One of the most common mistakes we see in PowerPoint presentations is that there is too much text.
A large amount of text on a slide is harder for your audience to read and digest, and their attention will be on what they are trying to read, instead of staying focused on you and what you are saying.
Here are our top three tips to improve text heavy slides:
Tip 1. Cut back on text
As a guideline, each PowerPoint slide should contain;
- One main idea
- If it doesn’t fit on a post-it-note then you have too much going on
- A maximum of six bullet points (although we recommend avoiding bullet points)
- A maximum of six words per bullet point
Tip 2. Move your text into the speaker notes
The speaker notes section of your presentation was designed to assist with the delivery of your presentation. Move as much of the copy into the notes section and use that as a prompt when presenting. Remember that these are your cues and are not meant to be read by your audience.
Tip 3. Covert each text heavy slide into a visual format
You can do this by:
- Creating diagrams
- Using a graph
- Including infographics
- Using photography
- Adding icons
- Using a hero image with a statement, quote or idea
The reasons for converting text heavy slides into a visual format speak for themselves:
- 90% of the information processed by the brain is visual
- The human brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text
- Your audience is six times more likely to recall what you have presented
- 80% of people will remember what they see as opposed to 10% of what they hear and 20% of what they read
This…?
Or This…?
Do you need help with visualisation in your presentation? Contact
the PowerPoint presentation design experts at Slidesho today!
