Treating every slide as if it were your last means that when people stop paying attention to you - and they do - they can still get the whole gist of what you were saying on a particular point. The other important value here: if they do miss a slide it’s not going to stop them understanding what the following ones are about.

This is actually really difficult to do without filling the slide with 24 pt text, bullet points and clip art gallery swagger. But please, try to resist

What’s probably going to teach them something new is you, not the slide. Make the headline on the slide reflect the conclusion of what it is you are trying to say. For example, “I collect stick insects”. What the hell is the guy on about when his slide says “I collect stick insects”. Immediately, because of the headline which starts with the end of the story I am about to tell people are listening ever more intently to what it is I am recounting. They will remember the point I was making - that our students are experts in so many things - because of the potent combination of tips I’ve been giving over these past few days and the 72pt. text in which the slide was written.

It’s not the slide that’s going to get the information across, it’s you. Make sure that the slide, viewed on its own, is not essential to understanding the point of the whole presentation. Otherwise, you will lose people. If you want to have a document to share with people who missed the presentation or to support the presentation afterwards, then give them a type-written leaflet or essay, a bullet point crib or provide a screencast online, with the voice over, so that they can relive the presentation. Don’t just give them the slides, which were there to back you up.

What does treating every slide as your last do to your spoken explanations?
Do you find yourself using more of the tips together?

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