Your Presentation was PowerPointless. But it taught me a lot.
I HATE POWERPOINT!
In the last month I have sat through several PowerPoint Presentations where I have wanted to jab nails through my eyes.
- Text was so small even the people in the front row could not see what was being presented
- Charts packed with information that could not be read from most points in the room
- Slides that appeared to be a shot of a Word document
- Bullet point after bullet point of every single word the presenter was saying. Why even have the presenter show up? I can read it myself.
You get my point. I know we have all experienced this. Use of the tool was pointless.
Bottom line is the slides did nothing to engage me, nor the rest of the audience, but probably did a heck of a lot to keep the presenter on track, especially if he or she was unprepared or nervous. Now don’t get me wrong, I have seen some good use of PowerPoint as well (and some very cool presentations using Prezi); but most have been marginal.
But now I find myself in a predicament. For an upcoming gig PowerPoint is required. And not only is it required; but there is a template I must use. Ugh!
So first I need to further learn the tool. I have used it – on occasion. But more importantly I’m sitting here thinking about the things that bother me the most about poor use of PowerPoint. Because most people are good at pointing out flaws. Very few are good at offering or showing alternatives.
So I’m sitting here thinking few words, lots of pictures, fun and engaging. Because that’s how I would approach a presentation without PowerPoint (well obviously not the few words part).
But here are my thoughts for you today…………What irritates you? What have you critiqued? What bothers you? But most importantly, what are you going to do to change the status quo when the next opportunity is presented? You’ll not only be part of the change, you’ll be educating yourself and others as well.
Become a part of all you want to fix by showing people how to fix it!
And wish me luck. I’ll need it!
P.S. I just inserted an animated school bus driving across the slide. Woo-Hoo!!!
