Speaker notes: when to write them, when to skip

Speaker notes are a deck convention that helps in some contexts and hurts in others. Most senior speakers either write notes for every slide or write notes for none. Both default approaches are wrong. Speaker notes should be written deliberately, where they earn their place, and skipped where they do not.

This is when to write them and when to skip.

When to write speaker notes

When the deck will be sent or shared without you

A deck that will be circulated to a board, investor pool, or remote team without the speaker being in the room benefits from speaker notes on the slides where the visual alone is insufficient.

The notes here are not the script. They are the context that the slide needs in order to be read correctly without you. One paragraph per slide where the slide carries data that requires interpretation.

When the speaker is sharing the deck with another speaker

A deck that will be presented by someone other than the original author needs speaker notes that pass the speaker's intent forward. This is common in sales contexts where account executives present decks built by marketing, or in succession contexts where one leader inherits the keynote of another.

The notes should be written for the new speaker, not as a script, but as guidance: what to emphasise, what questions tend to come up, what to skip if time is short.

When the deck will be referenced in writing afterwards

Some senior decks are followed up with a written summary or report. The speaker notes can be the seed of that follow-up. Writing them at the time the deck is built saves writing them later.

When the speaker is rehearsing for a high-stakes presentation

For board presentations, conference keynotes, and high-stakes investor meetings, written speaker notes can be useful in the rehearsal phase even if they will not be read in the live presentation. The act of writing forces the speaker to commit to a specific narrative, which is the work that makes the eventual presentation sharper.

When to skip speaker notes

When the deck is for a familiar audience that the speaker will present in person

A deck the speaker built and will present to an audience the speaker knows usually does not need written notes. The notes here add work without adding value.

When the slides themselves carry the message

A deck designed with a slide-as-argument structure, where each slide makes a single complete point, often does not need written notes. The slides do the work the notes would do.

When the speaker is more comfortable speaking from a single page of bullet points

Some senior speakers prefer a single page of bullets covering the full talk to per-slide notes. The single page sits at the lectern. The slides advance independently.

This is a personal style. It works well for senior speakers comfortable with the material. The discipline of compressing the talk to a single page is itself useful.

What weak speaker notes look like

Three patterns appear in most weak speaker notes.

Pattern one: notes that are a script. Written-out paragraphs that the speaker reads. The result is a presentation that feels read rather than spoken.

Pattern two: notes that duplicate the slide. The slide says one thing, the notes say the same thing in different words. The notes add nothing.

Pattern three: notes that carry technical detail the speaker would never actually say. The speaker scrambles to incorporate the detail and loses the flow.

What strong speaker notes do

Strong speaker notes are short. They carry the prompt the speaker needs to deliver the slide cleanly: the anchor data point, the specific story to tell, the transition into the next slide.

The discipline is in the brevity. A three-line note delivered well outperforms a paragraph note delivered haltingly.

The general rule

Write speaker notes where the deck will be consumed without you, where the audience will need context the visual cannot supply, or where the material is high-stakes enough to merit the rehearsal discipline. Skip them otherwise.

The default of "always" or "never" is rarely right. Treat the notes as a deliberate decision per slide, not as a global setting.