Presentation Tips

FIFTEEN PRINCIPLES

1. 01

   One message per slide

   If a slide makes two points, the audience remembers neither. Split it, or cut the weaker point.

   Try this: Write the slide's one message before you open the software.

2. 02

   Use meaningful slide titles

   A title such as "Q3 results" makes the audience work. "Revenue grew 6% in Q3, ahead of plan" tells them what to see.

   Try this: Read only your titles, in order. They should tell the whole story.

3. 03

   Structure the narrative

   Lead with the conclusion, then the evidence, then the ask. Building up to a reveal works in theatre, not in a board room.

   Try this: State your conclusion in the first two minutes.

4. 04

   Make the recommendation obvious

   Senior audiences look for the ask. If they have to hunt for it, they assume there isn't one — or that you are unsure.

   Try this: Give the recommendation its own slide and say it out loud.

5. 05

   Make decisions explicit

   Write the decision as a question the audience can answer: approve, reject, or choose between options.

   Try this: End the decision slide with "We are asking you to…"

6. 06

   Distinguish information from action

   Mixing updates with requests buries the requests. Audiences remember what they were asked to do when it stands apart.

   Try this: Put actions and asks on their own slide, with owners and dates.

7. 07

   Reduce unnecessary text

   If the slide says everything, the audience reads instead of listening — and you become optional.

   Try this: Keep the words that would still be needed if you were not there. Delete the rest.

8. 08

   Avoid overcrowding

   A full slide signals that you could not decide what mattered. Small text and dense tables also fail on projectors and shared screens.

   Try this: Move detail to an appendix and test the slide from the back of the room.

9. 09

   Establish hierarchy

   The most important thing on the slide should be the biggest, boldest or brightest. Everything else steps back.

   Try this: Squint at the slide. What you can still see is what the audience will notice first.

10. 10

    Use consistent spacing

    Consistent margins, alignment and spacing look deliberate and make content easier to scan. Inconsistency looks rushed.

    Try this: Use the same positions for titles and content on every slide.

11. 11

    Use charts appropriately

    Choose the chart for the message: bars to compare, lines for change over time, a table when exact values matter. Give every number a comparison.

    Try this: Write the chart's message as its title before you choose its type.

12. 12

    Label data clearly

    Legends make the audience match colours to lines. Direct labels let them read the chart at once. Bar axes start at zero.

    Try this: Put labels next to the data and remove the legend.

13. 13

    Remove visual noise

    Gridlines, borders, shadows, 3D effects and decorative icons compete with the message.

    Try this: Delete each element in turn. If nothing is lost, leave it out.

14. 14

    Rehearse the story

    If you can only present with the slides in front of you, you know the slides, not the argument.

    Try this: Tell the story out loud without the deck, timed. Then check the deck supports it.

15. 15

    Finish with a clear outcome

    End on what happens next: the decision taken, the owners and the dates. Meetings overrun, so plan to finish early and know what to skip.

    Try this: Close with one slide: decisions, actions, owners, dates.

THE ONE-MINUTE VERSION

• —

  Know the one thing you want the audience to do.

• —

  Say it first, and put it in the slide titles.

• —

  Show only the evidence that supports it, with comparisons.

• —

  Make the ask explicit — and finish with the decision, the owners and the dates.

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