Storytelling with You

chapter 6say it with words

Words on slides play a critical role in our visual communications. They can pique interest, set expectations, illuminate, explain, and reinforce. Words can also overwhelm, complicate, irritate, and distract.

We all use words on a daily basis in our speaking and our writing. But the way to employ text in your presentations doesn't necessarily follow the conventions of these activities. Have you ever thought critically about how to best title a presentation? Or debated whether the number of words is too few or too many on a given slide?

Perhaps it's because words seem simple that many people don't give much thought to them. In a presentation setting, when we don't carefully examine how we use our words, they can easily work against us. Most of us have experienced a common abuse: the dreaded slide filled with bulleted text. We'll dissect why this technique doesn't work and introduce alternative strategies. There are more nuanced considerations when it comes to utilizing words wisely, too. Harnessing the power of words in our presentation materials is the focus of this chapter.

Let's begin by exploring how to use words to title our visual communications.

Words to title

You've surely set a presentation or slide title before. How did you approach it? For many, the tendency is to opt for a descriptive title—one that introduces the topic. There's nothing inherently wrong with this; however, I see it as a missed opportunity. We can use words in powerful ...