First Impression Rules
I could have called this post “Overview of slide titles and headlines”
Ugh.
Titles and headlines are precious, because they are:
- The first thing people see
- An opportunity to make the audience think or do something
- A chance to hook their emotions
Tell Me What to Think or Do
The best presentation titles and slide headlines work hard to engage your audience.
They’re novel, dynamic, provocative.
They direct the audience to think or do something.
They are engaging.
And an engaged audience is the first pre-req to persuasion.
Don’t Bore Me
Too many titles and headlines merely describe the content.
They cue the audience to get ready to be bored.
“Q2 Plan overview”
“Packaging & Pricing”
“Narrative arc”
“Pipeline Performance”
“Team OKRs”
These are all missed opportunities.
Eyes and Ears
Remember that when you present slides, you present to humans.
Humans can do one thing at a time.
Listen.
Read.
or
Think about what I just heard or read.
Write your slide headlines with a plan for which of these you want them to do, in what order.
A simple plan is to give people a few quiet seconds to read your concise, easy to follow headline before you start talking.
And for the first thing you say, just say your hardworking headline.
If you wrote it well, it’s worth saying.
And then stop and let them absorb it, and think about it.
Presentation Titles/Title Slides
The first slide of a slide deck is usually the title slide.
Most PMMs waste this opportunity.
They write a descriptive presentation title.
Don’t do it.
Title your presentation something interesting, that rallies the group.
“Pipeline Uptick, but More to Do”
is more likely to engage me than
“Pipeline review”
Slide Headline Tactics
The words at the top of each slide can make each slide hit harder in two specific ways.
Headlines that reinforce images
One headline exploit is to
- focus people on the image on the slide
- Make them notice the most important thing about the image
- Tell them what to think
“We’re bending the pipe curve up”
This a great title for a slide with a line chart turning from downward to an upward slope.
It tells me what to look at, and what to think/feel about that.
Headlines that reinforce text
You can also use the headline to direct the eye to the key piece of text.
“Eye-watering performance numbers”
will direct attention to the numerals in each text bullet
(and bold those numerals)
“The Most Critical Questions to Answer”
can focus attention on the questions you’ve written out in text
“3 Ways We Can Get There”
can focus attention on three bullets
and cue people to understand them as alternatives to weigh against each other
before you even open your mouth.
Upgradings your titles and headlines is the fastest way to improve a presentation.
Engaging presentation titles and slide headlines will help you get your way.
From the front porch in Moss Beach,
Tenders
Product Marketing Best Practices 