A Lifebuoy to Death by PowerPoint
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a speaker in possession of a presentation clicker is at risk of, at some point, inadvertently sending their audience into a content induced coma.
You may not be surprised to hear that I implore you to work against this well sailed path, and save the world from a fresh onset of glassy-eyed former listeners.
Now, there are many fantastic resources available on how to effectively prepare presentation decks that are impactful and targeted. (Some great reads to get you started are: ‘slide:ology’ by Nancy Duarte and ‘Show and Tell’ by Dan Roam.) Constructing a deck that supports your verbal message and does not drown your audience in information requires some consideration. In particular, you need to identify details around not just what you are pulling together, why and how your audience would best like to receive it.
That being said, let’s say the bitter winds of fate have worked against you and you’re in a circumstance where you have:
A steep deadline with little time to plan and review
A deck constructed by someone else or multiple contributors
Many figures or complex data to communicate
An audience of mixed exposure and understanding of the topic
A deck that needs to double up as a detailed written document post presentation
… all colluding to land you with an encyclopedic slide deck you need to move through in less than 10 minutes.
These things happen. In an ideal world we can prepare a deck that is slick, clear and focused. Sometimes however, we find ourselves in a situation where the visual component of our presentation is anything but snappy.
But it’s a monstrous beast. And in the moment you find that you’re sinking. Your once merry passengers are lost, overwhelmed or bored. You have identified everything that is wrong with your slide deck, but it’s too late. You’re in the thick of it now.
Don’t worry friend, I’m here. Let me throw you a few tools to help you stay afloat. On condition that you go back and scrub the deck for next time, OK? (Pun intended)
You’re going to:
Keep it light
Navigate
Direct attention
Let me guide you through each part of your rescue kit.
Keep it light
When faced with a visually overwhelming slide, it is important to communicate succinctly what your audience is looking at. You might even choose to do this before you reveal an overly dense slide so they can anticipate this and take in the information with the appropriate context. By beginning your verbal description high-level and synthesising a concept before you delve into the detail, you will reduce noise and provide focus. Your audience will be able to take something away from the slide, even if they don’t understand everything that is visually included.
Navigate
Through the stormy, busy seas of your slides you are going to need to throw down an anchor to help your audience orientate and understand what is going on. Look to the slide, decide what is the key message or piece of information your audience needs to see, understand and take away. Find a way to identify and highlight this one thing, reducing complexity and giving it meaning that everyone will understand. If you decide that nothing is particularly important or significant on some slides in the deck, feel free to pass them by.
Direct attention
“Over here! Over here!” No, you’re not waving to be airlifted out. You need to get everyone ashore alive with you. Just because you, the captain, know where you are looking and referencing at any given moment, does not mean the other people in your life raft do. Guide your audience to the pieces of information they need to be attentive to, signalling which are less important for them to gather. Do this through large physical gestures that indicate components of the slides, verbal descriptions and then pause to give your audience time to absorb content. Note that as advanced as we, as humans we cannot take in two sources of information at once. Therefore you need to make the decision at any given moment – do they need to be reading or hearing right now? Once you have decided which, communicate this congruently.
So, when sailing a cargo load of visual information into your next speaking engagement, be sure to have this emergency pack onboard to help when you reach choppy seas.
Remember my conditions? Time to hit the deck. All nautical metaphors aside, if you invest in preparing slide decks that work for both you and your audience, you will set yourself up for success. They don’t necessarily need to be beautiful or professionally produced. With synthesised ideas and clear visual messaging, you’ll be leisurely powering along with nothing but blue skies ahead.