Page 367 - Between One and Many The Art and Science of Public Speaking

334 Part 3 Putting Theory Into Practice

Exhibit 12.9

Effi cient Text

We suspect you share our experience of attending a speech and seeing virtually
the entire text of the speech on the screen. In fact, we were present at an other-
wise excellent lecture delivered by distinguished visiting professors who turned
around and read large chunks of text off the screen. Not only did they lose eye
contact with the audience, their spoken words became almost irrelevant, as ev-
eryone in the crowd could read the text for themselves. Bulleted points used in
PowerPoint slides should be only a few words each, and merely suggest the gist
of the message. Unless directly quoting someone, it is not necessary to use full
sentences and certainly not full paragraphs in slides. Thus, instead of a bulleted
point that says:
• In creating your PowerPoint slides, always be sure to use high-contrast
colors because otherwise they may be invisible to audience members, espe-
cially those with colorblindness.
a bulleted point for your slide would simply read:
• High-contrast colors
You, as the speaker, would fi ll in the details. In fact, one of our concerns with
posting our own PowerPoint presentations online is that, assuming we follow this
guideline for effi cient use of text, a student who relies on the slides in place of
attending lecture is unlikely to get the essence of what we have said. Of course,
that is the point of a speech. The audience needs to hear what we have to say, not
merely read our slides.
Finally, keep words to a minimum—about 25 words per slide. Size counts as
well. Titles should be in 44-point font and main points 32-point or larger. Once