You don’t want to forget anything. So everything goes on the slide. Seven bullets, neatly aligned, each point equally important. Except your audience sees it differently. They read everything in ten seconds, switch off at point four and are already done while you’re still on point two.
A bit like a rookie cowboy who’s allowed to shoot for the first time. Bang, everything at once. Lots of noise, few hits.
Why too many bullets don’t work
Your audience can’t read and listen at the same time. The brain chooses. And reading wins, because it’s faster than you talk. Educational psychologist Richard Mayer showed it: people who listen and read the same text at the same time remember less than people who listen and look at an image. So your slide is competing with you.
Bullets belong in a handout, a report or a blog. There, the reader is at the helm. They choose what to read, when and how often. During your presentation, you’re at the wheel.
What works better?
One message per slide. One sentence, one strong image. Nobody remembers a list of seven points. One sharp statement with an image that hits home, that’s what stays.
How many bullets per slide?
Do they really have to be bullets? Then keep it to three at most. And aim like a sharpshooter:
- Put your strongest point at the top. What comes first sticks best.
- Three or four words per bullet. You tell the rest.
- Announce it: “There are three.” Then your audience knows there’s no endless list coming.
- Let them appear one by one, on click, with the ‘Appear’ animation. Don’t let them fly in, tumble or explode.
- Give each bullet a pause. Let it land before you fire the next one.
- More than three? Make a new slide.
That way, you set the pace. Your audience doesn’t read ahead, stays with you and every bullet gets its moment.
In short
Use bullets like a sharpshooter. Not like a trigger-happy cowboy.
Curious whether your slides hit the mark? With the Presentation Check, I look at your presentation with a strategic eye. Or learn in the training how to turn a full slide into a story that persuades and sticks.
