The Power of PowerPoint
November 21, 2006 8:00 AM Subscribe
The Power of PowerPoint The US Army loves it and posts a lot of PPT material online.
It has some odd uses:
A few weeks after Jeffrey's Nov. 14 burial....soldiers arrived at her home and presented an hourlong PowerPoint presentation on the details.
Sometimes it doesn't work:
Flaws Cited in Effort To Train Iraqi Forces
As previously noted here, design guru Edward Tufte has issues with the wisdom and effects of using PowerPoint.
Of course, others disagree.
Wow, when I searched before posting, I did not see that link. Thanks. I don't get the Richard Dawkins' ref, though. Also, the use of PowerPoint to explain the soldier's death struck me as very, very weird and worth attention.
posted by etaoin at 8:13 AM on November 21, 2006
posted by etaoin at 8:13 AM on November 21, 2006
David Byrne (of the Talking Heads) is also a fan.
posted by unknowncommand at 8:15 AM on November 21, 2006
posted by unknowncommand at 8:15 AM on November 21, 2006
matteo: what you want to do is use the filetype operator.
posted by delmoi at 8:20 AM on November 21, 2006
posted by delmoi at 8:20 AM on November 21, 2006
[Oh, Unknown Command. You were hours ahead of me -- I was on the verge of copy-'n-pasting the David Byrne link too. And here I was, all excited, having only heard about the EEEI project yesterday.]
posted by Milkman Dan at 8:21 AM on November 21, 2006
posted by Milkman Dan at 8:21 AM on November 21, 2006
A few weeks after Jeffrey's Nov. 14 burial....soldiers arrived at her home and presented an hourlong PowerPoint presentation on the details.
and you think your IT job sucks ...
posted by pyramid termite at 8:30 AM on November 21, 2006
and you think your IT job sucks ...
posted by pyramid termite at 8:30 AM on November 21, 2006
I agree with the last link. It's up to the author to present the material well. Like this guy!
posted by TwoWordReview at 8:33 AM on November 21, 2006
posted by TwoWordReview at 8:33 AM on November 21, 2006
The DOD would be well-advised to toss everything with a MS label in the garbage. I was searching on the name of my college bud on Google and found a balad.mil web page with over 3000 names, ranks, and assignments of the servicepeople at Camp Anaconda. Not quite a big deal for the present war but a horrendous security leak in general.
posted by Heywood Mogroot at 8:35 AM on November 21, 2006
posted by Heywood Mogroot at 8:35 AM on November 21, 2006
"We had 12.9 gigabytes of PowerPoint slides on our network. And I thought, 'What a huge waste of corporate productivity'. So we banned it. And we've had three unbelievable record-breaking fiscal quarters since we banned PowerPoint."
-- Scott McNealy, CEO of Sun Microsystems, 1999.
posted by jam_pony at 8:40 AM on November 21, 2006 [1 favorite]
-- Scott McNealy, CEO of Sun Microsystems, 1999.
posted by jam_pony at 8:40 AM on November 21, 2006 [1 favorite]
The author of the last link spends a long time defending PowerPoint, then, near the end, admits:
What tool do I use? Often I use no tool at all: Just me, talking alone. Technology audiences are often horrified at first, but when I am finished they are often thankful. When I have points I want to illustrate, I use PowerPoint as an efficient way of presenting photographs and drawings. I don't use PowerPoint templates. I don't use bullet points and words in my slides, not unless I must.
At this point it might be worth asking whether, in any important sense, he "uses" PowerPoint. The problems of PowerPoint as Edward Tufte goes on about them are with the AutoContent Wizard (grim), the prepackaged formats of bullets and sub-bullets, the corporate style sheets. These do, in fact, turn presentations to garbage.
I've never seen a presentation in PowerPoint that wouldn't have been better without -- or, at least, with just the images and no text.
posted by argybarg at 8:42 AM on November 21, 2006 [1 favorite]
What tool do I use? Often I use no tool at all: Just me, talking alone. Technology audiences are often horrified at first, but when I am finished they are often thankful. When I have points I want to illustrate, I use PowerPoint as an efficient way of presenting photographs and drawings. I don't use PowerPoint templates. I don't use bullet points and words in my slides, not unless I must.
At this point it might be worth asking whether, in any important sense, he "uses" PowerPoint. The problems of PowerPoint as Edward Tufte goes on about them are with the AutoContent Wizard (grim), the prepackaged formats of bullets and sub-bullets, the corporate style sheets. These do, in fact, turn presentations to garbage.
