PowerPoint: tip of the day! When you are creating a PowerPoint slideshow and you are not sure if something works, here is a simple technique to get through that hurdle: print it out, walk over to a colleague or family member, hold it up, and talk about it as you would in your presentation.
After you are done talking about it, change the subject. Talk about how their day is going or what they were doing prior. After a minute or two, ask them what ideas they remember from your slide right now. If they remember what the main idea in the slide was, then you know that the slide works. But if they only say that, “Yeah, it seems professional and smooth”, then you know that your slide is a waste of time.
So you can print a singular slide, take it down to a friend or colleague, and test if the end up remembering your message despite some small talk. If they do, you will know that you have created a good slide because it fulfills the reason for which it was created.
It does not matter whether you are done with all of your slides or not, or if it passes a litmus test that I have created. What matters is whether or not your audience remembers the message you are trying to give to them.