Slides That Help Instead Of Distract

Slides have one job: to support the thing you are saying. The moment a slide competes with your voice, both lose.

The room reads faster than you can speak, so a slide full of sentences turns the audience into readers. Once they are reading, they are no longer listening.

Put words in your mouth, not on the screen

Your script belongs in your delivery. A slide can hold a phrase, a number, a single image, or a simple diagram.

If a slide makes sense without you, it is doing your job. If it makes no sense without you, it is a visual note that only helps the person on stage.

Aim for one idea per slide. Ten clear slides beat one crowded slide every time.

Design for the back row

Assume the person in the last seat is tired and far away. Big type, high contrast, and generous white space. Anything small is decoration.

Cut transitions and flying text. Movement on screen pulls the eye away from you exactly when you want attention.

Build complex ideas one piece at a time. Revealing a diagram in stages keeps people looking where you want them to look.

Key takeaways

• Keep your spoken words out of the slide body.
• Limit each slide to one clear idea.
• Design for the person farthest from the screen.
• Reveal diagrams in steps instead of all at once.
• If a slide distracts, delete it without regret.

A slide is a spotlight. Point it at the idea, never at the full text of the idea.