I've never seen a presentation in PowerPoint that wouldn't have been better without -- or, at least, with just the images and no text.
posted by argybarg at 8:42 AM on November 21, 2006 [1 favorite]
More about the military and Powerpoint.
posted by atchafalaya at 8:45 AM on November 21, 2006 [1 favorite]
posted by atchafalaya at 8:45 AM on November 21, 2006 [1 favorite]
Ahh, I just clicked on your first link! Well, endless Powerpoint presentations have numbed my brain.
posted by atchafalaya at 8:48 AM on November 21, 2006
posted by atchafalaya at 8:48 AM on November 21, 2006
After spending many hours listening to technical lectures given with powerpoint, others given with word, I prefer those done with word.
The biggest thing is that going back to the powerpoint slides after a lecture leaves me with the feeling that I'm missing chunks of data that I only heard from the speaker but didn't see. I also can't insert my notes into appropriate locations within the slides.
Using word seems to drive the speaker to put more down on paper and put large lists better formats. Therefore when I go back to the word document I get more out of it.
I don't know if this observation holds true to presentations geared more toward marketing/sales. I think sales people would rather not impart the maximum amount of information, but rather slant the presentation to give the audience a favorable opinion of the 'product'.
posted by Exad at 8:57 AM on November 21, 2006
The biggest thing is that going back to the powerpoint slides after a lecture leaves me with the feeling that I'm missing chunks of data that I only heard from the speaker but didn't see. I also can't insert my notes into appropriate locations within the slides.
Using word seems to drive the speaker to put more down on paper and put large lists better formats. Therefore when I go back to the word document I get more out of it.
I don't know if this observation holds true to presentations geared more toward marketing/sales. I think sales people would rather not impart the maximum amount of information, but rather slant the presentation to give the audience a favorable opinion of the 'product'.
posted by Exad at 8:57 AM on November 21, 2006
This discussion would be so much better with pictures.
posted by Peter H at 9:00 AM on November 21, 2006
posted by Peter H at 9:00 AM on November 21, 2006
I've never seen a presentation in PowerPoint that wouldn't have been better without -- or, at least, with just the images and no text.
Oh Christ, don't get me started on the evil ubiquity of PowerPoint where I work. Half of my colleagues are insanely enthralled by the bilious green and Pepsi Blue screens. Most of the comm. courses and the entire business school force students to PowerPointify every friggin' speech they give. So I suppose it's good to know that this year's graduating class with its finely honed point-and-click skills has many glamorous military career opportunities awaiting.
posted by FelliniBlank at 9:07 AM on November 21, 2006
Oh Christ, don't get me started on the evil ubiquity of PowerPoint where I work. Half of my colleagues are insanely enthralled by the bilious green and Pepsi Blue screens. Most of the comm. courses and the entire business school force students to PowerPointify every friggin' speech they give. So I suppose it's good to know that this year's graduating class with its finely honed point-and-click skills has many glamorous military career opportunities awaiting.
posted by FelliniBlank at 9:07 AM on November 21, 2006
Well, of course I agree bullet points are bad.
Otherwise I wouldn't be allowed in this club.
But I wouldn't know a lot of alternatives.
I think Lawrence Lessigs approach of splitting bulletpoints up over as many slides gets old pretty fast too. In the end it's still the same structure, but no longer on one slide.
So what alternatives have you used?
posted by jouke at 9:13 AM on November 21, 2006
Otherwise I wouldn't be allowed in this club.
But I wouldn't know a lot of alternatives.
I think Lawrence Lessigs approach of splitting bulletpoints up over as many slides gets old pretty fast too. In the end it's still the same structure, but no longer on one slide.
So what alternatives have you used?
posted by jouke at 9:13 AM on November 21, 2006
Bonus points if anyone can locate and post link to PowerPointRangers. It made the rounds of my (civilian/military) workplace a few years ago. "These are my slides, there are many slides like my slides..."
posted by fixedgear at 9:21 AM on November 21, 2006
posted by fixedgear at 9:21 AM on November 21, 2006
Right using PowerPoint as a simple automatic slideshow of images is not the problem. The problem is the 'bullet point' slides.
Of course, PowerPoint encourages the use of bullet points. I think the idea is, on a note card for the presenter, a bullet pointed list can remind them of the key points they need to bring up.
For the listener, bullet pointed notes can remind them of the key points they need to remember
A lot of people think it's a good idea to unify the two lists, and PowerPoint makes it easy to do that. But then you end up with listeners simply copying down the list off the screen and not paying attention.
You even end up with people downloading sets of slides off the web, and printing them out, learning nothing at all.
posted by delmoi at 9:25 AM on November 21, 2006
Of course, PowerPoint encourages the use of bullet points. I think the idea is, on a note card for the presenter, a bullet pointed list can remind them of the key points they need to bring up.
For the listener, bullet pointed notes can remind them of the key points they need to remember
A lot of people think it's a good idea to unify the two lists, and PowerPoint makes it easy to do that. But then you end up with listeners simply copying down the list off the screen and not paying attention.
