PowerPoint is Not a Crutch

Enough! I can’t stand it anymore. No more boring, overcrowded, misspelled, teleprompter-type PowerPoint presentations. The next time you use PowerPoint, please focus on the power of the tool, not the lazy points.

Author Seth Godin wrote a free, easy guide called “Really Bad PowerPoint (And How to Avoid It)”. If you don’t want to read all ten pages, please heed these cliff notes:

PowerPoint as a Crutch:

• Read each slide word-for-word as if it’s a teleprompter
• Paste your entire report on the slides so the audience can barely see the words
• Hand out a verbatim transcript of the presentation so the audience reads instead of listens

PowerPoint as a Tool:

• First, make yourself cue cards. Write down your main points on good old-fashioned index cards.
• Second, create slides that reinforce your words, not repeat them. Use photos, clip art, graphs, simple diagrams and anything that demonstrates emotional proof of your points.
• Third, create a written document as a “leave-behind.” But don’t hand out that document until after the presentation. Let the audience know it’s coming so they can sit back and soak in your presentation without having to take notes.
• Fourth, create a feedback cycle. If you need approval, hand out a project approval form with room for signatures. If it’s a vote, create a ballot that’s easy to complete and hand back. You get the idea.

Godin’s best piece of PowerPoint advice is: “You can use the screen to talk emotionally to the audience’s right brain (through their eyes), and your words can go through the audience’s ears to talk to their left brain.”
Godin’s Five Rules for PowerPoint Slides:

1. No more than six words on a slide. Ever.
2. No cheesy images. Use professional images from an online source. (stock.xchng is free)
3. No dissolves, spins or other transitions. None.
4. Sound effects can be used a few times per presentation, but never (ever) use the sound effects that are built in to the program. Instead, rip sounds and music from CDs.
5. Don’t hand out print-outs of your slides. They’re emotional, and they won’t work without you there. If someone wants your slides to show “the boss,” tell them that the slides go if you go.

One Final Note: Remember that every slide doesn’t have to stand on its own. You can use one slide to set up a point and then the next slide to bring it home.

That’s fantastic, free advice from Seth Godin!

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