Better Presentations Use Fewer Bullet Points

Bulleted lists can be an exciting way to convey key information during a presentation, but they shouldn’t be over-used. Depending too much on bulleted lists to deliver your material can result in an audience that is as lifeless as your presentation!

Bulleted lists are most often used in writing or reference works to introduce a series of short, related items. A couple of things to remember about the use of bullet points in presentations:

• Use them sparingly – Limit the use of bulleted lists to no more than five occurrences in an average 20-slide presentation. Although this may seem like a very conservative guideline, there are effective alternatives you can use to highlight critical information or data that you would normally bullet. Also avoid lengthy bulleted lists. If you find you are bulleting 10 or more items, use an alternative to more effectively showcase this interrelated information.


• Use them correctly - Elements of a bulleted list should be brief, and do not require punctuation at the end. If the bulleted elements you are creating are extending into multiple sentences, you should consider using an alternative.

Alternatives to Bulleted Lists
If you find that a bulleted list is creeping onto nearly every slide in your deck, think about using alternatives which can be just as effective, yet won’t turn off your audience. And what exactly are these alternatives, you may ask? Well, just take a look at the following bulleted list for tips:

• Re-tool your content into using a graphic or other visual (remember, a picture is worth a thousand… BULLET POINTS)


• Edit the length of your bulleted elements, and move the bulk of the content into your speaker’s notes


• Build a chart or table to showcase a long list, or lists that have a lot of associated detail

Bulleted lists are not evil; they are a useful tool to distill critical information down into a digestible format. Unfortunately, they often become a crutch for presenters and a pain point for the audience. Use bullets, but use them wisely. By achieving the proper mix of bulleted lists and effective alternatives, you can deliver a balanced, interesting presentation that won’t have your audience shielding their eyes or tuning out your words.