click on their attachment, or give them information so that they can rob me. These fakes are getting better and better in sophistication. More and more often, I have to contact the firm they are claiming to be from, to check they actually sent me that email or not. Back in the day, you took your chances outside with highwaymen and pirates. Today the modern era equivalents come over the internet through your email provider. As a consequence, we are all highly tuned up on fakery and dirty dealings.
As a presenter, if we start exaggerating, our audience will doubt not just that point we are making, they will doubt every subsequent word which comes out of our mouth. They will also warn all of their friends and colleagues to be careful of us, because we cannot be trusted, because we are a bold faced liar.
As presenters, recognising that the world is spiralling further and further down, with political discourse peppered with lies, we have to differentiate ourselves or some of this mud will get attached to us as well. The way to do that is to offer proof, evidence, data, statistics, testimonials demonstrations, exhibits etc. If we show a slide with a reference to some data, we need to include the source of that data. Probably 99% of the audience won’t check it, but it doesn’t matter, we have to presume they will all check it and we need our information to be tight. If we make a claim we have to be able to back it up with proof that what we are saying is true. We have to see the audience in front of us as one filled with battle hardened sceptics and supreme doubters and prepare accordingly.
We must also realise this is only going to get worse and that the doubt factor will be applied to more and more of what we say. We have to be very, very careful about making statements which stand on their own. An opinion is fine and we have to flag it as exactly that, an opinion. Every other statement needs to be surrounded by provable evidence.
The key is in the preparation. We have an important message we want to get across. What are the main points we will make and what proof do we offer to back up our claims. That evidence has to be verifiable and cannot be “alternative facts” or “truthful hyperbole” or subtle exaggeration. Depending on the situation we might distribute some additional documents which nominate the sources for what we are saying to head off any doubt arising in the minds of the listeners. As things degrade further, we can be proactive about it, rather than trusting that people will take what we say at face value. As I mentioned earlier with slides, we definitely have to include the references to any data or claims we are making.
“If in doubt leave it out” is always good advice when stitching the presentation together. If I see a slide with a reference to statistics from 2019, I wonder why is the speaker showing such outdated data and why can’t they offer something more credible. Are they cunning, lazy or stupid? Now, both their point and they themselves are firmly placed in my “highly doubtful box”.
In Japan, by the way, official government statistics are usually three years out of date. What should be an official, reliable source of information is made dubious by its antiquity. We have to be very careful about claims we make and the proof we offer to back them up. As usual, the Americans are leading the way for the rest of the world to become highly sceptical about what we are all being told. This pungent mud can stick to us as presenters too, no matter where we are located.
Tell the truth, back up what you say with verifiable data and avoid “alternative facts”, “truthful hyperbole” and exaggeration. This is the path forward if we want to be regarded as credible presenters.