Speakers seem to think that any sort of PowerPoint will enhance their presentation.
This is so not true! In fact, a PowerPoint show can ruin a talk, lull the audience to sleep, and render a presentation useless.
Presenters use too many bullet points and words
While employed at UCLA as a Training Coordinator, I used to nearly pull my hair out at the insistence of instructors to have slides that consisted of long paragraphs and lots of bullets. The general rule of thumb is one idea per slide, three bullet points, six maximum, and no full sentences.
Images
Images are better than words. For those who believe lots of words and bullet points are okay for slides, I recommend reading, The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience. Steve Jobs was the MASTER of communication (and innovation.) In this book, you’ll learn what Steve did to create presentations that showcased his innovative products and won the loyalty of thousands of raving fans.
Mr. Jobs created slides that were sparse on words and BIG on images. However, the images (and words) need to be on point. As Professor Emeritus at Yale University, Dr. Edward Tufte wisely teaches:
If your words or images are not on point, making them dance in color won’t make them relevant.
Powerpoint Delivery
If a person is not accustomed to using PowerPoint, it is obvious within the first few minutes. Those who use PowerPoint effectively know that IT TAKES A GREAT DEAL OF PRACTICE to move through slides seamlessly while talking. Knowing when to click on the mouse to change slides without eyes leaving the audience has to be nearly rote. In fact, the clicker should be invisible to the audience. That takes practice. Lots of practice.
Powerpoint Exercise
My business partner and good friend, Circe Denyer, and I started a Toastmasters Club called Stagemasters with a TEDx style presentation focus. Circe accompanied me while I trained with the phenomenal teacher, Kymberly of Strategic Samurai in preparation for the TEDx talk I delivered in 2017. Circe is the primary trainer in Stagemasters, incorporating what learned from watching Kymberly. Also, Circe seems to possess a strong talent for helping individuals identify their core ideas, present in a manner that enhances, not distracts, from their delivery. And finally, she teaches the appropriate use of PowerPoint slides.
A few months ago she gave Stagemaster members “homework” for PowerPoint training. A set of PowerPoint slides were available to download from the Stagemasters Mastermind Facebook page. Each slide contained only a word or two. Members could talk about ANYTHING as long as the word on the slide made sense. The exercise was a huge success. We were all impressed at how professional we appeared with our succinct slides designed to accentuate, not dominate, our talk.
Below you’ll find a link to the PDF of the PowerPoint slides used for the exercise, as well as the video whereby Circe explains and demonstrates the exercise. You may wish to give it a whirl for fun (and education!)
Take PowerPoint Slides Seriously
In conclusion, PowerPoint is a powerful tool that can enhance or minimize your presentation. Take care to put pertinent words or pictures on your slides, and practice, practice, practice, so the slide transitions are seamless and invisible to the audience. You do not want to torture your audience, like this funny cartoon titled, “The Military Uses PowerPoint”
