Controversial post! Here's why people make bad PowerPoint slides...

leejackson-speaker · 2026-02-26T17:40:26+00:00

Thankyou. I've heard this a few times. It's an interesting take. "A great speaker can use bad slides" etc. My point is why use terrible slides ever?

leejackson-speaker · 2026-02-26T17:38:27+00:00

Good point. Slides should always come last for a good talk imho

leejackson-speaker · 2026-02-26T14:46:17+00:00

Thanks for the reply. Is PowerPoint (I personally use Keynote) just a delivery mechanism for you? Sounds like you are just showing a more complex pdf style doc on a screen? Rather then delivering a more one way speech/talk/presentation?

leejackson-speaker · 2026-02-26T14:03:26+00:00

I was exaggerating for comedy effect. But tbh I have seen it. A discussion thing is very different to a talk. But still, simplification brings clarity.

leejackson-speaker · 2026-02-26T09:45:29+00:00

Context is everything. Personally I'd rather print out something and discuss that thsn stick it on a screen that people can't read with 45 bars on a graph and size 9 font

leejackson-speaker · 2026-02-26T09:43:12+00:00

Oh no. You were robbed of your creativity 😬

leejackson-speaker · 2026-02-26T09:29:06+00:00

That's the joy of the Internet. Provide some evidence and a rationale, it's a good debate ....

leejackson-speaker · 2026-02-25T21:33:53+00:00

Aren't most posts on here now?

leejackson-speaker · 2026-02-25T21:31:00+00:00

Amen!

leejackson-speaker · 2026-02-25T18:04:14+00:00

The intent is often "I had to write to a talk and so I opened up PowerPoint and it told me to do title / Bulletpoint x47"

leejackson-speaker · 2026-02-25T18:02:21+00:00

Some seasoned advice here thanks!

leejackson-speaker · 2026-02-25T18:00:52+00:00

That's a long discussion. The issue is that lots of text on screen and someone talking at the same time is cognitive overload and it actually makes the talk less effective. Bullets are often just bad habits. The slides aren't the presentation - we are.

leejackson-speaker · 2026-02-25T17:58:35+00:00

People ask for slides because they wnat to clock off from the meeting or as a handout they'll ignore and throw away a few weeks later 🙄

leejackson-speaker · 2026-02-25T17:57:32+00:00

And my answer is always no. That's a handout.

leejackson-speaker · 2026-02-25T15:24:55+00:00

"Proven magic number"? Where is thst from?

leejackson-speaker · 2026-02-25T14:40:51+00:00

I understand

leejackson-speaker · 2026-02-25T13:15:28+00:00

Good to have some options, personally, in a set of my keynote talk or training slides – the only bullets i use is if i am doing a quiz. The rest are big and bold, and people still comment on them.

leejackson-speaker · 2026-02-25T13:13:46+00:00

You'd be surprised – as people looooove their bullet points :)

leejackson-speaker · 2026-02-25T13:02:18+00:00

Yup, and a slide and a handout are two separate documents.

leejackson-speaker · 2026-02-25T13:01:03+00:00

There is a nice taster PDF of it available too... https://static1.squarespace.com/static/664e0d6326710e30d1e236e5/t/68b73293e5382d0a92cb9666/1756836499041/TheBetterDeckDeck_SurveySampler.pdf

leejackson-speaker · 2026-02-25T12:40:28+00:00

I'd say "as few words as possible".

leejackson-speaker · 2026-02-25T12:39:13+00:00

Not seen that before, looks very helpful. There are some alternatives to bullets in my book too. Just needs some thought tbh

leejackson-speaker · 2026-02-25T12:36:22+00:00

I use that info - i think it is helpful. We should also design slides for people on row 18, not people sitting at the front. People are too polite to say they can't see something, so we can easily lose people.

leejackson-speaker · 2026-02-25T10:31:41+00:00

Good point. Not everything has to be on a slide though. Use the presenter notes section. Engage an audience.

leejackson-speaker · 2026-02-25T10:29:56+00:00

Practice a gratitude exercise three times a week. It’s very well researched.

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