Bigger Isn't Always Better

Let’s talk about big decks. As in presentation, pitch deck, powerpoint, slides (fair enough, one of the previous posts was about streakers…).

I’ve spent a lot of time throughout my career looking at decks, and bigger isn’t always better. When was the last time you got excited about going through a 100+ page deck? Yes, it’s important to make sure you have all your bases covered, but if you put your audience to sleep, the only thing that is going to be covered is your deck in drool.  

In addition to too many slides, the other issue I’ve typically seen with big decks is too much information crammed onto the slides. Too many slides with too much information: 

• Create a much higher likelihood that your key messages will get lost 
• Distract the audience - especially if you are presenting on stage!
• No one can read slides with too much text or make sense of too many charts.
• The audience will also miss your key points and not focus on what you are saying because they are busy trying to read the slides. (Yes, even if the conference provided an iPad to follow along. Trust me, I’ve sat in the back of 100+ presentations. No one is following your slides on their iPad. They are emailing or scrolling through @Realgrumpycat’s insta.) 
• End up in the recycle bin - especially after a conference or meeting that required travel. It’s not going to fit in the carry-on, so it’s going in the bin. 

You can include important information, data and statistics in a balanced way and get it done with a manageable number of slides. Read more about how to scrub your deck over on the blog.