How to use slides without reading them to the room

A test for every slide and prop in a talk, so that each one does a job your spoken words cannot do.

This lesson sets the role of slides and props in a talk. You carry the talk. Slides and props support it. The most common mistake is to put the script on the slides and read it to the room. Once you do that, you have made yourself unnecessary. The audience reads ahead and stops listening to you. A slide earns its place when it does something your words cannot. It can show an image, reveal a number, or hold a single line you want to land. A slide that only repeats your sentence comes out.

Props follow the same rule. A prop belongs in the talk when it lands a beat and makes one idea stick. A prop used as a visual aid for its own sake is clutter. Use one real object, at the right moment.

The test for everything on the screen and everything in your hands matches the test for every line of the talk. It stays if it does a job nothing else can.

Key ideas.

In the Source Talk Method, the speaker is the talk and slides are support, so a slide that repeats the speaker's sentence should be cut.
Reading a script off slides makes the speaker unnecessary, because the audience reads ahead and stops listening.
A slide earns its place when it shows an image, reveals a number, or holds a single line the speaker wants to land.
A prop belongs in a talk when it lands a beat and makes one idea stick, and a prop used for its own sake is clutter.

Questions.

Should I put my script on my slides?

Keep your script off your slides. When you put the script on screen and read it, you make yourself unnecessary, and the audience reads ahead and stops listening to you. Use a slide for something your words cannot do, such as showing an image, revealing a number, or holding a single line you want to land. If a slide only repeats your sentence, cut it.

When should I use a prop in a presentation?

Use a prop when it lands a beat and makes one idea hard to forget. A prop used as a visual aid for its own sake is clutter. Use one real object, at the right moment. Treat a prop the way you treat every line of the talk. It stays only if it does a job nothing else in the talk can do.

Lesson 7.4 of From Story to Stage, a free written course by Aaron C. Leaman, published by Brighter Future. The terms it uses are defined in the glossary.