The Issue? It’s in Tense.

The “present” (noun) is another word for “now.”

To be “present” (adjective) is to exist in that very same now.

To “present” (verb) is to make something exist to others.

To give someone a “present” (noun) is a gift.

The problem with most presentations? Thanks to decks, people giving them aren’t very… Present.

Let’s stop hiding behind slides and give each other the gift of existing together in the now.

Slides are not neutral.

When most teams hear the word presentation, the reflex is immediate. Stand up a deck. Open PowerPoint. Pull dusty slides from the server. Rearrange, add logos, copy charts, swap backgrounds, update to new branding, hit save.

We’ve mistaken an event for a file type. [sad trombone]

Once upon a time, a presentation was a moment. An experience for the audience. A ritual designed to move people. Today, it’s a .pptx attachment. Slides have become synonymous with “how we share ideas.” And yet, the more slides we generate, the less attention our ideas receive.

Slides push your audience toward passive consumption. They signal “sit back, tune out, let me talk at you.”

If you actually give a damn about your audience whether your message lands, you can’t afford to default to decks. The fix is simple but not easy: resist the urge to build a deck just because your culture says, that’s what we do.

Instead, pause. With your team, ask six questions. Not to determine how many slides you’ll need, but whether you need any at all.

1. Are we presenting visually driven material?

Think ad campaigns, architectural renderings, product prototypes. These are things people need to see.

But showing them on a screen often makes them smaller, less tangible. A dozen thumbnail mockups on a slide is not the same as a poster board that fills the wall, or a prototype people can hold in their hands.

When you shrink your visuals to fit a template, you shrink their impact. Designers know this intuitively. That’s why you see them pinning inspiration to walls of a war room, not lining up slides in sequence.

If you’re presenting visuals, respect them. Make them physical. Make them special. Otherwise, you’re not presenting your work, you’re reducing it.

2. Is the room big enough for bold visuals to reinforce our message?

In a large space, a powerful image can anchor attention. But text-heavy slides are worse than useless. They fracture focus.

Cognitive psychology has studied this effect for decades. Richard Mayer’s research on multimedia learning shows that when audiences are asked to read and listen at the same time, comprehension drops sharply. John Sweller’s “cognitive load theory” confirms it: people retain less information when text competes with speech.

In other words, the more text you put on a slide, the less your audience hears (or remembers) of what you say.

Big rooms can benefit from slides as visual cues. A single striking photo, a keyword, a chart that reinforces what you’re saying in the moment. But if your goal is to connect, every bullet point is a barrier between you and your audience.

Remember: attention belongs on you. If you give people too much to read, they won’t have any left for you.

3. Does the data require close reading?

There’s nothing more common (or more counterproductive) than projecting spreadsheets onto a wall and saying, “As you can see here…”

No, they can’t. Not clearly. Not at the speed you’re talking.

Nielsen Norman Group studies show people read up to 25% slower on screens than on paper. And comprehension lags even further when reading is rushed. Which means by the time you’ve finished explaining, most of your audience is still processing what they saw on the first row of the chart.

Data requires digestion. That takes time. People remember and interpret data best when they can read at their own pace, highlight, make notes, and return to it later. A slide full of numbers robs them of that process.

If your material depends on data, share it separately. Send it ahead of time. Print it out. Give your audience the courtesy of time to read, reflect, and formulate questions. Then use your meeting time for dialogue.

Otherwise, what you’re really saying is, “I want you to absorb this complex material while also listening to me in real-time.” That’s not presenting. It’s punishing.

4. Do we need a leave-behind?

The “leave-behind” is one of the most common rationalizations for decks: we’ll just present it now and send it out later.

But documents and presentations serve entirely different purposes. A document is meant to be read. A presentation is meant to be experienced. Try to make one thing do both jobs, and it fails at both.

McKinsey research shows employees already spend nearly 20% of their time searching for and reformatting information. Turning decks into pseudo-documents only adds to that waste. The audience doesn’t get clarity. They get clutter.

If you need a leave-behind, create one. A short, well-written summary that captures your argument. A one-pager, a memo, a PDF. Send it after.

Don’t trick yourself into thinking your deck can be both a live experience and a reference document. That’s like watching a movie that’s also a legal contract.

5. Is our core message simple, memorable, and sticky?

The more powerful your message, the less it needs slides to carry it.

Research backs this up. In Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath found people remember 63% of stories but only 5% of statistics. Storytelling, delivered directly, sticks.

Think of the best speeches you’ve ever heard. Martin Luther King Jr. didn’t need slides to make “I Have a Dream” unforgettable. The Gettysburg Address contained no imagery, only the visions Lincoln was able to form in the audience’s minds.

Slides rarely make a message more memorable. More often, they flatten nuance and drain emotion.

If your message is sticky enough, slides won’t strengthen it. They’ll dilute it.

6. Are we actually brainstorming, giving a status update, or aligning on a plan?

Here’s where slides do the most damage. When you’re trying to co-create, align, or check progress, a slide deck becomes a crutch.

Brainstorming with slides is like knitting with gloves on. It slows you down, filters every idea through formatting, and makes collaboration feel like consumption.

MIT Sloan research on collaboration found groups using whiteboards generated 23% more creative ideas than those working through slide-based discussions. The reason is obvious: whiteboards invite participation. Slides discourage it.

If the real goal is alignment or ideation, don’t put a barrier between you and your team. Open the floor, not the file.

The bigger issue: culture

Many of us work in DeckPendent (trademark pending) cultures where slides are the default. Leaders ask for them reflexively. Teams build them without thinking. They’ve become a badge of diligence, a way to show “we worked on this.”

But busyness is not effectiveness. A deck is not proof of progress.

The next time someone says, We need a presentation, be brave enough to ask: Do we need slides?

Or do we need a conversation?

Most of the time, your audience isn’t craving a beautifully animated sequence of slides. They’re craving clarity. Connection. A chance to ask questions, wrestle with ideas, and shape the outcome with you.

That’s what presentations were meant to be all along.

Give a heck. Ditch the deck.

Slide pollution is real. But it’s not inevitable.

The fix is in your hands.

Not sure if your next presentation really needs slides?

🏕️ Grab the rubric:

And please, forward it to that teammate who insists “no presentation is complete without a deck.”

🔥 Hi, I’m Eric, and every week, I share insights, observations and tools so you can ditch decks and light a fire in your high-stakes presentations. If you like what you see here, follow me on LinkedIn.