5 (NEW) POWERPOINT LAWS. (You don’t want to break these!)

In the world of presentations, traditional PowerPoint slides have long dominated, but their reign is fading.

Gone are the days of cluttered text, distracting effects, and flashy visuals. Even industry giants like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos have banned slide decks from meetings, recognizing the distracting limits of visual aids. This isn’t a new or unpopular approach.

Consider, history’s most impactful speeches — from Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address to Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” — were delivered without slides.

What’s more, the top tier of TED Talks typically opt for a slide-free or minimalist approach.

The key lies in simplicity and engagement. Instead of overwhelming audiences with information. Embrace the following 5 best practices for peerless PowerPoint!

1. One simple idea per slide.

Ensure clarity by sticking to one idea per slide, focusing on a single, clear concept. Define the central theme of your talk — the BIG idea — before constructing each slide around it. Avoid defaulting to slides; use PowerPoint only when visuals are essential to expand your message. Every element on the screen should serve a purpose, contributing to the overall clarity of your presentation.

EXAMPLE: Note the approach used in this TEDx Talk by Mel Robins. (The link is cued up at 12:26 minute marker.)

2. Prioritize your content.

Your default should be no slides at all. But if you must, employ this slide hierarchy: Start with standalone photos or graphics. Ask, will spoken words suffice to give that image context? Then (and only then) transition to image+text (combo) slides. Next up is text-only. Reserve graphs or charts as a last resort. Prioritize imagery, leveraging the adage “a picture is worth a thousand words.”

EXAMPLE: Note the APPROACH used in this TED Talk by Cameron Russell. (The link is cued up to 1:40 minute marker.)

3. Use data sparingly.

When incorporating data into presentations, simplicity is key. Focus on presenting only the most essential elements, such as key numbers or statistics — using spoken words to give context. Simplify data visualization tools like charts and graphs to a bare minimum. Meticulously strip away any extraneous information that may clutter the presentation. This ensures that your data-driven messages are clear and easier to digest.

EXAMPLE: Note the approach used in this TEDx Talk by Dr. Robert Waldinger is about one of the world’s largest data sets. Yet he didn’t use one data point from his research! (The link is cued up to 1:57 minute marker.)

4. Get comfortable with white space.

Embrace simplicity in your slides. Use white space to declutter and enhance readability. Avoid default templates. Your goal is to design a clean and uncluttered layout. What’s more, your presentation doesn’t need a steady slide pulse. There needn’t be something on screen every second. If content isn’t required on the screen, default to a clean white or colored screen, a logo, or a hashtag.

EXAMPLE: Note the approach used in this TED Talk by Tim Urban. (The link is cued up to 7:26 minute marker.)

5. Design for audience eyes.

In crafting presentations only utilize crisp, high-resolution images, graphics, and videos. Consistency is key: maintain uniformity in font, color palette, and layout throughout. Prioritize readability by ensuring adequate contrast between text and background (e.g., dark text on a light background or vice versa). Opt for clean, sans-serif fonts like Arial or Helvetica, with a minimum size of 30 points for clarity, even from a distance.

EXAMPLE: Note the approach used in this TED Talk by Bill Gates. (The link is cued up to 1:17minute marker.)

You’ve heard it before, the TED style has forever changed how we approach presentations. The old standard of 40-words per slide and jazzy accents are long gone.

Follow these 5 (new) PowerPoint laws and you’ll be more likely to connect with your audience and compel them to action!

I am DEVIN D. MARKS. I’m writing this newsletter to share what I’ve learned from deep dives into the world of TED Talks and idea spreading. Over the years, I’ve been privileged to serve 100s of authors, executives, and researchers — from million-view TEDsters to CEOs winning 9-figure funding rounds. My public speaking and story training firm, ​CONNECT to COMPEL helps leaders, just like you, to maximize your message. We can connect via 617.804.6020, or you can DM me ​here​.