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Remember the first time you gave a speech in Seventh Grade? Palms sweating, that sea of faces looming in front of you, and your only lifeline was a stack of 3x5 index cards. Today those same 3x5 cards can be your key to creating an impactful presentation – helping you organize, simplify and clarify your message.
One of the toughest parts of creating a script for a presentation is getting started. You have lots of ideas, but organizing them and putting them on paper can be a daunting task. Take a stack of index cards and write each of the important points you need to cover on a separate card. Now you can spread them out on your desk and arrange them into a storyboard – a dynamic outline – for your presentation. Move the cards around until the flow of the message feels just right. Now you have the perfect framework for your presentation.
Hang on to those cards! With your script finished, it's time to map out your PowerPoint presentation. A good PowerPoint slide should look like a 3x5 index card: just a few main points to reinforce the message. Try using a Sharpie® to write each slide on an index card. You should only be able to write a few bullet points or a few words each on each card (slide). Have more to say? Use another card. Keeping your slide content simple helps your audience digest the information more easily. And it allows your designer to create graphics that are more compelling. Simplifying your slides makes your message more memorable.
Creating PowerPoint slides on index cards can also help you make a complex message easier to present. Writing on a small amount of space forces you to look at your message in a different way. Complex diagrams can be broken up into a series of smaller sections. Concepts that need longer explanation get their own slide. Draw comparisons with no more than two graphs per slide. Distilling your message into smaller bits of information creates a clearer illustration for your audience.
Before sitting down at your computer to create your next presentation, grab a Sharpie and go old school on a deck of 3x5 index cards. You'll be amazed at your results. (And your Seventh Grade English teacher will be so proud...) | 
