That Slide Hurts My Eyes February 16, 2011 @ 07:41 AM | By Sarah Murphy

How many times have you sat through an online presentation and looked at a PowerPoint® slide that has made you say to yourself “That hurts my eyes”? You know the kind of slide I’m talking about, it’s the one the presenter has crammed so much information into that it looks like a Where’s Waldo picture. In some of those pictures it’s hard to find Waldo—same with those slides; it’s hard to find the point.

First off, why do we use slides? Well I can tell you from personal presentation experience, they make the all difference between a smooth and informative speaker vs. a verbal train wreck. However, bad slides can bring down the effectiveness of the smoothest of speakers. So how do you find the balance? Check out this article from Microsoft that discusses creating slides that focus on three core principles:

• Grabbing the audience’s attention
• Clearly communicating information
• Staying in control of the presentation

So now for some fun . . . here's a sample of the best of the worst. What are your top tips for creating engaging and informative PowerPoint presentations?

Comments

[Alan]

The basics still apply; no more than five lines per slide and no more than five words per line! In addition, each slide should have a "headline".

[Brad Fallon]

Yes I totally agree with you Alan. To avoid confusion on the listener we should minimize putting on the slide to make everything clear and easy to follow. Make it concise and put only important matters.