Managing nerves when public speaking
Why bullet points are killing your presentation success
It is completely normal to wonder how many slides you need in your presentation.
It's reassuring to have lots of slides, isn't it?! But is it the right thing to do?
This is a question I have been asked already three times this week.
I know that it is something that the majority of speakers ponder every time that they put together a presentation.
Is there a magic number? Some ancient PowerPoint ritual based on the phases of the moon and the sacrifice of a young intern, that can guarantee my success?
Well no.
Read on to find out more...
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But, in reality if you would like a rough estimate, then the answer to the question 'how many slides should I be using in my presentation?' is ‘as near to zero as possible…’
Because for hundreds of thousands, if not millions of years, we as humans have been perfectly good storytellers without the need for slides.
We only started using PowerPoint when we felt that it could increase our effectiveness as speakers.
And therein lies the answer:
Use only as many slides as you need to, to increase your effectiveness and chances of success in conveying your key message to your audience.
So how do we do this in practice?
When you begin crafting your presentation, begin as you always do.
Write it all down, create as many slides as you think you need, throw it all in there.
And then consciously review your slide deck.
Take every slide in isolation and ask yourself the question:
“Does this slide increase the chance of my speech, pitch or presentation being a success?"
"Does it help to convey my key message?"
If it doesn't, ditch it.*
If it does, keep it.
And then very quickly, you'll know exactly how many slides you need to be a successful speaker.
*Or redesign it, merge it, change it to a prop, make it a handout.etc. just don’t let it detract from communicating your key message!
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All of our recent blog posts are recorded as videos too. Click the video to watch this blog post narrated by Rich Watts, public speaking expert and 2x national public speaking champion.
To watch all our public speaking tips videos, visit the Rich Public Speaking Youtube channel here.
