This is a question that plagues executives and those just starting out alike: How much do you put on a slide in your presentation? Three bullet points? Two paragraphs? When does it become too much, or when does it look like too little?

Although there is no one single definitive answer for this, there are a number of factors that should be taken into account when determining it.

I have laid out three important factors below:

• Font Size and Style - Obviously, depending on the size and style of your font, you are going to be limited as to how much will actually fit onto your slides. However, you need to make sure that by using your current font, you are able to get the information you need on each slide. If you think that your slide is lacking in information simply because all of it won’t fit, then maybe you need to re-evaluate your current font selection. The same thinking can be applied to the case where you have too much on one slide. If you are using a small font style and size, and this causes the slide to be cluttered because you put too much information on it, then you would want to take a look at changing your font style and/or size.

• Using Continue Slides - A Continue slide is basically when you can’t fit all of the information for a topic on one slide, so you create a second slide with the same title but with a (cont.) added on to the end of it to fit the rest of your information. There are times when you need to use these, however you want to make sure it’s necessary. If you find yourself using a lot of these kinds of slides, make sure you are summarizing your information enough. On the flip side, if you find that you are squeezing a ton of information on one slide just to make it fit, maybe you need to use one instead to make the presentation more readable.

• Getting your Message across - The main goal of each of your slides should be to get your message across in a clear and succinct fashion. Therefore, after you create each slide, you should review it to make sure that’s what you’re doing. If you have a lot of information, but it confuses the audience, then that doesn’t do you any good. If you have only a few sentences that don’t readily give the reader the purpose of that slide, then that doesn’t do you any good either. As long as you are getting your message across in an easily understandable manner, then the amount of information on your slide is probably just right.

As I stated above, there is no one single solution to figuring out if your slides have just the right amount of information on them. However, by using a combination of the points stated above, you should be able to successfully accomplish this goal.

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