You even end up with people downloading sets of slides off the web, and printing them out, learning nothing at all.
posted by delmoi at 9:25 AM on November 21, 2006
Where all the Tufte haters? You people disappoint me.
You even end up with people downloading sets of slides off the web,
...for future reference. I find this handy and always ask for a digital copy of the presentation.
posted by sidereal at 9:44 AM on November 21, 2006
You even end up with people downloading sets of slides off the web,
...for future reference. I find this handy and always ask for a digital copy of the presentation.
posted by sidereal at 9:44 AM on November 21, 2006
"And we've had three unbelievable record-breaking fiscal quarters since we banned PowerPoint."
Scott McNealy, CEO of Sun Microsystems, 1999.
You were going for irony, right, jam_pony?
posted by ZenMasterThis at 9:44 AM on November 21, 2006
Scott McNealy, CEO of Sun Microsystems, 1999.
You were going for irony, right, jam_pony?
posted by ZenMasterThis at 9:44 AM on November 21, 2006
I use ppt only when I forced to, and then I use it only to reinforce or illustrate key messages (or to summarize).
It's handy for picture slides, but Acrobat Reader can run a slide show too. I have seen a few presentations with embedded video and animation that were kind of cute, but mostly it's just 89 slides of drivel from someone who can't self-edit.
The worst thing to do is to simply read the slides to your audience; yet I've seen this done more often than not when power point is used.
I prefer mounting graphics on large foam-core boards, but that is more expensive and time-consuming, so not always an option. Audiences love it, though, and I find I am a much more effective presenter when I use that sort of visual aid.
The best way to become an effective presenter is to practice as much as possible, and know your material inside out. If you are reading, your audience knows (and, rightly, tunes you out). Know your stuff well and you can have some give and take and keep people interested.
posted by Mister_A at 9:47 AM on November 21, 2006
It's handy for picture slides, but Acrobat Reader can run a slide show too. I have seen a few presentations with embedded video and animation that were kind of cute, but mostly it's just 89 slides of drivel from someone who can't self-edit.
The worst thing to do is to simply read the slides to your audience; yet I've seen this done more often than not when power point is used.
I prefer mounting graphics on large foam-core boards, but that is more expensive and time-consuming, so not always an option. Audiences love it, though, and I find I am a much more effective presenter when I use that sort of visual aid.
The best way to become an effective presenter is to practice as much as possible, and know your material inside out. If you are reading, your audience knows (and, rightly, tunes you out). Know your stuff well and you can have some give and take and keep people interested.
posted by Mister_A at 9:47 AM on November 21, 2006
Design Guru Applauds My Powerpoint Presentations
- Wow, that Tufte link is awesome
- In truth, Mr. Tufte has never analyzed a presentation I've assembled
- Possibly because I've actually never assembled such a presentation
- In any case, my work has escaped his critical and unblinking eye
- For which I am frankly grateful
Old soldiers never die, they just fade out.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 9:57 AM on November 21, 2006 [1 favorite]
posted by mr_crash_davis at 9:57 AM on November 21, 2006 [1 favorite]
ZenMasterThis: I realize Sun's fortunes haven't exactly soared. It was for the humor of the statement, which is in the combination of a valid criticism of Powerpoint and a deliberately simplified, slightly wacked cause-and-effect interpretation. McNealy has made a lot of classic zingers like that at Microsoft.
posted by jam_pony at 10:08 AM on November 21, 2006
posted by jam_pony at 10:08 AM on November 21, 2006
So what alternatives [to bullet points] have you used?
In all my military presentations, I like to replace the bullets with puffyhearts or, better yet, flowers. Creates just the right "give peace a chance" tone for the room.
posted by FelliniBlank at 10:11 AM on November 21, 2006
In all my military presentations, I like to replace the bullets with puffyhearts or, better yet, flowers. Creates just the right "give peace a chance" tone for the room.
posted by FelliniBlank at 10:11 AM on November 21, 2006
Okay. :)
posted by ZenMasterThis at 10:11 AM on November 21, 2006
posted by ZenMasterThis at 10:11 AM on November 21, 2006
"The idea behind most of these briefings is for us to sit through 100 slides with our eyes glazed over, and then to do what all military organizations hope for ... to surrender to an overwhelming mass," says Navy Secretary Richard Danzig.
I have been trying to remember the last PPP that did not consist of somebody reading the slides at the audience. No luck so far - that seems to be the preferred use for the thing.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 10:16 AM on November 21, 2006
I have been trying to remember the last PPP that did not consist of somebody reading the slides at the audience. No luck so far - that seems to be the preferred use for the thing.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 10:16 AM on November 21, 2006
Curses! Foiled by the post!
posted by clevershark at 10:20 AM on November 21, 2006
posted by clevershark at 10:20 AM on November 21, 2006
My main beef with Powerpoint is that, like so many other things nowadays, it makes it very easy for someone trying to sell a point to use boredom as a weapon. I more often than not tune out of any presentation that is more than 10 slides long, not just because it is long, but also because as the number of slides increases so does the likelihood that the presenter is reading straight from them. This also tends to tell me that the speaker knows very little about the subject matter besides what is on the slides, and as we all know those tend to contain remarkably little actual content (imagine reading a newspaper that contained nothing but the headlines).
