For future reference, you can find this presentation online at: tinyurl.com/
Take a moment and read this Dilbert comic strip. It describes too many PowerPoint presentations I’ve watched.
PPT John: WHAT IN GOD’S NAME ARE YOU DOING? Live John: I’m showing some people how to do good PowerPoint presentations. PPT John: NO, YOU’RE NOT!! Live John: I’m not? PPT John: NO, YOU’RE READING TEXT ON THE SLIDES. DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT DOES TO YOUR AUDIENCE? Live John: Uh, it helps them understand my message? PPT John: NO. IT PUTS THEM IN A DEEP COMA, FROM WHICH SOME OF THEM MAY NEVER AWAKEN! IS THAT YOU WANT YOU WANT? Live John: No. PPT John: OKAY. SO START SHOWING THEM THE RIGHT AWAY TO DO A POWERPOINT PRESENTATION. Live John: Okay. You know, you don’t have to be so mean.
Imagine sitting down to watch your favorite TV show and instead of seeing the actors, you saw the text of the script scrolling across your TV screen.
Is PowerPoint a visual medium or a text medium?
Here’s an important question to ask yourself.
PowerPoint has many features. This is the percentage of PowerPoint features that are utterly and completely worthless. Actually I made this number up, but the basic idea behind it is valid.
Here’s another good question?
And one more good question.
Conveying your message visually is hard work. Most of us learned to communicate textually and verbally. When we need to communicate an important information, we want to talk or write text. We’re not used to communicating visually.
The book, Made to Stick, by Chip and Dan Heath, is the best resource I’ve ever seen for creating good PowerPoint presentations. And what makes it the best resource is that it has nothing to do with PowerPoint. The word PowerPoint appears only once. This book is about creating messages that stick.
Most PowerPoint presentations convey messages that are very UN-sticky.
Tap out the rhythm to a favorite song.
A sticky message contains all or most of these elements. Make these part of your PowerPoint presentation.
Third grade teacher in Iowa who used blue eyes vs. brown eyes to teach discrimination after assassination of Martin Luther King.
Third grade teacher in Iowa who used blue eyes vs. brown eyes to teach discrimination after assassination of Martin Luther King.
A sticky message contains all or most of these elements. Make these part of your PowerPoint presentation.
Usually I pretend to get a very important cell phone call. Or I’ll pretend I’m choking on something. There are two factors at play here: My time is valuable. I know how to read.
This is what text on a PowerPoint slide is. The presenter needs support. He gets it from the text on the slide.
Presenter View in PowerPoint can provide better support.
Finally, giving a PowerPoint presentation is a performance. If you had the role of King Arthur in the local theater company’s presentation of Camelot, would you simply read the script and then just show up on opening night? No. You would rehearse. You would rehearse for weeks. You don’t have to rehearse your PowerPoint presentation for weeks. But how many times have been in the audience for a PowerPoint presentation and realized this was the first time the presenter had stood up next the screen or the SMART Board and said the words he’s saying now?
This is your mission! The future of civilization depends on you!
