Okay, so I got a little sidetracked writing about other things. I still have more to say on the use of PowerPoint (and Keynote). One of the biggest issues I have with PowerPoint is the degree to which presenters depend on it. In many cases, if the PowerPoint were to “die”, so would the presentation. Most people who use PowerPoint build the presentation using their slides as the focal point instead of using the slides as an addition to the presentation. When this happens, the presenter is simply reduced to commenting on the slides instead of saying something meaningful.
Many presenters will also depend on the slides to remind them of their main points and what comes next in the presentation. Without the slides, they would be lost. There’s nothing wrong with having reminders during your speech … I encourage it. But depending on those slides could prove costly if your laptop decides to freeze up at the wrong time. And please don’t tell me it doesn’t happen.
I recently attended a presentation in which the presenter used a lot of slides. It was a very good presentation too. I was inspired. I was also a nervous wreck at the start. Why? The remote for the laptop wasn’t working. In the end, the presenter simply had to stand in front of his laptop and manually change the slides. No problem … the content was still very good.
As everyone was leaving, I was asked if the session had been recorded. I wasn’t sure, but I thought someone had recorded the audio. “Will it have the visuals?”, she asked. “It’s not the same without the visuals.”
How about your presentation? Have you spent enough time crafting your speech so that it’s just as good without the visuals? If it’s not, you’re depending too much on your deck.
Just one more post to go on PowerPoint or PowerPointless …
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Sure, sometimes people get lost in their ideas and the slides are a great help to remind where they are and where they are going to be.
But I think the slides are additions to help to understand what the presenter is trying to say.
Nice blog
See ya!P
PD: Sorry for my english, I´m spanish speaker.
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