PPT slideshows are, frankly, useless when it comes to educating. Their sole use is to persuade (or "impress", in OpenOffice parlance), and when you're not a decision-maker to start with they are *completely* useless. Companies should take a more pragmatic approach and offer their employees the choice of sitting through a series of slides or taking a nap. At least the people who take a nap will draw a benefit from being better rested.
posted by clevershark at 10:28 AM on November 21, 2006
PPT slideshows are, frankly, useless when it comes to educating. Their sole use is to persuade (or "impress", in OpenOffice parlance), and when you're not a decision-maker to start with they are *completely* useless. Companies should take a more pragmatic approach and offer their employees the choice of sitting through a series of slides or taking a nap. At least the people who take a nap will draw a benefit from being better rested.
posted by clevershark at 10:28 AM on November 21, 2006
My only encounter with a military presentation:
After a big fancy school dance, my date and I went to the really large, historic hotel across the street (The Mission Inn in Riverside, CA), and snuck around. This hotel features a lot of meeting rooms, among many other things. One small conference room had apparently hosted some kind of military meeting earlier that day ... AND ALL THE HANDOUTS WERE STILL ON THE TABLE!
I felt so privileged, sneaky, and badass until I tried to read the handout. I have never seen so many acronyms in one place since. The handout made no sense to me at all.
I would also like to mention that later on, we found a metal statue of what could only have been Satan in a tower somewhere.
Thank you very much.
posted by redteam at 10:34 AM on November 21, 2006
After a big fancy school dance, my date and I went to the really large, historic hotel across the street (The Mission Inn in Riverside, CA), and snuck around. This hotel features a lot of meeting rooms, among many other things. One small conference room had apparently hosted some kind of military meeting earlier that day ... AND ALL THE HANDOUTS WERE STILL ON THE TABLE!
I felt so privileged, sneaky, and badass until I tried to read the handout. I have never seen so many acronyms in one place since. The handout made no sense to me at all.
I would also like to mention that later on, we found a metal statue of what could only have been Satan in a tower somewhere.
Thank you very much.
posted by redteam at 10:34 AM on November 21, 2006
Sort of in the same vein, especially with the US Army references: The Adventures of Action Item!
posted by kdar at 10:35 AM on November 21, 2006
posted by kdar at 10:35 AM on November 21, 2006
What I love about metafilter--you guys are all way too clever for me. Seriously, no snark intended. I particularly enjoy western infidel's. Thanks for brightening my day! :)
posted by etaoin at 10:35 AM on November 21, 2006
posted by etaoin at 10:35 AM on November 21, 2006
I've always liked using PowerPoint in a "Ceci n'est pas une pipe" sort of meta-commentary of my presentation way. It gives an outlet for the voices in my head which frees me up to concentrate on delivering the content I intend to get across. However, I tend to use HTML instead of PowerPoint as it is more ubiquitous than Microsoft Office installs (though barely).
After viewing some of the links here all I can do is thank my lucky ass that I got out of the military before this plague descended. Officers were pointless enough without having to sit through their maundering presentations.
posted by Fezboy! at 10:42 AM on November 21, 2006
After viewing some of the links here all I can do is thank my lucky ass that I got out of the military before this plague descended. Officers were pointless enough without having to sit through their maundering presentations.
posted by Fezboy! at 10:42 AM on November 21, 2006
Oh, also: The Wall Street Journal just last week posted a look at PowerPoint entitled:
Tips for PowerPoint:
posted by kdar at 10:43 AM on November 21, 2006
Tips for PowerPoint:
- Go Easy on the Text
- Please, Spare Us
posted by kdar at 10:43 AM on November 21, 2006
Of course, no discussion of the pros and cons of presentations is complete without the appropriate links to Presentation Zen.
posted by Thorzdad at 11:03 AM on November 21, 2006
posted by Thorzdad at 11:03 AM on November 21, 2006
The DOD would be well-advised to toss everything with a MS label in the garbage
And why exactly is that?
Windows computers are relatively cheap to fix and replace, most non-computer people already have a basic idea of how to use them, it's pretty easy to hire cheap system administrator to administrate them, and their file formats are near-ubiquitous in the rest of the world.
Take it from someone who deals with Linux software development and testing in the DOD (DOD uses lots of Linux, if you didn't know), if we had to re-train every officer and GS to learn Linux or Mac OS, nothing (NOTHING) would ever get done. It would be akin to trying to bail out the Kitty Hawk with a thimble during a typhoon. Power Point is a necessary evil...
posted by SweetJesus at 11:08 AM on November 21, 2006
And why exactly is that?
