I often tell my clients that there is an inverse relationship between the number of slides you have in your presentation and the amount of leadership you display.
The fewer slides you have, the more you look and sound like a leader. And vice versa.
The idea here is that speaking and presenting are about connecting with people, building relationships, and exerting influence. Presenting is not about relaying data and information. Too many slides, and all you’re really doing is transmitting data. If you want to transmit data, just send a memo. I can read it faster than you can tell it to me. If I have questions, I’ll call you.
Yesterday, Seth Godin wrote an interesting piece about the The Heirarchy of Presentations. He makes the point that presenting is about influence.
The purpose of a presentation is to change minds. That’s the only reason I can think of to spend the time and resources. If your goal isn’t to change minds, perhaps you should consider a different approach.
Slides don’t change minds. You change minds with the force of simple argument, stories and passion.
