Polished slides only matter if you can sustain them

This is, in a way, a discussion of technique. Here I’ll write down some things to keep in mind when making presentation materials.

I think everyone has felt the urge to put out a perfectly polished document for a “this is the moment” kind of opportunity. Consultants who charge several million yen a month in particular will generally hand you neat, well-organized materials. That’s impressive. That said, keep in mind that this only applies when “you can do it as a matter of course.” If materials can be glamorous, that’s fine, but there’s no problem with them being simple either. The purpose is “getting the key points across.” Materials are, in most cases, something you submit repeatedly, get sent back to redo again and again, or remake at every phase. So even if you pour your heart into something thinking “this is a make-or-break moment,” it’s normal for that same effort to be demanded again next month, the month after, and sometimes even the following week. And if the quality drops because “well, it was such short notice…”, nobody sees it that way. They just think “you cut corners this time.” I think it’s far more advantageous to be someone who is normally seen as “not writing anything fancy, but the materials always get the key points across clearly (easy to read).”

No matter how information-rich a document you make, listeners generally don’t remember it. Show them a document packed with information, and they’ll remember only the part that’s “convenient for them.” This carries the serious risk that the true intent of the presentation won’t get across, and it’s also fodder for what I mentioned earlier as “unnecessary pushback.” Making materials that are tightly focused on the true intent, the key point, the essential point, with all the excess stripped away, is a very important consideration.

There was a time when something called the “Takahashi Method” was popular. It’s an extremely simple method where you write only about four or five characters per slide, but personally I think it’s effective. The reason is that leaving the slides free of information makes it easier for the audience’s eyes to turn toward the presenter. Whenever you give any kind of presentation, whether it’s a product proposal or a business plan, there is one crucial element you absolutely must convey. That is “passion.” The commitment you have to your project, how much conviction you’re bringing to it, what kind of world that product or service will bring about — you yourself are the one who vividly expresses these things that “cannot easily be put into words.” I remember once listening to a talk by Professor Ishii of the MIT Media Lab and thinking, “This person is extremely skilled at putting together materials.” He himself is someone overflowing with passion, and he radiates a lot of that energy even during presentations. But at the time, I felt that the reason everyone came away with such a strong impression was precisely because his materials were extremely simple. He did something close to the Takahashi Method itself, and beyond that he skillfully worked in photos and videos elsewhere too. And yet, what stays in the audience’s memory is still the sight of him speaking passionately. My analysis is that this is because the materials were simple, containing only the key points or supplementary information, so the audience was essentially just glancing at them the way one nibbles a palate cleanser between courses.

Now, having written all this, if I sum it up, I think it can be boiled down to the advice: “don’t put excessive effort into your materials.” What matters is the content. Or more precisely, it’s you yourself. That said, of course the rolled omelet that comes with sushi, the small side dish that comes with a set meal, and the all-you-can-eat baguette at a French restaurant are all better when they’re delicious. In a presentation, the materials occupy that same kind of position.

Originally published in Japanese at https://clazytech.com/2021/08/479/. Translated with LLM assistance and reviewed before publication.