Death By PowerPoint | Does your audience have glassy eyes? Here's some advice for getting their attention.
We’ve all been there. The lights are dim, the screen is covered with dense black text. The speaker drones on wielding his laser pointer like a light saber, and you’re too busy planning out your grocery list to absorb any of the information.
That scene plays out every day in conference facilities, board rooms and offices across the United States and the globe.
So what’s to blame for all these boring presentations? I’ve got one word for you: PowerPoint.
Well, that’s technically two words that Microsoft, the maker of the program, decided through focus groups would be better off smashed together. But grammar aside, PowerPoint is as ubiquitous as water at corporate meetings today. Yet everyone I talk to has a long list of complaints about why PowerPoint stinks.
Design Mavens
Alas, there is hope. There are champions of smart PowerPoint design right here in Central Massachusetts.
One of those champions is Laura Foley of Hubbardston, who owns her own design firm. She recently gave a presentation (yes, using PowerPoint) at the WPI Venture Forum on this very topic. I wasn’t able to make her talk, but I caught up with her on the phone and picked her brain on ways to elevate PowerPoint from a crutch to a dynamic add-on to a speech or presentation.
Foley’s biggest don’t for users of PowerPoint? Dense paragraphs of text.
“If you can use a picture to communicate what you’re talking about it, do it,” she said.
The challenge, of course, is that not everyone is a designer or thinks visually. And truly understanding what good design is, and how to effectively to communicate through images, is a craft.
But the non-designers in the world who have to deliver a PowerPoint presentation shouldn’t give up entirely. Foley recommends doing a thorough outline before turning to the PowerPoint slides. When people skip the outline step they can easily find themselves with a series of dense slides that duplicate the content of the actual speech. And there’s nothing duller than watching a presenter read direct from the slides projected on a big screen.
Foley also goes by the old adage of “less is more.”
“A PowerPoint should be viewed as part of a company’s marketing mix,” she said. “It isn’t an entire message. Just as you wouldn’t put everything you do on your business card, you shouldn’t try to fit too much into a PowerPoint presentation.”
Foley isn’t the only voice crying out for a more restrained use of PowerPoint. She’s joined by Debra Dexter, a software solutions specialist at the Academic Technology Center at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Dexter trains the college’s staff and sometimes students on various technology. One of her areas of expertise is training people on how to use PowerPoint.
Dexter emphasizes the limitations of PowerPoint, explaining that it’s merely a tool to communicate. It’s not a design degree.
“Not everybody can be an artist…” she said. “If you put a hammer in my hand it’s not going to make me a carpenter.”
But you can learn how to use PowerPoint more effectively. While Foley is a big fan of using images and less text, Dexter also reminded me that sometimes PowerPoint slides have a life beyond the actual speech.
“A key thing to consider is whether the presentation is going to be delivered to somebody else without you,” Dexter said. “If it is, you really do need to take a lot more time in building your visuals so it can explain things.”
One aspect of PowerPoint that many people don’t take advantage of is the ability to create customized handouts. Too often people distribute a printout of three slides per page with microscopic space for notes. Distribute that at a meeting, and you’re sure to see a pile in the trash. Instead, Dexter recommends exporting your slides into Word and creating detailed handouts that can be a resource to audience members beyond the actual discussion. (To do this, go under the main menu and select Publish, Create Handouts in Microsoft Office Word).
Another basic tip that everyone can adopt is to keep the imagery (photos or clip art), colors and fonts consistent through the slides. Sticking to a style throughout the slides helps communicate the message more effectively, according to Foley.
And Dexter recommends using color coding for long PowerPoint presentations. In other words, use a pale yellow background for the first topic, then pale green for the second, etc.
Of course, no color or inspired font choice is going to make a boring presentation interesting. PowerPoint is only as good as the person delivering the speech. So, before you take a lesson in slide creation, you might want to take a lesson in public speaking.
Follow-up
In my last column, I wrote about Justin Roy, the new head of social media at Nichols College in Dudley. I remarked that I saw Roy's appointment as a trend in the higher education industry. My prediction does seem to be coming to fruition. I was contacted by David McDonough at Worcester-based Clark University, who let me know that Clark is in the process of hiring a director of online community.
Got news for our Digital Diva column? E-mail Christina H. Davis at cdavis@wbjournal.com.
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments