Wednesday, 6 p.m. at the office. The presentation for tomorrow morning hasn’t even been started. So you open PowerPoint, and there it is, friendly as ever: “Click to add title”, and underneath, “Click to add text”, with a little dot in front. Two hours later, the presentation is done: 30 slides, each with six bullet points. Everything’s in there.
The next morning, what always happens happens. The audience reads. They finish before you do. They check their phones. And in the end, nobody remembers a single one of the 180 points.
Bullets kill, so do bullet points
The saying “Bullets kill, so do bullet points” sums it up: bullets kill people, bullet points kill attention. And people who aren’t paying attention can’t remember anything.
The chain is simple: attention gone, focus elsewhere, memory of the presentation: zero. There’s a name for it: death by PowerPoint.
That’s why we at MCPREZI work by one clear principle: strictly no bullet points. It applies in Prezi and in PowerPoint alike, even though PowerPoint practically invites you to fill in a bullet list on every new slide.
Why bullet points don’t work
You can’t read and listen at the same time
Your audience can’t read and listen to you at once. As soon as there’s text on the slide, they start reading. Either they stop listening to you while they do, or they don’t finish reading. Both weaken your message.
Everything is equally important, so nothing is
In a bullet list, every point is the same size, indented the same way, with the same little dot in front. The most important point looks exactly like the least important one. Your audience has to work out for themselves what matters, and they often get it wrong.
The slide becomes your cheat sheet
Bullet points usually aren’t there for the audience but for the person presenting. They’re a memory aid. The result: you read out loud, lose eye contact and come across as unsure. Notes belong in your hand or in presenter view, not on the screen.
Lists have no story
A list connects ideas with nothing more than a line break. It doesn’t say why point three follows point two or what follows from it. But a presentation lives on exactly those connections: cause and effect, problem and solution, tension and release.
6 alternatives to bullet points
1. One statement per slide
Instead of six points on one slide: six slides with one statement each. It sounds like more work, but it’s quicker to present and much easier to understand. The headline is a full sentence that contains the statement.
2. An image that carries the message
A good image replaces a paragraph. But it has to mean something: a real photo from the project, a situation that shows the problem, a symbol that sticks. More on this in what makes a good presentation design.
3. The one big number
When you talk about numbers, show the one that matters. Big, alone on the slide, with a short sentence on what it means. The other 39 numbers go in the handout.
4. A simple chart
Relationships, trends and comparisons are often instantly clear as a chart and never as text. The headline says what you should see, and the key part is highlighted.
5. Build it step by step
If you really need a list, reveal the points one at a time and talk about each one. That way you decide what your audience is thinking about right now. Ideally with icons or images instead of text.
6. The zoom in Prezi
In Prezi, you don’t need a list to show several points. The topics sit side by side on the canvas: you show the overview first, then zoom into each topic. Your audience always sees where a point belongs. That’s exactly how our “strictly no bullet points” principle was born.
So where do the details go?
The most common worry: “But the information has to go somewhere!” Yes. Just not on the slide you’re presenting.
Separate two things that often get mixed up in a single file:
- The presentation is for the moment you’re speaking. It supports you, it doesn’t replace you.
- The handout is for reading. Here, text, tables and bullet points can go in as much as you like.
Put both into one file and you get a presentation nobody can present and a document nobody wants to read.
Conclusion
The best presentation works without any bullet points at all. One statement per slide, meaningful images, big numbers, simple charts or the zoom in Prezi carry a message better than any list. The details go in the handout. Next time you see “Click to add text”, think of the bullets and your audience.
Frequently asked questions
Why are bullet points bad in presentations?
Because they turn slides into text documents. The audience reads the points instead of listening and usually finishes before the speaker does. Every point looks equally important, so nothing sticks. That's what people mean by “death by PowerPoint”.
What can I use instead of bullet points?
One statement per slide, an image that carries the message, a big number, a simple chart, a step-by-step build or, in Prezi, the zoom from the overview into the detail. The details that used to sit in the bullet points go into a handout.
Are bullet points ever okay?
In handouts, documents to read and internal working papers, yes. On a slide you present to an audience, almost never. If you really need a list, show the points one at a time and talk about each.
What does “death by PowerPoint” mean?
The term describes presentations where slide after slide is packed with text and bullet points until the audience mentally checks out. The problem isn't PowerPoint itself, it's the way it's used.
