this post was submitted on 16 Apr 2024
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[โ€“] [email protected] 7 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

If the slide has all the information, then it's a poor slide deck.

The slides are supposed to be an outline. The rule of thumb is max seven lines and max seven words per line.

Here's a couple examples.

Good slide:

  • Revenue: -10% vs Estimate
  • Industry trends
  • Low demand for new products
  • Strong demand for XYZ

Also good slide, depending on who you're presenting to:

  • Revenue: -10% vs Estimate
  • Industry: -3%
  • New products: -30%
  • XYZ: +4%

Bad slide:

  • Revenue is 10% below estimate
  • Industry has seen a 3% drop in sales
  • New products ABC and MNO have had a 30% lower demand than we expected
  • Product XYZ has higher demand than anticipated with sales 4% higher than estimate

All the extra information on the bad slide can be delivered by the presenter. It's not necessary on the slide. The slide is for people to glance at to assist them during and after the presentation and to help them anchor themselves in the discussion.

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago

I like your examples, you really capture how the definition of a "good" slide is context and audience dependent, and yet despite this, a "bad" slide is something that can be understood fairly objectively.