PowerPoint presentations too often resemble a school play - very loud, very slow, and very simple.

It is not how much empty space there is, but rather how it is used. It is not how much information there is, but rather how effectively it is arranged.

The essential test of design is how well it assists the understanding of the content, not how stylish it is.

What gets left out is the narrative between the bullets, which would tell us who's going to do what and how we're going to achieve the generic goals on the list.

What is to be sought in designs for the display of information is the clear portrayal of complexity. Not the complication of the simple; rather the task of the designer is to give visual access to the subtle and the difficult - that is, revelation of the complex.

Confusion and clutter are failures of design, not attributes of information. And so the point is to find design strategies that reveal detail and complexity - rather than to fault the data for an excess of complication. Or, worse, to fault viewers for a lack of understanding.

If your words or images are not on point, making them dance in color won't make them relevant.