By Leslie King O’Neal
PowerPoint Presentations: Powerful or Deadly?
Because construction projects and construction disputes are complex, lawyers and experts have long used various visual aids to illustrate and explain events and technical information to judges, juries, arbitrators and mediators. PowerPoint presentations have become the most common method to present technical information, schedule delay analysis and damages calculations. While PowerPoint presentations can be powerful tools to help decision makers understand complex topics, they can sometimes be tedious, boring and overwhelming, defeating their purpose entirely. This post offers suggestions so lawyers and experts can make their PowerPoints powerful rather than deadly.
“Show and Tell” in the Olden Days
It’s hard to believe, but there were presentations before PowerPoint was invented. Some readers may recall the olden days, when lawyers and experts put enlarged charts, graphs and photos on foam boards. Some may recall the ancient times when presenters put transparencies on overhead projectors, enlarging blurry images on a screen. These tools became obsolete when Microsoft introduced PowerPoint 97. [i] PowerPoint became the gold standard for presentations.. Unfortunately, sometimes the presentations became distractions rather than visual aids.
PowerPoint Abuse
Speakers and expert witnesses sometime relied on PowerPoint presentations so much that “death by PowerPoint” became a common catch phrase, describing lengthy, often unintelligible, PowerPoint presentations. Unfortunately for audiences (including arbitrators and mediators), some presenters abused PowerPoint slides by cramming them with text, ignoring basic visual design principles and reading them to the audience. This resulted in boring and ineffective presentations, causing the audience to tune out.
Avoiding “Death by PowerPoint”
Comedian David JP Phillips humorously highlights common PowerPoint mistakes in this video clip:
K.I.S.S.—the Guiding Principle for PowerPoint Presentations
Coined by Clarence “Kelly” Johnson, an aeronautical engineer at Lockheed Martin for design teams working on jets, the slang phrase K.I.S.S. (“Keep It Simple Stupid”) is often used by design and business teams. https://gobraithwaite.com/thinking/the-business-story-behind-the-kiss-principle/. The K.I.S.S. principle also applies to PowerPoint presentations, specifically to:
- the number of slides;
- the amount of text on the slides
- the number of bullet points;
- the amount of data on charts and graphs;
- the amount of animation used on slides.
The 5 x 5 x 5 Rule
This rule is simple: No more than five lines of text per slide. No more than five words per line of text. No more than five text-heavy slides in a row. Applying this rule to PowerPoint presentations enhances their visual appeal, makes them easier to read and keeps the audience engaged.[ii]
Applying the 5x5x5 Rule
Remember, the rule is a guideline. It won’t apply to every slide in every presentation. Some best practices are:
- Combining text with high quality (and readable) images and graphics
- Using keywords and short phrases in text
- Keeping design consistent and simple (easy to read fonts and color scheme)
- Adjusting the rule when needed (e.g. if presenting a direct quote or complex definition)
Eliminate “Chartjunk”
Presenting data and information is both an art and a science.[iii] The information overload many have experienced is real; “human working memory is limited, and . . . effective learning and decision-making are constrained by the amount of information we can process simultaneously.” Too much data on a slide may dilute the message, making it less effective.[iv] To quote Henry David Thoreau, “Simplify, simplify.”[v]
Font Size Matters
Font size directly affects the presentation’s readability and audience engagement. If the fonts are too small so the audience must squint to see the words, this distracts from rather than enhances the message. The best font size depends on slide type, viewing distance, and context. One rule of thumb is to sit six feet away from the screen and look at the slides; if you can’t read the slide easily from this distance, the font is too small. Generally fonts in the body of slides should be at least 20 or larger.
Font Tips:
- Use fewer words, not smaller fonts
- Simpler fonts are easier to read (Arial, Helvetica, Calibri)
- Use contrasting colors to enhance readability
- Bigger is better
Takeaways:
- PowerPoint is a valuable tool, but should not be a crutch
- Follow the 5 x 5 x 5 rule to make PowerPoint slides more effective
- PowerPoint slides should be visual aids, not distractions
- Follow the K.I.S.S. approach
[i] Although it seems PowerPoint has always existed, computer scientist Robert Gaskins invented it in 1984. Apple invested $432,000 in PowerPoint and began using it in 1986. However, Microsoft bought PowerPoint in 1987 for $14 million. In 1990, Microsoft released its first official version of PowerPoint. The early versions only produced transparencies, handouts and speaker notes. The rise of laptop computers made these obsolete. In 1997 Microsoft released PowerPoint 97 with many major improvements and updates. It has dominated the market, holding @ 95% of the presentation software market share. In 2010 Microsoft announced PowerPoint had been installed on a billion computers worldwide. Priyanka Sen, Disruption, Innovation and: Endurance: A brief history of PowerPoint, Hult International Business School, Hult Blogs (2017) https://www.hult.edu/blog/brief-history-of-powerpoint/
[ii] Michael Anderson, What is the 5×5 Rule in PowerPoint? Autoppt.com blog (September 17, 2025) https://autoppt.com/blog/what-is-5×5-rule-powerpoint/
[iii] “Information design is not merely an art; it’s a science grounded in cognitive psychology, attention theory, and decision-making research.” Laura Gast, Ph.D, Why Design is Worth the Time: Leveraging Cognitive Science to Amplify Impact, Posit Developers Conference (September 2023) https://www.lauragast.com/talks/
[iv] . . .[A] visualization filled with unnecessary decorations, often called “chartjunk,” can increase extraneous cognitive load, and may lead to a less effective presentation of data. Id.
[v][ Henry David Thoreau, Walden or Life in the Woods
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