Most of the bullet point slides in a presentation are boring and forgettable. In this article, I will show you some interesting and meaningful alternatives to your boring bullet point slides.
A simple trick to help you avoid boring bullet point slides:
I understand that it is quick and easy for you to put down your ideas as bullet points. But, your audience hates the sight of a bullet point slide.
The key to get away from expressing everything as bullets is – to spend a minute or two to explore the underlying relationship between the points.
There are usually 9 different types of relationships – and only one of them is actually a list!
The relationship types could be any of the following:
- Stages in a process
- Steps or Stages leading up/down
- One (or more) factor influences others
- Whole and its parts
- List of events or achievements over time
- Information about Person or Thing
- Numbers or Data
- List of items
The moment you identify the relationship to express, your slide becomes more visual automatically.
The relationship need not be anything fancy. In this article you will find some examples of how bullet list can be converted into visuals based on these types of relationships.
Check if the points follow a sequence. If yes, you can express the points as…
#1 Stages in a linear process:
Here is an example of a PowerPoint slide showing stages in a liner process:
Now, your audience understands the context better. Your list becomes more relatable.
If the list represents steps or growth from one level to another, you can represent the points as…
#2 Steps to an Objective or Goal:
The bulleted list could show steps to achieve a goal. Here is how such a list can be presented creatively.
You can add custom animation to reveal one step at a time. It will help you tell a powerful visual story with your slides, instead of presenting a boring list.
If your list talks about factors that cause something to occur…
#3 4 influencing causes for a result:
Cause-effect relationship is one of the most common relationship types used in a business presentation.
#4 The components of a whole:
When your slide is about 4 things that make up a whole, you can use the following metaphor of a puzzle…
Everyone understands a puzzle metaphor, and it makes your message more memorable.
If the points are about a list of achievements, you can use…
#5 A set of target graphics:
Source: Comprehensive All In One Bundle
If you want to go a bit deeper with the metaphor, you can talk about…
Failed and winning attempts as shown below:
I am sure you agree that all these slides are far more interesting than the plain old boring bulleted list. Isn’t it?
As you can see, the trick is to go a little bit deeper to find the relationship between the points. That’s all. The rest will take care of itself.
Please share your thoughts below if you found the creative ideas useful!