Slide Action

My recent re-visiting of one-off big presentation prep still being fresh in my mind, I was comforted to see that the renowned marketing blogger (and author) Seth Godin shares my presenting experience. A marketeer and salesperson agreeing is a rarity indeed. What a welcome change!

In his recent the 200 slide solution musing, he hopes that,

… this exercise will help you realize that you might not need any slides

What’s the exercise? It is that if you had a 40-minute presentation, how about writing 200 slides? That would mean one slide every twelve seconds. His thinking is that most people cram several points onto each individual slide. Surely it’s better to generate ‘action‘, by making each point a single, standalone slide instead?

He feels such an approach,

will pick up your energy and make your argument more coherent

It’s a neat idea. I’m highly anti-Powerpoint, so I too prefer to find alternative theatre to get what you need across. If you must use such slides, then a new slide each blink of the eye may well keep those prone to shutting their eyes awake for longer. Perhaps even just enough to embrace your pitch.