Showing data on a slide

A figure that works in a paper often fails on a slide. Readers can study a paper figure for minutes; your audience sees a slide for seconds, from far away.

Redesign figures for slides

• Simplify: show only the lines or bars that support the slide's claim. Move the rest to backup.
• Enlarge: axis labels and numbers big enough to read from the back of the room.
• Label directly: put names next to the lines instead of in a legend people must decode.
• Highlight the point: make the key bar or line coloured, the rest grey.

Walk the audience through it

Before talking about the result, say what the axes are: "On the x-axis, the number of training images; on the y-axis, accuracy." Then point to what matters: "Look at the gap here, on the left." Audiences can't read a graph while you're explaining something else.

Tables on slides

Avoid big tables. If you must show numbers, show few, large, with the important one highlighted. Or turn the table into a simple bar chart.

Be honest on slides too

The same rules as in papers: axes that don't mislead, error bars explained, no cherry-picked runs. A sceptical audience member will notice, and ask.

RememberSimplify, enlarge, label directly, highlight the point, and explain the axes before the result.