Let's Talk About Slides: Positives + Pitfalls

What Kind of Learner Are You?

If you're a visual learner, seeing a well-designed slide during a presentation can reinforce and clarify the speaker’s message. This ties into a concept from cognitive psychology known as the Picture Superiority Effect, which suggests that we remember visual information more easily than text alone.

Even if you lean more toward being an auditory learner, visual aids can enhance your experience, when used correctly.

But what happens when that helpful image is crowded with a wall of text?

Ask yourself:

Do I read all of the words on a slide? Do you expect my audience to read the words?

Should I skip the words altogether and hope they get it?

Here’s the problem: No matter how intelligent your audience may be, asking them to absorb an image, read a paragraph, and listen to you speak different words—all at the same time—is simply too much.

The result? Your message gets lost.

Slides can be a powerful tool for you if used well. For example, they can:

Give you a visual cue card, helping you remember what to say and when

Give you a place to display key facts, statistics, and names

Help you create an emotional connection between you and the audience

Reinforce a core message, making it more memorable for your audience

Here are some key Do's and Don't's when it comes to slides:

Do n'ts:

Pack a slide with too much information

Add a wall of words, whether there's a visual or not

Have a confusing or over complicated image to decipher

Have so much text on a slide that it's impossible to read

Use a font size that's too small for anyone to read

Rely solely on your slides

Do's

Use one idea per slide

Use simple, clear images to enhance your words

Use few words

Use images that can help elicit an emotional reaction

Here are some pro-tips to remember for your next presentation:

Pro-tips:

1. In a zoom presentation, leave a slide up only as long as you need to, or give slide breaks to keep people engaged. Your face is much more exciting and interesting than a still slide.

2. Practice your whole presentation without the slides so you are prepared for any technical difficulty.

I hope these tips help make your next presentation a great one! Feel free to reach out with any questions. I love hearing from you!