slides as documentation

(common gotcha)

what happened

teams pack slides with code snippets, architecture diagrams, and dense text to prove technical competence. judges glaze over.

why it's a gotcha

your slides aren't documentation. nobody is going to read 8pt code on a projected screen. when visuals become dense, the main idea gets lost. judges check out and you lose them before the demo even starts.

the fix

each slide should have one idea and minimal text. if you can't explain the slide in one sentence, it has too much on it. code goes in the demo, not the deck. emphasize the live demo instead — that's where technical work shines. slides should serve the pitch, and without a narrative thread you're just jumping between features.