Get more out of your Slide Header

Yesterday night I was working on a presentation. It was a slide modification work. I had a set of slides and I was modifying its structure, content and design. There were just six slides in the presentation. It was basically a brief investor pitch. The slide headers of the presentation were as under:


About our Customer
Customer Fact Sheet
About Us
Product Portfolio: Current
Product Portfolio: Proposed
Financials


Headers like these are common and we mostly 'make a statement' on top and share the 'information' below. This is not very effective. It's something we all do out of habit and because everyone else does it. It is better to share the summary / gist of the slide in the header itself. For example, if the content of the slide 'Customer Fact Sheet' is that my customer is India's largest car maker then why not share the same right at the top? If we use slide headers as summary of the slide, then we are making it easier for our audience to understand the presentation. They can just browse through and get a good idea of what we are saying.


Saying 'About our Customer' is just a statement which is of no use. Saying 'Our customer is India's leading car maker' is like giving an information. And this information is useful and impactful. If we start sharing a quick summary of the slide in our headers, we will help the audience understand easier and faster.


The next time you write on your slide 'About Us', stop and think. How can I describe my company in a few words? Once you have the answer, write it at the top of the slide.