When Slides Take Over the Stage: How to Use Content Effectively
A student once joined one of my workshops who had a background in graphic design. For his final project, he created what might’ve been the most beautiful PowerPoint I’ve ever seen — vibrant color palette, layered textures, custom animations that could’ve made Pixar proud.
When he pulled up that first slide, I thought, Oh, this is going to be good. And then… he started talking.
Every line he spoke was already written on the slide. Entire paragraphs filled the screen in small, stylish fonts. The text scrolled in with dramatic animation, and I found myself torn between two worlds — reading ahead and trying to listen — and failing miserably at both. Halfway through, my eyes started to squint. My brain started to drift. He was saying all the right words… but I wasn’t hearing any of them.
My brain was completely overloaded, essentially turning his presentation into an episode of Cocomelon for 6-month-olds (IYKYK)
When we learn, our brains use two channels: one for visuals (what we see) and one for words (what we hear). But both channels have a limited capacity. When his slides were jam-packed with text, my visual channel was overloaded just trying to read. Meanwhile, his voice was competing for my attention in the auditory channel, and I couldn’t keep up with both.
The result? My brain shut one of them off. And because humans read faster than we listen, I read ahead, processed the information, and then tuned him out completely. He had broken the golden rule of good communication: our brains can’t process everything at once.
Afterward, I could see how proud he was, and honestly, he should have been. While everyone else used basic Canva templates, he went full DaVinci mode. His craftsmanship was stunning. But I had to tell him the truth, and now I’ll tell you the same thing:
Slides don’t tell your story — YOU do.
Design for Connection, Not Perfection
When it comes to presenting, great visuals support your message, but they can never replace it. Here are a few simple ways to make your slides work for you, not against you:
Keep Slides as a Guide - Not a Script: Your slides should frame your message, not repeat it. Use a single key phrase or image to highlight your main point, then let your voice fill in the story. If everything you’re saying is already on the screen, the audience doesn’t need you — they just need reading glasses.
Show, Don’t Tell: Humans are visual thinkers. Support your ideas with graphics, charts, and photos that anchor your words in something concrete.
If you’re talking about a team workflow, map it out. If you’re sharing data, show the trajectory visually so the audience feels the progress.Simplify Every Slide: Less truly is more. Avoid cramming a novel onto one frame. It’s better to use ten clear, focused slides than one crowded masterpiece that loses everyone halfway through.
Think: Easy. Digestible. Highlight Points.Design for Energy Flow: Use your visuals to match the emotion of your message. When energy builds — like in a reveal or turning point — your slides should build with you. When you pause, let the visuals breathe too. Rhythm matters as much in design as it does in delivery.
Remember: You Are the Main Visual: Your presence, tone, and pacing are the real focus of the presentation. No slide can replace authenticity, eye contact, and energy. The best speakers use slides as a backdrop, not a crutch.
The Research:
For over four decades, Dr. Richard Mayer and colleagues at the University of California, Santa Barbara have studied how the human brain learns from words and visuals — a framework known as the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning (CTML).
Their research shows that our brains have two main processing channels — one for visual/pictorial information and another for auditory/verbal information — and each channel has limited capacity. When both channels are overloaded, learning stalls.
What They Found: In Mayer’s experiments, people learned new concepts through narrated slides, animations, or printed text. When participants were forced to read and listen to the same words simultaneously, their verbal channel became overloaded, leaving little room for comprehension or integration. The result? They remembered less, understood less, and were less engaged.
Mayer’s studies also revealed that meaningful learning doesn’t come from exposure alone — it requires active processing:
Selecting relevant information (What’s important here?)
Organizing it into mental models (How does this fit together?)
Integrating it with what we already know (How does this connect?)
When slides are overloaded with text, the audience can’t do any of that. Their mental “bandwidth” gets hijacked by decoding words instead of understanding meaning.
So don’t forget: the more you cram onto your slides, the less your audience actually learns, and the less they connect with you. Simplicity isn’t just good design; it’s neuroscience.
5 Takeaways for Leaders
Your slides are an aid, not the act. You are the main storyteller.
Design for focus, not decoration. Every slide should have a single clear message.
Engagement beats information overload. People remember how you made them feel, not how many stats you showed.
Cognitive simplicity = clarity. Reduce redundancy so your audience can actually think about what you’re saying.
Use visual rhythm. Match your slides’ pacing and energy to your vocal delivery — movement and silence both communicate.
Ready to Take It to the Next Level?
If you want to transform your next presentation from “text-heavy and tiring” to “clear, confident, and unforgettable,” start by rethinking your slides as your scene partner.
Your content isn’t meant to speak for you — it’s meant to amplify you. When your visuals and voice are in sync, your audience doesn’t just see your message — they feel it.