Thursday, November 20, 2008

Improving PowerPoint Effectiveness

There's two schools of thought out there... (1) PowerPoint is fantastic, and (2) PowerPoint is a crutch used by poor presenters and make the presentations even worse. I've sat through endless slides in font 8 (we call them "eyecharts") and seen people read from bulleted lists and call that a "presentation" or even call that "training." People think they can overcome the boredom by animating the bullet points and putting up "cute" clip art. "Death by PowerPoint" is a cynical term I have heard.

I've got to admit I use PowerPoint, and I like it. I would say that I am an advanced-level user. As a way to improve my own PowerPoint skills I have ordered some books to help me get better at it, and in glancing over the books I am pretty impressed with what I see. As I digest the books I will give you more details. The books are:

(1) Better Than Bullet Points: Creating Engaging e-Learning with PowerPoint
(2) 7-Slide Solution: Telling Your Business Story In 7 Slides or Less
(3) slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations
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1 comment:

Steve said...

Great post. I scratch my head all the time about how presentations have become so jab-a-fork-in-your-eye boring and ineffective. I heartily endorse the books below (although I've not quite finished the 7 Slide Solution). And I liken the bells and whistles people add to PowerPoint to Hollywood movies with dazzling special effects and no plot, story or good characters. Audiences leave the theater feeling ripped off--just like business audiences.

Steve Hughes
(a fellow soldier in the battle to take back PowerPoint and use it as it a tool for good instead of evil)

December 14, 2008 at 6:28 PM

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