The Point of PowerPoint®
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M icrosoft PowerPoint is quickly becoming a standard prop in
conference rooms, classrooms and convention halls. Before last year, I had never
designed a PowerPoint presentation. In the last eight months, I've designed
four, and I have contracts for two more.
PowerPoint is a potent communication tools. With a little practice, almost anyone can create snappy "visual aids" and link them together with slick transitions and sound effects into a show that's halfway between 35mm slides and video. And they can do it for about the cost of a few sets of high-quality overhead transparencies.
Unfortunately, that's not what most people are doing. Most speakers and presenters are using PowerPoint to create fancy word cards. You know, like this:
This a word card--a memory jogger for the speaker, a read-along for the audience. It is not a "visual aid." It presents nothing interesting to the eye and does nothing to help the audience remember the information.
Try this instead:
Accompanied by the presenter's comments, this slide makes the same four points. And it makes them in a way that enhances the message and helps the audience remember it.
[Power]Point made.
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