Tuesday Tips

A friendly Tip today – where I list things I hate!

Do you hate these too?

• "You won't be able to read the writing on this slide, but…" BUT WHAT? Slides are for the audience, not the presenter. There’s no point showing them something they can't read – that’s just irritating
• Useless updates. I love useful updates – they tell me what I need to know. But useless updates are… well, useless. Lots of people discussing irrelevant (to me) stuff they did last week - count me out!
• "FYI" – means "For Your Info"; or “Fill Your Inbox”; or "I know you won't care. But I’ve covered my back by sending it to you". The rule: unless people need/want to see it, don't send it! They’re busy enough as it is
• "We don't need to look at this slide. Or this one. Or this". When presenters flick through slides audiences don't need, I think "Why are you editing this in front of us? Surely you should have realised this before you started?"
• "Founded in 1922”. Customers don't care how old a company is (same goes for the map of your offices!) We just want to know whether you can help us
• Long paragraphs. These aren't easy – or fun – to read
• Very wordy slides. Nobody likes watching presenters read their slides to us – we’re pretty good at reading, thanks!

Good news though: all the solutions are obvious. Bigger writing on slides. Cancel useless updates. No “FYIs” etc. And…

Action Points