Why most interview presentations and slide decks totally miss the mark.

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In many interviews, a candidate will have to prepare a presentation of some sort, which serves as an explanatory device for how they would approach the job if given the opportunity. The company typically gives a prompt in later stages, the interviewer has a week or so to complete the exercise, and the presentation becomes a big piece of the job seeking process.

I’ve watched countless interview presentations, and most of them are very, very difficult to sit through.

Here are my biggest observations for why that is:

1. the slides aren’t attractive, very little design investment
2. people rely WAY too much on bulletpoints and text, and not enough imagery
3. most people ignore their natural storytelling instincts

These mistakes are all very simple to fix if you’re aware of them, and if you make a conscious effort.

Ugly Slides

First, having terrible looking slides is a damning mistake to make in an interview setting. Your entire career and livelihood is at stake- the incentives couldn’t be higher, and showing up with unpleasant looking slides is a definitive clue that your work in seat will look the same.

It’s true that not everyone is a designer, but you should approach this assignment like you’re a project manager, not like you’re a designer. There are countless services that can help you format your slide deck beautifully (I use Konsus.com for a lot of my own design work.) If you can’t think out of the box and solve the slide deck problem, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to think outside the box and produce outstanding results in the role you’re pursuing. Again, it’s a problem solving issue, not an issue with your ability as a designer.

Way too much text

Next, it’s a tempting mistake to include an insane amount of text in your slide deck. Having every thought written out feels comfortable and safe- in your mind, you feel like you have everything you need right in front of you, and that when in doubt, the audience will simply be able to read your slide.

That logic couldn’t be further from the truth. If you catch yourself as a presenter reading words on a slide, you’re committing a cardinal sin of presenting. If you force your audience to read longform text while you speak, you’re essentially demanding them to multitask, and there is no easier way to get someone to tune out.

Your slides should have a minimal amount of text when telling a story. Rehearse and practice your content ahead of time so you don’t need to rely on text as a crutch, and commit to telling a story with visuals instead of long form.

Ignoring the rules of storytelling

In many of these presentations, a candidate will be so nervous or in their own head that they forget to have empathy for their audience. Remember, the audience knows NOTHING about what you’re about to tell them. Many presenters assume (obviously incorrectly) that the audience is prepared for what they’re about to explain or present on. Assume the audience knows absolutely nothing, that they don’t even know the prompt you built your presentation around, and that you have to build the scene entirely from scratch.

Set the stage. Introduce the concepts you’re going to talk about gradually. Explain the situation. Explain why it matters. Slow down, and follow the same rules you’d follow if you were telling your friend a story.

Humans are natural storytellers, but for some reason, we forget the laws of storytelling in formal or stressful settings. Bring the audience along slowly, give opportunities for engagement, and make sure everyone is following. If you yammer away for 15 minutes and don’t give people any opportunity to engage, they will tune out.

A great example to follow

A company called Front got a ton of attention for the deck they used to raise their first round of funding. I love this deck because it’s so simple to follow and so easy to engage with, which makes it an incredibly effective storytelling device.

(Link: Front’s Series A Fundraising Slide Deck)

This sample slide is clear in what it’s trying to convey, looks good, and does not overwhelm with text!

A few slides in Mathilde’s deck:

1. The problem (that Front is trying to solve)
2. The solution (in their eyes)
3. Competitive landscape (why no one is doing this correctly yet)
4. Why Front has a head start
5. Big customers are using Front already
6. These customers are super happy with the product!
7. And the product’s userbase is growing rapidly…

(The deck has 24 slides, but all of them are crisp, clear, and direct to the point.)

It may seem like this fundraising deck is a completely different document than a job interview presentation deck, but they actually serve the exact same purpose. Both are selling documents that show the audience how capable you are, and both are aimed at telling a compelling story.

Don’t make your audience work hard to follow the story that you’re telling. They’re thinking about 50 different things that day, and their attention is shot from a constant barrage of social media, news, devices, etc. Your presentation should look great, tell a very clear story, and use images rather than text to bring your audience along with you.

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