Minimalistische vs. umfangreiche Präsentationsfolien

Minimalist vs. extensive presentation slides

|Tom Schweitzer

Many experienced presenters recommend keeping presentation slides as simple and clear as possible: Cluttered slides distract from the topic and only confuse the audience. What's important to managers like Steve Jobs, one of the most famous proponents of minimalist presentations, is above all one thing: clarity . Ideally, a single image, combined with one or two words—if any at all—should be enough to convey the core message of a slide.

Minimalist films do indeed offer some advantages:

  • It is easier for viewers to keep track of everything and they cannot get lost in the slides.
  • The audience is forced to listen, as the information is not on the slide.
  • Minimalist slides also allow for a more dynamic presentation design. The limited information per slide enables a faster flow, which helps maintain the audience's attention and makes it easier to develop suspense.

So what's wrong with ultra-minimalist slides? Why not do without them altogether? Slides actually serve several functions:

  • Visually perceived information (text, images, graphics) is more easily retained than auditory information. It serves as a memory aid and helps to create lasting memories and clarify content.
  • The presentation can be shared and read independently (e.g., as a handout). This helps the audience prepare or look up content later.


To leverage the advantages of both approaches, it is recommended to create two sets of slides. The first set (also called a "deck") contains minimalist slides and is used for the presentation itself: This allows the audience to focus on the presentation and retain key concepts more readily. The second deck contains more text and supplementary information and is distributed to the audience after the presentation: It serves as a reference and a basis for further discussion.

Since the minimalist slides can simply be expanded to include the additional text, the extra effort remains limited and you get the best of both worlds.
Try this approach in your next presentation and see for yourself how effective this method is!