Often, people who prepare a presentation tend to send it by email. Sometimes we do it out of habit, sometimes because a colleague, our boss, or a client asks us to.

But this is also the best way to make our work useless. A presentation is meant to be projected, it should be a support to our speech, it should not be OUR speech.

If you design a presentation with the idea that it needs to be read, you will fill it with words to make it understandable and, in fact, you will turn it into a Word document. Instead, keeping the two areas (presentation and documents) well distinct is always essential.

Sometimes, however, we are asked, after a speech, to send the presentation to those who listened to us. In this case what to do?

First of all, build the presentation for projection. PowerPoint is made for presentations, that is its purpose. The slides must be projected and support your speech. This is their primary task.

From here, you have 3 different paths:

1. Insert the text in the notes. Use PowerPoint notes (or similar programs), the space usually used by the presenter to insert more dense text and remember their speech. In the notes you can insert the explanations of the slides and the passages so that whoever receives the file by email can read them without problems and understand their meaning.
2. Make a summary. Use a document (in Word or similar) in which you summarize the purpose of the presentation, the key ideas, etc. Attach it as an introductory note to the presentation or include it in the body of the email.
   
   
3. Build a mixed document. In technical jargon it is called slidedocs, Nancy Duarte invented it and it is a way to explain the presentation using a mix of techniques (Word + Slide images). A kind of brochure that helps the reader follow the presentation and the flow of thoughts. I know, I know, you’re thinking that these are alternatives that increase the work you have to do. You’re right, but the question is not the time you dedicate to preparation, but how to choose to communicate your ideas in a way that is effective and persuasive. Otherwise, it is useless to share them.