Windows computers are relatively cheap to fix and replace, most non-computer people already have a basic idea of how to use them, it's pretty easy to hire cheap system administrator to administrate them, and their file formats are near-ubiquitous in the rest of the world.
Take it from someone who deals with Linux software development and testing in the DOD (DOD uses lots of Linux, if you didn't know), if we had to re-train every officer and GS to learn Linux or Mac OS, nothing (NOTHING) would ever get done. It would be akin to trying to bail out the Kitty Hawk with a thimble during a typhoon. Power Point is a necessary evil...
posted by SweetJesus at 11:08 AM on November 21, 2006
I have to do a couple of presentations in the next few months. I have used Powerpoint in the past, but they functioned mostly as a list of things for me to talk about and even riff on.
Can any of you anti-Powerpoint people recommend a different way to do a presentation? Should I just keep the bullet points to myself and have a slideshow? What sites or strategies out there would help me make a more effective presentation?
posted by redteam at 11:25 AM on November 21, 2006
Can any of you anti-Powerpoint people recommend a different way to do a presentation? Should I just keep the bullet points to myself and have a slideshow? What sites or strategies out there would help me make a more effective presentation?
posted by redteam at 11:25 AM on November 21, 2006
Can any of you anti-Powerpoint people recommend a different way to do a presentation?
Joking aside, I actually *do* use Powerpoint. The secret is in the content. If you've got great content, Powerpoint won't kill it. If you haven't got great content, Powerpoint won't save you.
What I find it most useful for though, is as a Wookie. When I get flummoxed and lose my place, or lose my train of thought, if I'm standing out there, awkwardly shuffling a pile of index cards, then I'll feel self-conscious, and that will make things even worse.
However, if I hit the space bar a couple of times while I look for a spot to pick it back up, the audience stops looking at me and looks mesmerized at the screen -- thus giving me time to recollect my thoughts and ease back into my performance without standing there, frozen, like a rabbit in the headlights.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 11:37 AM on November 21, 2006
Joking aside, I actually *do* use Powerpoint. The secret is in the content. If you've got great content, Powerpoint won't kill it. If you haven't got great content, Powerpoint won't save you.
What I find it most useful for though, is as a Wookie. When I get flummoxed and lose my place, or lose my train of thought, if I'm standing out there, awkwardly shuffling a pile of index cards, then I'll feel self-conscious, and that will make things even worse.
However, if I hit the space bar a couple of times while I look for a spot to pick it back up, the audience stops looking at me and looks mesmerized at the screen -- thus giving me time to recollect my thoughts and ease back into my performance without standing there, frozen, like a rabbit in the headlights.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 11:37 AM on November 21, 2006
I use PowerPoint in my work - I find it particularly useful to explain and impart abstract ideas diagrammatically. II find that using images instead of words removes the need for complex jargon aiding a fuller understanding by the audience.
posted by Samuel Farrow at 12:23 PM on November 21, 2006
posted by Samuel Farrow at 12:23 PM on November 21, 2006
What's interesting to me about the Norman essay is that he seems to literally not understand Tufte's critique. He sees it as being all about how much information is on the page. It's not that; not at all, really, though "how much" ends up being one metric that Tufte points to in many of his critiques. If you actually bother to read his books, though, the quality of the information is much more important than the density.
Tufte's point about PowerPoint, in a nutshell, seems to me to be simply this: Powerpoint encourages bad presentation habits. It encourages them so strongly that it's difficult to use it to give a good presentation.
I can recall nothing that indicates to me that Tufte's wrong about that. I've seen a lot of PowerPoint presentations, edited a lot of PowerPoint presentations, and even written a few. It's gotten slowly but steadily worse as a communications tool over the ten years I've been using it. (Office 4.3, anyone?)
What would be better? Oh, hell, just some careful thinking about your points would be a grand improvement. Force people to take composition classes when they enter positions where they'll have to present information. It would help them think, for pity's sake. (As my fiance likes to tell her comp students: "This is your brain on paper.")
But instead, we have this frankly bizarre idea (which Don Norman seems willfully ignorant of) that people can just let the software think for them through the magic of step by step Wizards™. Norman is a smart guy, but he needs to pay more attention to what's happening outside of his lab.
posted by lodurr at 12:32 PM on November 21, 2006
Tufte's point about PowerPoint, in a nutshell, seems to me to be simply this: Powerpoint encourages bad presentation habits. It encourages them so strongly that it's difficult to use it to give a good presentation.
I can recall nothing that indicates to me that Tufte's wrong about that. I've seen a lot of PowerPoint presentations, edited a lot of PowerPoint presentations, and even written a few. It's gotten slowly but steadily worse as a communications tool over the ten years I've been using it. (Office 4.3, anyone?)
