It is important to limit the content on support visuals, as mentioned in the PowerPoint Slim-Slide Diet. But slide seduction is just as important as slide reduction. Just like with any other form of enticement, effective wording will change the perspective of your audience.

When you build a support visual for a presentation, think about the content you want the audience to see. Does the information completely satisfy the viewers? Can they get the whole story from the slide? If the answer is “yes”, then you do not need to present that content. Why speak if the slide speaks for itself?

The information that the audience sees on the screen should only begin to tell the story. The speaker completes the rest of the picture.

When creating your slide content, the goal is to “tease, never please”. Display just enough information for the audience to “almost” get it. Someone should look at the slide and say, “I think I understand, but let me listen to how it is explained.”

Compare the following slides:

The text-filled slide on the left does the work for the presenter, by offering detailed explanations. The graphical slide on the right forces the audience to shift focus to the presenter for further clarification. When displaying the slide on the right, the presenter might not use all or any of the words as shown in the “busy” slide on the left, but the audience would never know that anyway. They will accept whatever words are used by the speaker to add value to the visible image.

If you shift the focus from the content to the presenter, the attention to the message rises.

Remember, slides are also called “speaker-support”, but a speaker is never referenced as slide-support!