Last updated: 2026-09-17
A dermatologist once tried to persuade me with stats about sunscreen. Numbers. Risk. The whole lecture. I heard it. Nothing changed.
Then they showed me a photo. Years of sun damage, made obvious in a single image. I got it immediately.
Facts are weak. Images are strong. If you can show it, don’t tell it.
That photo is the whole lesson, and almost every bad presentation I sit through violates it. Too much text. Too many ideas. Too much of the presenter, not enough of the audience. You can fix that. Here’s how.
What do they need to hear?
Before you write a single slide, ask: what does the audience need to hear, and in what format?
Most bad presentations fail because the presenter focuses on displaying their own brilliance or technical knowledge rather than solving the audience’s problem. You’ve built a tour of your work. They’re sitting there waiting for something they can use on Monday.
If you’re trying to persuade, you’re marketing. Tell them what they want to hear (the benefit), but give them what they really need (the solution).
Audit your next deck with that filter. If the slides are about you, rewrite them so they’re about the audience. Does that sound...