May 3, 2010

PowerPoint doesn’t have to be the enemy

I got a half-hearted chuckle out of last week’s New York Times’ article, “We Have Met the Enemy and He is PowerPoint.” The article provides several vignettes of military leaders lamenting the program’s limitations. Commanders are concerned that critical thinking and analysis are lost or downplayed in the bulleted lists on slides. General Petraeus, head of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, says PowerPoint briefings are “just agony,” and other officials joke about purposely using the program to lull the media to sleep during briefings, so they are less likely to ask questions.

While the idea of our military missing key points because of bad PowerPoint is serious, we laugh and we understand, because all of us have sat through way too many mind-numbingly bad PowerPoint presentations.

But the article fell short in explaining why these presentations aren’t as effective as they could be. The bottom line is that PowerPoint isn’t the enemy. It’s our lack of understanding of how to best utilize this presentation tool that hurts us.

That’s the key – PowerPoint is only a tool. The real presenter is still the person talking to the audience. Here are five truths that optimize the use of PowerPoint for any presentation:

0. PowerPoint isn’t meant to carry the speaker. Use words to accentuate main points, not to list every single thing that is being said.
   
   
0. PowerPoint is visual, so let’s see pictures! Diagrams, charts and photographs help the audience visualize what is being said. They also break the monotony of the presentation, keeping the audience engaged.
   
   
0. Keep it simple. This includes the template design as well as the content shown. The audience should stay focused on the speaker and what is being said instead of trying to figure out a complicated slide.
   
   
0. Use contrasting colors. Because different projectors skew color in different ways, make sure there is enough contrast between type and background so that they won’t blend into each other if a projector alters the colors.
   
   
0. Make type large enough to be legible from the back of the room.

Remember: PowerPoint can’t make a bad presentation better, but it can make a good presentation great. Understanding the strengths – and limitations – of PowerPoint will help ensure that you’ll never be accused of putting your audiences to sleep.