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October 29, 2006
Escaping from PowerPoint Purgatory
I'm guilty of creating more than my share of PowerPoint slides in my work in teaching management and leadership skills. I always think that the slides are important and serve as a good teaching tool and reference for my clients. Some recent reading I have done has caused me to rethink the number of slides I create and what I put on them.
One rule I've worked hard to apply is no more than 10 words per slide. As one client told me-if you're going to simply read the slide, just email them to me and save me the time.
Another practice I've been working on is to use a picture or graphic as the slide and put my talking points in the notes section of the slides-I can then use the notes as reminders (like the old 3x5 cards) and have the visual as the key that clients see.
Picked up a book, by Cliff Atkinson, entitled Beyond Bullet Points that I'm going to read and see if I can get some more ideas to share.
Check it out. He uses a Hollywood analogy for how to frame the storyboard view.
Now as to whether what I learn in the book will translate to more effective presentions... I'll let you know.
Posted by chitch at October 29, 2006 8:52 PM
Comments
I like the recent posting regarding PowerPoint slides. While they "jazz up" presentations, they need to be only an aid to what is going on in the presentation. Dr. Morrison at the UNC-CH School of Education had strict rules about PowerPoint; using only one font, less than 3 bullets per slide, use simple transitions, and NEVER read from a slide. I always try to ask myself if I would like to be on the receiving end of one of my presentations. That helps keep the focus for me.
Posted by: Gus Gillespie at October 30, 2006 3:52 PM