3.4Presenting with slides (link to PowerPoint)
The essentials in 30 seconds
- Golden rule: you are presenting, not the slides — the support is an aid, never a crutch.
- Clean slides: one idea per slide, few words, one visual — otherwise cognitive load saturates.
- Speak to the audience: look at the room, not the screen; detail belongs in a handout.
Running case — Yasmine cleans up her slides before the board meeting
Yasmine arrives with 10 slides full of paragraphs she planned to read. The night before the board meeting in Algiers, she transforms them: each slide becomes one idea — a title ("Growth +18%"), a simple chart, three keywords. The detailed numbers go into a handout. On the day, she comments facing the audience instead of reading with her back to the room.
Sequel to cases 3.1-3.3 — Yasmine moves from message to visuals.
1. A support, never a crutch
A presentation aid (slides) must be a support, never a crutch. The most common mistake: slides overloaded with text, which the speaker reads with their back to the audience.
The golden rule: you are presenting, not the slides. The support illustrates, you carry the message — the reverse turns a presentation into a group reading exercise.
2. Clean slides
Clean slides (one idea per slide, visuals, little text) reinforce your point instead of competing with it. An overloaded slide saturates the audience's cognitive load and hurts comprehension.
A visual — an image, diagram or chart — often conveys understanding faster and better than a long block of text: favor it whenever possible.
3. Look at the audience, not the screen
You look at the audience, not the screen; the slide is a visual anchor, not a teleprompter. This "speak to the audience" rule immediately distinguishes a confident speaker from someone reading their slides.
A presentation support (clean, for speaking aloud) and a reading document (detailed, to hand out) are two different uses: merging them into one file always forces a compromise.
🔎 Concrete example — A slide transformed
Before: a 6-line paragraph on results, read in full.
Clean version: a title ("Growth +18% this quarter"), a simple chart, three keywords.
Effect: the speaker briefly comments on the chart, then faces the audience again to elaborate aloud.
→ Yasmine applies this treatment to her 10 slides before the board meeting.Result: slides that support without stealing attention.
Lesson: visuals convey understanding faster than long text.
Section vocabulary
- Presentation support
- The slides accompanying your speech. They serve the talk, never replace it.
Simple example: Yasmine's 10 slides illustrate her budget; they don't narrate it.
What it is not: a dense block read with your back to the audience.
Reflex: without the slides, could I still present?
- Clean slide
- A slide with one idea, little text, one strong visual: readable in seconds.
Simple example: Title + chart + 3 keywords on results.
What it is not: 6 lines of small print read aloud.
Reflex: one slide = one idea, a few words.
- "Speak to the audience" rule
- Look at the audience, not the screen: the support is an aid, not a script to read.
Simple example: Yasmine glances at the chart then faces the board again.
What it is not: presenting facing the screen throughout.
Reflex: the slide is just a reminder, never a teleprompter.
- Cognitive load
- The audience's mental effort: an overloaded slide saturates attention and hurts comprehension.
Simple example: Too many numbers at once: the board switches off.
What it is not: "the more information, the better retained".
Reflex: trim until readable in 3 seconds.
- Visual
- An image, diagram or chart that conveys understanding faster and better than long text.
Simple example: A growth chart rather than a paragraph.
What it is not: a dense table unreadable from the back of the room.
Reflex: prefer a visual whenever the information suits one.
In practice — Making your slides a support, not a crutch
- Take an existing presentation: spot overloaded slides with text and split them (one idea = one slide).
- Replace text blocks with keywords and, wherever possible, a visual or a diagram.
- Practice presenting while looking at an imaginary audience, not the screen: the slide should be just a reminder.
- Plan a "blank" slide or a visual pause to bring attention back to you at key moments.
Ready-to-say script — commenting on a slide without reading it
"This slide sums up the essentials: up 18% this quarter. [Eye contact with the audience.] Concretely, three drivers: [name the 3 keywords]. The detailed numbers are in the handout I gave you — back to our budget request."
To say facing the audience: glance at the slide, then comment without reading, and steer back to the message.
Copy-paste template — clean-slide check
SLIDE No.: ___ — 1 IDEA (1 sentence): _______________
TEXT (3-5 words max): _______________
VISUAL (chart / diagram / image): _______________
READABLE IN 3 SECONDS: yes [ ] no [ ]
PRESENTING: facing the audience [ ] — HANDOUT: planned [ ]Small business (2-3 people)
In a small group, 3 clean slides or even a shared sheet are enough: conversation beats the projector.
SME in Algeria
At a board meeting in Algiers, plan a handout version in French with figures in dinars, and keep the screen highly visual.
Remote / video
On video, enlarge fonts, one visual per screen share, and pause sharing to return to faces.
Large board
In a large room, test back-row readability: huge title, simple chart, zero paragraphs.
✓ Best practices
- Limit each slide to a single idea and a few keywords, never full sentences.
- Always prefer a visual (chart, diagram) to a text block whenever the information allows.
- Create a separate, detailed "handout" version if your slides also need to serve as a reading document.
✗ Common pitfalls
- Writing full sentences on slides and reading them word for word to the audience.
- Constantly turning toward the screen, effectively turning your back to the audience for most of the talk.
- Using the same file as both presentation support AND handout, without ever deciding between the two.
Key takeaways
- You are presenting, not the slides: the support is an aid.
- One idea per slide, little text, visuals: clean slides.
- Look at the audience, never the screen; the slide isn't a teleprompter.
- An overloaded slide saturates attention and dilutes the message.
48h challenge — apply tomorrow
Take an existing presentation, turn 1 overloaded slide into a clean version (title + visual + 3 keywords) and rehearse it facing an imaginary audience without reading. Prepare the handout separately.
- I can explain the aid-vs.-crutch rule.
- I have 1 clean slide (one idea, one visual).
- I present facing the audience, not the screen.
Frequently asked questions
How much text per slide?
As little as possible: keywords rather than sentences, ideally a few lines at most. If a slide contains a paragraph, it's doing the work you should be doing aloud. Detail belongs in a handout, not on the screen.
What if my slides also need to serve as a document to read?
These are two different uses: a presentation support (clean) and a reading document (detailed) can't be the same file without compromise. Best practice is to create a light "presentation" version and a full "to read" version (or speaker notes).
Yasmine's slide holds a 6-line paragraph she reads with her back to the audience. What should she fix first?