Five fixes for a crowded slide that keep every word
Sometimes you cannot cut the content: legal, the client or the committee wants all of it. Five layout fixes that make a dense slide readable without deleting anything.
The usual advice for a crowded slide is to cut. Often you cannot: the committee wants all eleven points, legal wants the footnote, the client wrote the text. You can still make the slide readable. These five fixes change the layout, not the content.
The example is a real slide from a fund's sector deck, sent through wetria once. Names and logos are changed; the eleven points are the original's.
1. Make the title say something
A title like "Applications" makes the reader work out the point. "AI already applies at eleven points of the patient journey" gives it to them, and then the dense content below reads as proof, not as a wall.
2. Put everything on one grid
Crowded slides look worse than they are because nothing lines up. Choose columns, align every item to them and keep the same gap between all of them. The amount of text has not changed; the noise has.
3. Group before you shrink
Eleven items in a row is hard to read. Two or three groups with a short label each is easy. Grouping is free; shrinking the font to fit is what makes slides unreadable from the back of the room.
4. One icon style, one size
Mixed pictures, logos and clip art at different sizes compete for attention. One set of icons in one style and one size turns them into a rhythm the eye can follow.
5. Let secondary text step back
Not every word has the same job. Keep the key word of each item in the main colour and weight, and set the explanation smaller and quieter. Sources and footnotes go to the bottom in the smallest readable size.
Doing it across a whole deck
Fixing one slide takes a designer ten minutes. Fixing thirty, consistently, takes a day. That repeatable part is what wetria's Format and Design services do without touching your words; see what is wetria. When the slide is crowded because the deck has no clear argument, read why the deck usually needs a structure, not a redesign.
Frequently asked questions
How do I make a text-heavy slide readable?
Give it a title that states the point, align everything to one grid, group items under short labels, use one icon style and make secondary text smaller and quieter.
Is it better to split a crowded slide into two?
If the audience reads along with a presenter, often yes. If the deck is sent and read alone, or the content must stay on one page, the five fixes above keep it readable.
What font size is too small on a slide?
For presented decks, body text below about 14 to 16 points is hard to read from the back of a room. Group content before you shrink it.
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