What would be better? Oh, hell, just some careful thinking about your points would be a grand improvement. Force people to take composition classes when they enter positions where they'll have to present information. It would help them think, for pity's sake. (As my fiance likes to tell her comp students: "This is your brain on paper.")
But instead, we have this frankly bizarre idea (which Don Norman seems willfully ignorant of) that people can just let the software think for them through the magic of step by step Wizards™. Norman is a smart guy, but he needs to pay more attention to what's happening outside of his lab.
posted by lodurr at 12:32 PM on November 21, 2006
"We had 12.9 gigabytes of PowerPoint slides on our network. And I thought, 'What a huge waste of corporate productivity'. So we banned it. And we've had three unbelievable record-breaking fiscal quarters since we banned PowerPoint."
-- Scott McNealy, CEO of Sun Microsystems, 1999.
I worked at a large medical device company, and during my tenure there, the stock price grew at its highest rate ever. Ever since I left 10 years ago, their stock price has been flat.
posted by Mental Wimp at 12:37 PM on November 21, 2006
-- Scott McNealy, CEO of Sun Microsystems, 1999.
I worked at a large medical device company, and during my tenure there, the stock price grew at its highest rate ever. Ever since I left 10 years ago, their stock price has been flat.
posted by Mental Wimp at 12:37 PM on November 21, 2006
... And about that ubiquitous David Byrne loves Powerpoint link.
We should be clear what he loves about it: He loves the vector graphics editor.
So, it's not actually PowerPoint he likes. It's the dumbed-down version of MS-Draw that it ships with. And I'm actually kind of with him on that. Too bad it's such a pain in the ass to get images out of it...
posted by lodurr at 12:40 PM on November 21, 2006
We should be clear what he loves about it: He loves the vector graphics editor.
So, it's not actually PowerPoint he likes. It's the dumbed-down version of MS-Draw that it ships with. And I'm actually kind of with him on that. Too bad it's such a pain in the ass to get images out of it...
posted by lodurr at 12:40 PM on November 21, 2006
Mental Wimp, you clearly deserve a several million dollar retroactive bonus. Have you contacted an attorney about that?
posted by lodurr at 12:41 PM on November 21, 2006
posted by lodurr at 12:41 PM on November 21, 2006
Yes, powerpoint sucks. But also, powerpoint is a necessary evil of sorts. I don't tend to use pp at all, but if it's required (or sometimes the techie audiences "request" such presentations) I mainly use it to display pics and diagrams. I very, very rarely put up words at all. I really depend upon my own abilities to present content I'm familiar with - and not much more.
What makes pp a necessary evil, however, is many people just don't have good presentation skills, despite having good ideas. pp can sometimes help level the playing field.
This is not to say that laziness isn't encouraged by pp, and that people who basically just present slides with their own notes on them deserve to be sent to some kind of re-education camp, clockwork orange style.
posted by elwoodwiles at 12:55 PM on November 21, 2006
What makes pp a necessary evil, however, is many people just don't have good presentation skills, despite having good ideas. pp can sometimes help level the playing field.
This is not to say that laziness isn't encouraged by pp, and that people who basically just present slides with their own notes on them deserve to be sent to some kind of re-education camp, clockwork orange style.
posted by elwoodwiles at 12:55 PM on November 21, 2006
Oops, I missed a cue. The correct answer was: They must have started using Powerpoint again :)
posted by jam_pony at 1:01 PM on November 21, 2006
posted by jam_pony at 1:01 PM on November 21, 2006
I read Tuftes piece on the Columbia failure. Thanks for the link.
It boils down to: a (PP) presentation does not contain the amount of information and subtlety that an old fashioned report or plan or other document has.
But that's tantamount to saying; the right way to give a presentation is not to give a presentation.
That's not always an option.
What I've learned from this thread so far is that it's tempting to see the bulletpoints as your talking points and to just read them.
The alternative is to keep the talking points to yourself and find a different visualisation of the point you are trying to maken.
I think that's more work. And in my experience it's not always appreciated if you need so much time for a presentation....
Hm.
Maybe the trick is not to rely too much on the slides. They are just nice visuals. But to transmit most of the information by speaking.
Of course that just moves the problem from PPT to the art of speaking.
Which is harder since you can't prepare it beforehand like a slide.
Thank god there's a whole generation gestating in schools at the moment who have made PPT presentations since kindergarten. That must result in some PPT Wunderkinder.
posted by jouke at 1:20 PM on November 21, 2006
It boils down to: a (PP) presentation does not contain the amount of information and subtlety that an old fashioned report or plan or other document has.
But that's tantamount to saying; the right way to give a presentation is not to give a presentation.
That's not always an option.
What I've learned from this thread so far is that it's tempting to see the bulletpoints as your talking points and to just read them.
