First used by Shakespeare’s As You Like It, the phrase “too much of a good thing” is wise. It’s usually used to mean “too much of a good thing is not always good”. When it comes to information that is certainly true. Considering that the average Sunday newspaper with its numerous section pull outs and glossy magazines contains as much information as our grandfathers came across in their whole lives, it’s no wonder that we feel that information is overloading our poor brains. It’s like the Niagara Falls pouring into an egg-cup. Massively overpowering. Ultimately pointless.
The causes of information overload are never-ending with 24-hour cable TV, the internet, video games, messaging, newspapers, magazines, blogs, wikipedia, and social networking. It never stops. And, on the main, it’s completely useless. It provides no productive or creative use. Sure, we all go to the web to “research”. But three hours later we are not entirely sure which brand of MP3 player we should buy. The choice is overwhelming to the point of drowning out our ability to make decisions effectively.
So armed with this knowledge, what do most business presenters do? They prepare the most information-heavy presentations they can cram into a PowerPoint slide. Slide after slide of text. Data packed into font size 8 tables. Reams and reams of bullet points, which really don’t have a point. Why would any presenter in their right mind do this?
Whatever the reasons, you need to start cutting down on the information you deliver to your audience. Use no more than 10 slides for a presentation. Use graphics and pictures instead of text. Build up a photo database that you can reference while you are preparing your presentations. A picture speaks a thousand words and more importantly, it’s memorable.
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