| People often ask, "How many bullets should I put | | | | fact, figures, examples, anecdotes, and so on. |
| on a slide?" | | | | Your presentation shouldn't be an outline. It should |
| First I'll tell you what others are saying. Then I'll | | | | be a full development of ideas. |
| give you my answer. | | | | Of course, that full development should be |
| "6 lines or less per slide, 6-8 words per line" | | | | expressed in what you're saying. But bullets give |
| "6 words per line, 6 lines per slide" | | | | the impression that what you're saying is just an |
| "Limit the number of bullets per slide to five or | | | | outline, rather than a well-developed presentation. |
| fewer." | | | | The purpose of PowerPoint slides is to add a |
| You get the picture. | | | | visual aid to your speaking. So, let it be visual! |
| I think that rules like this are nonsensical. | | | | Remember that your talking is the presentation; |
| It's not that they're are totally wrong. It's true | | | | the PowerPoint slides are not the presentation. |
| that you shouldn't have too much text on a slide. | | | | A great deal of research shows that people will |
| Why? When you display the slide, people start | | | | remember effective images more clearly and |
| reading it. They can't read the slide and listen to | | | | longer than text. And you do want people to |
| you at the same time. You might as well shut up | | | | understand and remember what you're saying, |
| for 2 minutes while they read, because they | | | | don't you? |
| aren't listening to you. | | | | However, the images need to be related to what |
| But bullets have other problems: (Caution: Here | | | | you're saying. They should either add to the |
| come a couple of bullets!) | | | | understanding or create a relevant emotional |
| People associate them (from long experience) | | | | impact. Irrelevant images actually hinder |
| with boring presentations | | | | remembering, according to research. |
| They represent an outline or list format | | | | - What do I use instead of bullets? |
| They're a text-based, non-visual method of | | | | If you have a lot to say, how do you avoid |
| communicating | | | | bullets? An easy way is to put one concept on a |
| The truth is, people have had bad experience with | | | | slide. Just break up those 6 bullets into 6 slides. |
| presentations that have too much text and too | | | | And add relevant, powerful photographs. If you |
| many bullets. So you start out on the wrong foot | | | | want to tie up the ideas into a conclusion, then |
| when you use slides of bulleted text. People | | | | you can put them all on the 7th slide. At that |
| immediately tune out. | | | | point, your audience will be familiar with the |
| - Bullets are for outlines or lists | | | | concepts and can integrate them more easily. |
| What' wrong with outlines? When you present, | | | | - When are bullets OK? |
| you should be developing your message logically. | | | | Besides summarizing, is there ever another good |
| For example, you might state the premise that | | | | time to use bullets? Bullets are lists, and |
| most people waste a huge amount of money | | | | sometimes you want a list. For example, an |
| paying interest to the bank for their mortgage. | | | | agenda slide is a good place for bullets. |
| Then, you need to back up that premise with | | | | |