The alternative is to keep the talking points to yourself and find a different visualisation of the point you are trying to maken.
I think that's more work. And in my experience it's not always appreciated if you need so much time for a presentation....
Hm.
Maybe the trick is not to rely too much on the slides. They are just nice visuals. But to transmit most of the information by speaking.
Of course that just moves the problem from PPT to the art of speaking.
Which is harder since you can't prepare it beforehand like a slide.
Thank god there's a whole generation gestating in schools at the moment who have made PPT presentations since kindergarten. That must result in some PPT Wunderkinder.
posted by jouke at 1:20 PM on November 21, 2006
jouke - you sure as hell can prepare for it (public speaking) beforehand. It's called practice. It is painfully obvious when someone has not practiced his or her presentation. I am not suggesting one should memorize a speech, but one should give the talk at least a few times (3 seems pretty good) before doing it live.
I pitch new business quite often, and when I do, even if it's not a "big" pitch, I practice over and over with colleagues, and I ask for feedback, and I say, "what if I say it like this?" and so on to get comfortable with what I want to say and how I want to say it.
I am all for preparing a detailed report, too, but do not EVER distribute this before or during your talk.
posted by Mister_A at 1:30 PM on November 21, 2006
I pitch new business quite often, and when I do, even if it's not a "big" pitch, I practice over and over with colleagues, and I ask for feedback, and I say, "what if I say it like this?" and so on to get comfortable with what I want to say and how I want to say it.
I am all for preparing a detailed report, too, but do not EVER distribute this before or during your talk.
posted by Mister_A at 1:30 PM on November 21, 2006
jouke -- you are correct in that not relying too much on the slides is the answer to doing a "good" presentation with PowerPoint. It should be used as an aide, not the primary method of conveying information.
Unfortunately, there are business cultures where it's practically demanded that PowerPoint be the primary method of conveying information. (A rule I often hear at work that goes against everything I've learned about making an effective presentation is: "Your slides should be able to stand on their own in case the General doesn't have time to meet with you.") There are two basic options: either make two sets of slides (one for presenting as an aide, another to hand out as a supplement to the oral presentation, covering all your speaking points, perhaps in notes) or just conform.
Again, unfortunately, conforming is much easier. You won't find many (any?) people bucking the trend of incomprehensibly detailed slides with minute figures and laborious, paragraph-long "bullets." The irony is that some organizations have mandatory classes that tell you the "right" things about presentations, but the culture of the place is exactly the opposite.
On preview, Mister_A has it right.
posted by kdar at 1:39 PM on November 21, 2006
Unfortunately, there are business cultures where it's practically demanded that PowerPoint be the primary method of conveying information. (A rule I often hear at work that goes against everything I've learned about making an effective presentation is: "Your slides should be able to stand on their own in case the General doesn't have time to meet with you.") There are two basic options: either make two sets of slides (one for presenting as an aide, another to hand out as a supplement to the oral presentation, covering all your speaking points, perhaps in notes) or just conform.
Again, unfortunately, conforming is much easier. You won't find many (any?) people bucking the trend of incomprehensibly detailed slides with minute figures and laborious, paragraph-long "bullets." The irony is that some organizations have mandatory classes that tell you the "right" things about presentations, but the culture of the place is exactly the opposite.
On preview, Mister_A has it right.
posted by kdar at 1:39 PM on November 21, 2006
PowerPoint in business settings, HR meetings, student presentations and the like are generally painful, more than useless, and quite often word-for-word copies of the speech given along with them. The design templates in use are quite often idiotic, with glaring colors that tend to hide the words, huge amounts of space wasted with clip art, and excessive use of animation effects. In addition to this mess, 90% of the people I see giving presentations in these settings spend most of their time facing the slide screen, with his or her back to the audience. Even better.
In the sciences, PPT seems to be used differently. Conferences and talks I've attended generally feature slides full of data, images, important graphs, video clips demonstrating behavioral observations, and the like. Most of them have few words. Most presenters seem to use very simple design schemes (I prefer white text on a plain black background myself). It's pretty much a given that any presentation using "pretty" slides or animation effects is making a poor attempt at hiding bad data, and the audience knows it. The design philosophy seems to start with poster presentations and holds true for pretty much any other conference proceeding - PowerPoint, old-school overheads or even regular film slides.
We train new students by being merciless with them during practice talks. Kill that, that is distracting, too much text, don't show me, tell me, etc. ad nauseum. I am of the opinion that this model could be effective in business if anyone bothered to enforce it, but the idiot presentation style seems to be the accepted norm.
posted by caution live frogs at 1:45 PM on November 21, 2006
In the sciences, PPT seems to be used differently. Conferences and talks I've attended generally feature slides full of data, images, important graphs, video clips demonstrating behavioral observations, and the like. Most of them have few words. Most presenters seem to use very simple design schemes (I prefer white text on a plain black background myself). It's pretty much a given that any presentation using "pretty" slides or animation effects is making a poor attempt at hiding bad data, and the audience knows it. The design philosophy seems to start with poster presentations and holds true for pretty much any other conference proceeding - PowerPoint, old-school overheads or even regular film slides.
