When you work on PowerPoint, you’re doing a huge number of technical things related to the software itself. You’re trying to get the font size right, make the graphics line up, ensure the Agenda is complete, work out how to do that (probably unnecessary) bit of animation, worrying why Microsoft put your favourite button in another place in their latest update...
Plus, you’re sitting at your desk – email, phone, colleagues can all interrupt whatever ‘flow’ is really possible.
How on earth can you focus on content like that?
Try out this new technique. You will completely surprise yourself at how much of your story will emerge from your head and onto the page in an incredibly short time.
Better still, you’ll find yourself forming phrases that will appear in the presentation and you’ll gain a clearer picture of the whole story, which will convey itself to the audience when you deliver it.
The result will be a quicker path to reaching the core of your presentation; you’ll lead the audience through your message as if it’s a story; and they’ll feel there is a conclusion and a clear reason why they are listening.
1.12 Keep the details on your slides to a minimum
As we’ve acknowledged, PowerPoint is not in itself the presentation; it’s a part of your platform from which you are going to present. The objective is for the slides to support your story.
Let’s be clear on this. there is no need to tell your whole story in the presentation slides. You are going to do that yourself with your words, voice and attitude.