I never met an animation technique that I didn't like.
Slide decoration doesn't equal slide design. Animation distracts from the content of your presentation and the purpose of the presentation is to convey information, so limit distractions and keep it simple.
Why can't everyone just read what I have on the slide?Slides make up one portion of the presentation; they should not "stand alone" (even when you are offering copies of slides for notes). If the slides can stand alone, then what is the purpose of you being there? Just write a report instead.
Charts and tables are "islands that speak by themselves".Charts and tables are never "islands that speak by themselves", whether in presentation or report. Some explanation is required, on the purpose of the table or the conclusions drawn from the data. Once again, a table on a slide augments your spoken presentation and should not be treated as a stand alone.
Everything I know on this topic must go on these presentation slides.Also known as "cram everything in obsession". All of your knowledge on a topic doesn't need to appear on every page of the slide. Slides should be easy to read, and as brief as possible, otherwise people will spend their time reading your slides instead of listening to and being engaged in the presentation.
And remember, PowerPoint (or Keynote for fellow Mac users) isn't right for all meetings, briefings, and presentations as shown in the article "We Have Met the Enemy and He Is PowerPoint" from the NY Times about the usage of PPT in the US Military. The "bowl of spaghetti" map shown in the article is a great example of why everything shouldn't be crammed into one slide.Originally published on our Knowledge Management blog
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