One thing that bothers people at presentations the most is information overload. Including too many numbers, graphs, charts, and topics in one presentation can often put people to sleep. Today we will look at some ways to avoid information overload in making PowerPoint presentations.
Meaning of Calculations
It is a fact that you might have spent a lot of time coming up the numbers. Explaining the process and assumptions you made to arrive at your conclusions is indeed important information. Because of this, you might want to include a little too much of it for the audience, leading to information overload. Ask yourself a question, does the audience really need to know all of this information? Depending on the audience, they might only be interested in the bottom line.
Are Details Useless?
Of course, that’s not what we’re saying. Details are the hidden strength of your presentation, a lot of hard work went into them. But, presenting details is complicated for the audience. The only details that should be included are those that can really change the conclusion of the presentation. If you think that there are some points that the audience might question, then you can choose to keep then in hidden slides. Try not to include details that do not affect the conclusion of the presentation.
Conclusion
The truth is that most audiences only care about the conclusion. They want answers to questions in their head, and they want them now. They want to know the main points, anything more might not work at all. The whole focus of your presentation should be on the final conclusion.
To sum things up, make sure to design a presentation that has the least amount of graphs, charts, and tables in it. Focus on delivering the main point throughout the presentation, and make sure to include any hidden slides or notes for anticipated questions. This should prevent your presentation from information overload and keep your audience happy as well.
Image Courtesy:
Illustration for an article published in Diario Uno. by Jorge Franganillo [CC BY 2.0] via Wikimedia Commons
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