Don’t get me wrong – I love PowerPoint. I’ve made a career out of making PowerPoint presentations that others love too.
However, this ubiquitous tool is often used poorly and can compromise an effective message. Also, because of it’s pervasiveness in the corporate world it is become nothing more than wallpaper poorly hung, background noise that distracts more than informs.
Funny interlude to support the point…
Next time you have to create a compelling presentation think beyond PowerPoint. Start with a blank slate, find a single image that conveys your point (it is, in fact, worth about a thousand words) and throw away the templates that force you to summarize your message into:
- A few
- Boring
- Bullet Points
Another funny interlude to support the point…
Here’s the Gettysburg Address – if done in typical PowerPoint fashion
If you really want to make your point – think beyond PowerPoint. Younger generations in the workplace are tuning out PowerPoint as they gravitate more and more to video and interactive, rich media to acquire their information. So it is inevitable that PowerPoint will either need to evolve eventually go the way of the overhead acetate.
Start utilizing new forms of communications now or push beyond conventional PowerPoint practices if you expect to stay ahead of the curve. And if you want to continue to make your point in the most powerful way.
One Comment
It’s interesting how most execs know they are killing their audience with a boat load of PPT content, yet few step out of that mold. It takes time and thought to go there, making concise, tight charts that dazzle, enhance and not step on one’s pitch. Lack of time continues to be everyone’s poverty – you know… “I didn’t have time to write you a short letter, so I’m writing you a long one instead”. But the ROI is there – even if using outside resource. Customers are at premium – best to take the time to whoo them and keep them, or else they’ll quickly turn to their Iphone in the middle of your pitch to get “whooed” – which could include seeing what your competitor is up to!
Some important PPT tips I learned along the way:
1) Move at least half to three-quarters of your initial content to the Notes Pages and deliver it verbally. It’s PowerPoint, not Power Paragraph!
2) One image, one or two words on a slide…totally wins, even if only in the midst of other dense slides. And by all means, use rich media too.
3) Want to drive home a point and get their attention in the middle of your pitch? Put up a blank, black screen!
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