Much of what I advocate in the way of presentation development involves simplification. Simple messages and simple slides make it easy for the audience to enjoy your talk and understand your point.

One could argue that the mere presence of slides adds undue complexity to a talk because the audience is faced with making a choice between focusing on the presenter or the slide. There is truth enough in this argument to make you pause and think - should I even include slides with my next talk?

Between a talk with no slides and one with a heavy slide emphasis, there is a wonderful middle ground. Try designing a slide deck with blank black slides thoughtfully inserted at key points in your presentation. For the audience, this will reduce the strain of two competing visual focal points, at least at times. For you, the presenter, this becomes a powerful tool for creating emphasis in your narrative.

Let’s suppose, for example, that you have spent the last ten minutes presenting data to your audience, your slides functioning as the primary focal point.  Now you advance to a blank screen, take a step forward and deliver the core idea of your argument. You can imagine how the shift in narrative from supporting argument to main point, from analytical content to emotional appeal, all coupled with a change in focal point from slide to presenter results in a powerful moment.

Another option to inserting a blank slide in your deck is tapping the B-key on your laptop during your presentation. This, too, will make your screen black and offers you the ability to gauge your audience before using the technique.

The bottom line is that slides are not an all or nothing thing. You can design your slide deck to play a more or less prominent role in your talk by choosing when to display something and when to display nothing. You may find, ironically, that it’s the slides with nothing that make your slide deck and your talk truly powerful.