Two of the speakers fell into the trap of using their PowerPoint slides as their presentation instead of as an aid to their presentation, literally reading the information right off the slide. They should have just emailed me their slides. It would have saved me a lot of money in gas, I would have received just as much information, and the people at my table wouldn't have had to put up with my snoring.
Presenting is about the exchange of information and ideas, and that happens when you engage the audience. Reading the bullet points right off your slides isn't going to get it done.So as a public service and to ensure I never have to sit through a session of PowerPoint abuse ever again, I'm including this link to Seth Godin's mercifully short but supremely excellent guide on how to use PowerPoint effectively in your presentation.
Please read it, use it, share it with your friends, and together we can rid the world of bad PowerPoint in our lifetimes.
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I recall when this first came out. The CEO of GUILD.com, Gordon Mayer, had a simple perspective on powerpoint presentations... do not read what's on the slide. The human eye can read and process printed text, graphs and images faster than can be explained.
ReplyDeleteMayer's rule was: text on slide is the "play-by-play"...verbal presentation is the "color commentary".
Great point, Rick. I like the play-by-play v. color analogy. I find myself constantly fighting how easy it is to slip into lazy powerpoint.
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