Money And Investing  -

PowerPoint is Not Word !!

11 04 07 21 18

-------- Please save me from another unreadable slide!!!

One of my pet-peeves is the fact that Microsoft PowerPoint (or any other electronic slide program) is a low density information delivery method. You use it to deliver just a few ideas with a very high impact. You use it to convince someone to start moving in the direction you favor or as a starting point to educate on an idea.

I am not happy when I see people using PowerPoint as a way of creating a reference book. Or when people want to use it to make sure they do not forget about any topic during the presentation (that is what 3”x5” index cards are for). I am happy when I see just a couple of ideas on the slide, or a single chart that represents the whole idea. Even a picture that expresses a thousand words of ideas and emotions is good. I would be content if people kept themselves within the “6x6 rule” – the one that suggests that you should have no more than six bullets of up to six words on a slide.

Why so much fuss about it?
If you want to relay very detailed and complex information, use a handout! Or create a booklet. Microsoft Word (or Open Office Writer) is a great tool for this. Even the “notes” section of Microsoft PowerPoint is a powerful tool. When you fit massive amounts of information in PowerPoint you create an unreadable slide. It is unreadable for the presenter who has to turn the back to the audience to read a lengthy idea in tiny print. It is also unreadable for the audience who has to frown and focus to try to read the tiny print as well. Neither the presenter does his/her best, nor the audience pays any attention to him/her while they are reading the testament on the screen.

Next time, please, complete the job. Do the slides and do the handout. And don’t ever come up with the excuse you do not have the time to do it: if you improve the effectiveness of your message you will more than make up for the time invested on your presentation. Is your extra hour of work worth saving 10 * 1/4hr of time from your audience? Is your extra hour of work going to help you get a new client or finally convince your peers of implementing your idea? Spend the extra time. You will deliver a more powerful message, and you will project your professionalism.