I'm not exactly sure when it happened. I'm sure it was not long after Powerpoint was created. But ever since, presenters (and those from technology companies in particular) have come to rely on Powerpoint to communicate their message to prospects everywhere. With the exception of the corporate website (maybe), Powerpoint slides are the main communication vehicle used by most, if not all, companies and I'm quite certain, it's also the most abused.
I'm sure we've all see our share of Powerpoint slides and some are definitely better than others. But it's surprising how many slides contain hundreds of words crammed onto it using a really small font so no one can actually read the text. There are also more than a few (I'm being polite here) diagrams that are so complicated or poorly drawn that no one, not even the author, can explain it.
The software program itself needs to share some of the blame. Powerpoint is not an easy tool to use and it definitely has it's share of bugs... I mean features... that don't work or are extremely inconsistent when you send them to another computer. But what is the alternative to using Powerpoint?
Let me go out on a limb and propose that you don't use Powerpoint at all in your next presentation but rely on a few notes and a whiteboard. One of the best sessions I ever saw at a conference was when the speaker put up one slide of a nature scene. He explained to everyone that it was his only slide and he just wanted to talk to us. The slide had no relevance to the talk but he had this one slide because the conference organizers insisted he submit something so he grabbed a picture he liked. Can you believe it? The presenter ended up engaging the audience for the entire time and it was a great session on a technical topic.
I know that may be the extreme but at the very least, everyone needs to use fewer and simpler slides in their presentations. Trust me when I tell you that you are not going to get through 100 slides in an hour. You will likely not even get through 20 or 30 in that hour. And, make sure you use as few words as possible and supporting graphics are a good thing if they are also simple.
So for the sake of your audience, please take another look at the slides you plan to use in your next presentation and remove half of the words on each slide and make sure you have, at most, one slide for every 2-3 minutes of the time you plan to speak. In the end, you'll have a simpler and more compelling presentation. Remember that this presentation may be your first impression with that audience so make it a good one.
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