I was going to start this post off with a demonstration of “less is more” by filling this first paragraph with informative, but superfluous sentences. Then I realized how annoying that would be for you and me. So instead, here’s the main point: Less is More, seriously.
It was Seth Godin’s blog post about too much leading to disbelief that inspired this post. Think about the last time someone was trying too hard to sell you on something; did they use more or less details than would be normal? Seth’s other point is for the reverse position: if you are selling to a skeptic, more information will just be a waste of your time.
I think my favorite example on this subject is a PowerPoint slide with “more” on it. Yes, it is extremely informative. Yes, it covers all aspects of the subject. Yes, it’s very thorough…
But man is it hard to read! And it’s a lot to read, and a lot to take in as well. I might concentrate hard and go through all of that information if I’m bored with the presentation, but therein lies two problems: The presentation is boring, and—interesting or not--I’m tuning out the speaker to read the slide.
Start with a main point or message and choose two or three big points to support it. Then choose one or two sub-points to support the big points. For visual aids, one or two perfect pictures will do better than twenty slightly different ones. And as for PowerPoint:
- No bullet points, (Ha ha! Irony)
- No more than one point per slide
- Use one perfect word instead of a sentence
Remember, all visual aids, all presentation support is to support the presenter. You are the presentation. Everything else is secondary.
