Here Is Exactly What Should Go On Your PowerPoint Slide

So rather than asking yourself what’s the perfect number of bullet points for any slide or how many words.

The real question you should be asking is What should I put on a slide.

What is really the best practice in my experience you’re better off putting one idea per slide.

Let me say that again because that probably contrary to every slide you’ve ever seen.

If you want to actually communicate in your presentation where you’re delivering with PowerPoint slides the most effective way is to limit each slide to one idea T.J. That doesn’t make any sense of it’s either about 10 bullet points or 13 bullet points or seven themes and twenty seven so I understand that’s how people typically create PowerPoint slides but I’m here to tell you I don’t have any evidence and you don’t have any evidence that that actually works.

Remember it’s not communication.

If you put it up on a slide it’s not communication.

If it just comes out of your mouth it’s communication.

If people understand it and remember it so that you’ve increased the odds that they act upon it.

Doing what you want.

That’s how I define communication.

That’s really what communication is.

So that’s why I’d recommend to you for any slot that you’re projecting one image per slide if you have lots and lots of bullet points a number perfectly fine for the hand out for the e-mail for the Web site but for something you’re projecting one idea and the way to do that is with images.

I wouldn’t just put up one word stop and say well that T.J. That’s one idea.

No.

Now if you wanted to put a stop sign where it had the word stop on it.

But the thing that resonates is the universal red stop sign.

That could work but the whole point of that is one idea per slide not using text.

That pretty much limits you to a picture or an image or a really simple graph.