If you think about it, a slide show is much like a series of headlines, all in the same format. Unfortunately, looking at a bunch of similar headlines does not excite most of us. To combat this built-in yawn factor, the copy in presentation graphics, whether it introduces additional information or stands on its own, must be short and simple to read.

Limit headlines to three or four words—use much more and the reader will begin to lose interest. Headlines in presentation graphics should do one of three things:

• Introduce information that follows
• Make a point
• Provide continuity for a series of related slides (See F.)

Bullet-point copy should be five to seven words in length. The words in slides should punctuate what the presenter says, not echo it. If you need to record exactly what the speaker said for your audience, develop a separate document and pass it out after the talk (for more presentation advice, check out the Quick Tip below). Slide copy should be crisp and precise, never cute. Cute rarely works in the business environments where most presentations are made.

3. Eliminate Clutter.

Software applications offer a variety of design formats for slides. Most are good starting points for presentation graphics—if you remove the clutter that applications vendors seem obligated to include with the templates. Complicated or illustrative background textures, fancy bullets, multiple rules, and large graphic shapes generally do nothing to help the communication process. The most important stuff on slides is the type and information graphics that illustrate important points. Simple slides are good slides. (See G.)

Restrict the amount of information you include on a single slide. Confine typography to four or five lines. There seems to be a natural tendency on the part of those who write the copy for presentations to put as much information as possible on a slide. Help these people resist the temptation to overcrowd. Inform them that too much copy will force their concepts to be shown at a smaller size, reducing impact. Let them know that too much information will confuse the audience. Tell them that too much information on one slide will mean that it has to be shown too long, and the audience will become bored.

Use rules and bullets only when they add to understanding. Rules can help separate headlines from subpoints, and bullets are an aid to referencing information in series. But these are also powerful graphic presences that can detract from the process of information transfer. If bullets begin to look too dominant, tone down their size or color. Use single hairline rules instead of the bold or double variety. (See H.)

Bold type and size and font changes work fine as typographic emphasizers. Avoid italics with underlines, bold type with drop shadows, and outline fonts with internal textures. They make presentation graphics look more like circus posters than solid instruments for communication.