Slides or Written Memo – the Best Way to Think and Persuade

For better planning and decision making processes

If you’ve spent any time in the corporate world you are familiar with PowerPoint. Perhaps your mind automatically starts thinking in slides when the idea of a new project and the need to present it to leadership or peers comes up. Yes? If you grew up work-wise in startups over the past decade then, of course, you’ll be opening Notion but still be thinking more or less in slides – not in a written report.  

Admit it, you start seeing the slides in your mind before you even know what exactly you will put on them.

I don’t blame you. When it comes to showing what you’ve been working on or getting buy-in for your project, most of us were taught the importance of clarity of thought presented through funky slides. Because nothing will get people to buy into your idea and give their support faster than animated figures jumping around on a screen while they tune out your voice and dream about that vacation they booked this morning. It’s still a couple of months away but hey, at least there is something to dream about at meetings.

Now, I like a neat ppt slide with action points and strong numbers like the next manager. If you are giving a project update, or want to show people an idea of a project, slides are a great choice.

But if you want people to truly understand, cooperate with, and, god forbid, help you think it through – a presentation with slides is rarely the best way.

Jeff Bezos famously requires his top team to prepare concise, well-structured, written memos that everyone reads at the start of the meeting before proper discussions can start.

This is one of my favourite management practices that came out of a huge business that was founded after I was born.

There is so much you can achieve with a well-written document.

A well-written memo that is concise but complete will force the reading audience to pay attention. They can’t daydream while reading. It will be your assumptions and ideas that will guide their thoughts. There is clarity.

And there is a solid basis for discussion.

If the memo is well written, those not at the meeting will also get the full picture.

That said, I like a good slide deck. It is the best thing, for example, for