Creating the slides is not writing the deck.
Many times I’ve seen a presentation used as the ‘actual’ narrative, rather than a structure to contain and constrain it.
It means that the presentation lacks any depth and the ideas barely hold water.
You see this most with what I call the ‘Wired magazine presentation’ – open a recent (or any) copy of Wired, use a full screen image of whatever is in that magazine on each slide and then loudly announce that as the future.
Always with an exclamation point.
Self-driving cars!
Automation!
Machine learning!
Fintech!
Brain laboratories!
The Top Three Rugged Cameras for Daredevil Shooters!
(Okay, maybe not so much the last one.)
Occasionally – and I still see this – it’s a slide with lots of words on it which are read out by the presenter.
Slower.
Than.
Others.
Can.
Read.
Them.
It’s why I’ve just done my fifth read-through of the presentation I’m giving tomorrow.
It’s enabled me to articulate the arguments I want to articulate, in a way that makes sense to the audience.
Because I’ve stripped out the crap.
I’ve left it as a structure that is both an aide memoire for me and interesting to look at for them.
It’ll prompt questions as much as it will give answers.
This is lovely and true. PowerPoint is a curse and a blessing.
Thank you.