For the first time since March 2020, I returned to the Harvard campus for face-to-face executive education. Although the students also attend classes in person, they still conduct most of the speech world in a virtual way. 

Even if the trend is over, the virtual presentation will not disappear. According to a Gartner survey, a full 74% of company executives said they plan to permanently transfer some employees to remote work. As people become more accustomed to virtual presentations, entrepreneurs and business professionals should improve their remote presentation skills to stand out. 

In future columns, I will continue to provide specific and actionable skills that anyone can use immediately to develop their virtual presentation skills. Some techniques are very easy to use-and will improve your face-to-face presentations. 

One presentation strategy to win a virtual audience is to reduce the amount of text and bullets on each slide by increasing the font size. 

Although since I wrote the first book on Steve Jobs's presentation skills, I have always encouraged the use of fewer points, but it is more important to reduce the number of points on the virtual slide. Remote viewers cannot see your slideshow on the big screen. They may watch your presentation on a mobile device or laptop.

Those 20-point font bullets do not work well in human eyes-they are definitely a killer for remote presentations. 

Think about it, for the fonts I have seen recently, the 20th font will be a welcome change. In the past few weeks, I have met with executives from some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical and technology companies who are launching new products. They proudly show me slides in font size 14 so that I can fill in more information on each slide. They may think they are smart, but the audience simply cannot read the small print on every slide. 

People don't tell you that the font size is too small to be kind, but their hearts are boiling. 

So what is the secret to creating easy-to-read virtual slides? Use fewer bullet points and larger fonts: use at least 44-point font for headings (preferably larger), and no more than three or four 24-point fonts (again, preferably larger).  

That's it. Demonstration cracking is really that simple. 

"But Carmine," you can hear me say that. "How can I put everything I know on the slide with three main points?" 

The short answer is: don't put everything you know on the slide. 

Simplicity is an option, not compression. Only select information that is important and relevant to your audience. Leave the rest of your knowledge for another presentation, follow-up file, or Q&A at the end of your promotion. 

If you really want to impress your virtual audience, try this strategy I learned from Steve Jobs and former Mac preacher Guy Kawasaki. He told me that Jobs used a 190-point font. You read that right. It's not a 19-point font, but a 190-point font. 

Why? Jobs reasoned that if the font is bigger, he can only put one or two words on the slide, there are no bullets at all, and there are more pictures than words (this is always a good strategy). 

I realized that this strategy of writing a 190-point text would not work for most business professionals. But I urge you to use it from time to time in every virtual presentation to reduce eye strain experienced by your audience. It will also break the monotony of too many similar-looking slides. 

One way to ensure that you create a great virtual presentation is to simply consider the remote presentation you see. What is your biggest taboo? Are the slides hard to read? Do they contain too much text and too few pictures? 

Spend extra time to build a podium that can avoid the worst habits of virtual presenters. Your audience will appreciate it.