Why is it so hard to wean people away from PowerPoint overload?
No one wants to sit through hard-to-read, text-heavy slides – yet that’s the type of default deck that can be found in most corporate presentations.
Amy Glass, a Senior Facilitator at BRODY Professional Development, has created a program called “Don’t Just Deck ‘Em” where she shares key points for designing more impactful slides.
Here are a few of her suggestions:
- Think of your slides like a billboard – use more visual images and less text
- Make the power of empty space work for you
- Choose visuals only for your most important points
- Maintain a consistent design
There’s a great deal of research being done regarding audience retention during presentations. According to John Medina, a molecular biologist at the University of Washington School of Medicine, when information is presented orally, people remember about 10 percent if they are tested 72 hours after exposure. When a picture is added, the figure goes up to 65 percent.
In other words – when creating your slides, use more pictures instead of words.