Presentations suffer from information overload all too often. This is one aspect of attending presentations that annoys audiences more than anything else. Overloaded slides where the audience is left wondering about the conclusion are annoying. They’re almost like watching an advertisement and not knowing what they’re selling.

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What Causes Apathy When Viewing Presentation Slides?

Slides only appear on the screen for a limited amount of time. This puts pressure on members of the audience to understand the material being presented. Not being able to do so causes stress and apathy. Not to mention a lack of positive response after the presentation.

We Have Done A Lot Of Analysis For This Presentation

Presenters say that they want to show how they came to their conclusions. Having collected a lot of data, they feel entitled to present  it. They might be tempted to include information like steps in the analysis, formulas, calculations, and credits. However, most of the audience does not care to know, even if you might be interested in this information.

What Is Best To Include In Presentation Slides?

It is best to focus everything on the main purpose of the presentation. Only include something if it pertains to the conclusion, otherwise don’t include it in the presentation.

But The Details? Shouldn’t We include Them As Well?

Only include the primary details that you actually need in order to support your main idea. Only use stuff which makes or breaks the presentation.

What If People Ask Questions About Certain Details?

If you’re concerned that people might ask questions about certain details, then you can prepare slides for them. In fact, you can prepare a lot of slides just in case someone asks about the formula you used, your sources, the process, the people who worked on it, etc. However, make those slides remain hidden. You can bring that slide up anytime you really need to answer a question about it.