PowerPoint presentations have become a mainstay in business today. A big part of nearly every presentation is the use of bullet points and numbered lists. Unfortunately many presenters are unaware of just how to use these focus and attention-getters properly.
In word processing documents, a bullet point list can be a non-sequential list of product features and benefits of a product, items necessary to complete a project, or staff members eligible for overtime. Numbered lists are sequential in nature; description of step-by-step instructions on completion of a task, list of top ten sales staff, or turn-by-turn instructions to get from the home office to a customer location. In a word processing document these lists are usually indented on a page with mostly narrative text.
A presentation consists largely of bullet points and numbered lists with a minimum amount of narrative. The narrative comes from the speaker/presenter.
The 6 x 6 Rule
When preparing a presentation, speakers should keep in mind the 6 x 6 rule. Simply stated this rule suggests that there should be no more than six bullet points per slide and no more than six words per bullet point. While 6 x 6 is not a universal standard and certainly has exceptions, it provides a goal for the presenter.
It is important to remember the audience is looking to the speaker to fill in the narrative. The bullet points should have the essence of the idea or concept being presented. Think about successful marketing campaigns for products or services.
- “Better Living Through Chemistry” (Dupont)
- “You'll Believe a Man Can Fly!” (Superman: The Movie 1978)
- “Just Do It!” (Nike)
- “Be All That You Can Be.” (U.S. Army)
Long after the product has been forgotten, the slogan lives on. The presenter should strive for that same kind of clarity and focus in each bullet point of each slide.
Tips to Reduce Words in Bullet Points
The presenter must forget everything they learned in English rhetoric class about complete sentences. A presentation slide is essentially an outline.
- Eliminate unnecessary words.
- Eliminate complete sentences.
- Present only one idea per bullet point.
If more than six bullet points are required, the presenter can create a second slide. The second slide should have the same title as the first with a parenthetical “continued” or “cont.” just below it.
Why 6 x 6?
With six bullet points, each containing six words, the presenter is dealing with 36 words, the slide title words, and line spacing. These factors fill a slide to capacity. Going beyond this level usually results in PowerPoint automatically reducing font size to accommodate more text. That means the text gets smaller and becomes that much more difficult for the audience in the back row to read.
Exceptions to the Rule
Sometimes there are exceptions. The presenter may add or subtract words or bullet points for certain reasons.
- A product or brand name consists of more than one word. (Ford Fusion Motortrend car of year 2008)
- First time an acronym is introduced. (Address line contains Uniform Resource Locator (URL))
- Name of a person. (Heath Ledger received posthumous 2008 Golden Globe)
- Quotations that support a product or recommendation. If these quotes are too wordy it will be necessary for the presenter to reduce the number of bullets on that slide.
The 6 x 6 rule is not written in stone and there are certainly times when, despite her best efforts, a presenter just cannot make a bullet point less than eight words. The rule should be used as a goal for the presenter. An occasional excess of words will not destroy the presentation.
In any presentation, the purpose of bullet points is to present key information in a brief, easy to remember, manner. If a set of bullet points contain too much text, the audience will be too busy trying to read the text and pay less attention to the speaker. Additional information concerning text and font usage in PowerPoint can be found in the article: Common Text and Font Errors in PowerPoint.
NOTE: The rules for bullet points in presentations are not the same for word processing. In word processing documents, bullets may be used to define and clarify ideas. In addition, a text document is meant to be read without a presenter, so additional text is necessary to explain the bulleted item.
Related Article:
Less is More with PowerPoint
Join the Conversation