Following my post on the 10/20/30 rule I would like add some tips on how to simplify PowerPoint presentations. I am sure most of us as seen slides crowded of unreadable fonts, silly little cartoonish characters flying around the screen and the sound of a typewriter for each letter popping up…

I am following the philosophy that a slide can only be effective if it has few well-defined simple elements.

When we prepare a presentation we should ask ourselves, what can I remove to make the message in my slide more effective?

It’s all about effectiveness and added value. It’s then up to the presenter to tell the story behind the slide to the audience. Additional notes can be written along the slide printout given to the audience.

For some guidelines on this:

Garr Reynolds: Presentation tips

Cliff Atkinson and Richard E. Mayer: 5 Ways to reduce PowerPoint overload