The Story of Your Slides, The Design of Your Data

Last year, I sat through more than 100 presentations and probably viewed another 100-150 slide decks.  Far too many presentation still feature poorly designed (or less artfully designed) slides than is appropriate.

One of the most obvious yet underutilized opportunities for better information display is a slide filled with data.  Information displayed one way in a spreadsheet or pie chart doesn't necessarily transfer to a graphically appealing slide.  You can't simply export some cells to your deck and move on to the next slide.

Let's take an example.  This is an actual slide a speaker I was coaching planned to use during a presentation.  It basically is a data dump from Excel.  Because the Promotional Products category and data is in red, you can assume this is the key point the speaker was trying to make: promotional products rank fourth in how businesses promote themselves.

Let's set aside the obvious shortcomings of the slide: the excessive number of data categories, the dark gray background box, etc.  Instead let's ask how the slide can easily be modified to:  (1) better engage the audience's attention and interest, (2) shift from a static talking point to a more interactive learning opportunity, and (3) more effectively make the speaker's primary point.  Here's what we developed after brainstorming possibilities that meet those three criteria.

Much better, right?  Now the slide is a quick quiz.  Session attendees are asked to rank these six promotion categories in order of how much money businesses spend on them.  We've gone from an overload of data to a more edited set of categories.  We've replaced dark and dreary with bright and inviting.  It took only few minutes to turn a slide that was a real negative into one that is much more of an asset.

Participants deserve (and increasingly expect) you'll go through this same process.  It doesn't mean you have to have formal graphic design training.  It does require, however, that you look at each slide and ask yourself: what's the story I am trying to tell and how can I best communicate that message?  The answer often involves editing to the essence, replacing some words with pictures, and turning passive elements into participative ones.