We train new students by being merciless with them during practice talks. Kill that, that is distracting, too much text, don't show me, tell me, etc. ad nauseum. I am of the opinion that this model could be effective in business if anyone bothered to enforce it, but the idiot presentation style seems to be the accepted norm.
posted by caution live frogs at 1:45 PM on November 21, 2006
Hahah, this microsoft presentation critique linked to upthread was great.
posted by delmoi at 2:04 PM on November 21, 2006
posted by delmoi at 2:04 PM on November 21, 2006
kdar writes "Unfortunately, there are business cultures where it's practically demanded that PowerPoint be the primary method of conveying information. (A rule I often hear at work that goes against everything I've learned about making an effective presentation is: 'Your slides should be able to stand on their own in case the General doesn't have time to meet with you.')"
Boom. This is the core of the problem. There are cultures out there (and apparently the military is a big one) in which powerpoint is relied on as the primary means of conveying information. A PowerPoint presentation is used today where a clearly written, concise memo (or email) or a thorough report would have been used in the past. In these cases, ppt fails not because it's a bad tool but because it is being misused. And of course, when people use ppt for its designed purpose (presentations, duh), they wind up using the same slides that they've prepared as inadequate replacements for memos and reports. Since these slides were originally designed to convey information outside of a presentation format, they're inappropriate when used for a presentation, and they lead to bad presentations.
As a tool for displaying visual information to accompany a talk, PowerPoint is just fine.
posted by mr_roboto at 2:15 PM on November 21, 2006
Boom. This is the core of the problem. There are cultures out there (and apparently the military is a big one) in which powerpoint is relied on as the primary means of conveying information. A PowerPoint presentation is used today where a clearly written, concise memo (or email) or a thorough report would have been used in the past. In these cases, ppt fails not because it's a bad tool but because it is being misused. And of course, when people use ppt for its designed purpose (presentations, duh), they wind up using the same slides that they've prepared as inadequate replacements for memos and reports. Since these slides were originally designed to convey information outside of a presentation format, they're inappropriate when used for a presentation, and they lead to bad presentations.
As a tool for displaying visual information to accompany a talk, PowerPoint is just fine.
posted by mr_roboto at 2:15 PM on November 21, 2006
I'm way too lazy to search for the link and maybe it was mentioned upthread but I recall reading about a guy/gal who put one single solitary word on each and every slide in his "deck" (can't express how much I hate 'deck,' BTW, fucking consultants). So each slide has one huge 72+ point word and yeah, s/he briefs from memory, can you imagine, throw the paper away when you are done because what good is a giant word gonna do you? It's all in the talk.
posted by fixedgear at 4:32 PM on November 21, 2006
posted by fixedgear at 4:32 PM on November 21, 2006
The thing is, that if you receive a memo or long email about a specific issue you may be asked to summarize it. That, most of the time, will require that you understand the subject matter based on the original document you received.
No one's ever going to ask you to summarize a PPT. If someone asks what it was about, you simply forward it to them.
In reading a textual document you are an active participant, much like you were reading a book. Looking at a PPT is more like watching a commercial on television -- you are a passively experimenting an attempt to sell you something. A point of view. A new project. Maybe even a war. All using visually-high-impact, soundbite-length catchphrases. Let's try it here:
posted by clevershark at 5:06 PM on November 21, 2006
No one's ever going to ask you to summarize a PPT. If someone asks what it was about, you simply forward it to them.
In reading a textual document you are an active participant, much like you were reading a book. Looking at a PPT is more like watching a commercial on television -- you are a passively experimenting an attempt to sell you something. A point of view. A new project. Maybe even a war. All using visually-high-impact, soundbite-length catchphrases. Let's try it here:
- WMD a "slam dunk" (CIA)
- Weapons deployable in 45 minutes (UK)
- Involvement in terror
- Possible al-Qaeda connections
- Support for suicide bombers
- Plot to assassinate former President
- US troops will be "greeted as liberators" (VP)
- Regime change official US policy since mid-90s
posted by clevershark at 5:06 PM on November 21, 2006
"a brain in soundbite mode will likely skip over the."
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, SKIP OVER THE WHAT?
*freaks out*
posted by mr_crash_davis at 5:58 PM on November 21, 2006
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, SKIP OVER THE WHAT?
*freaks out*
posted by mr_crash_davis at 5:58 PM on November 21, 2006
LOL... good spot. It would have been clever of me, had that been intentional!
posted by clevershark at 9:44 PM on November 21, 2006
posted by clevershark at 9:44 PM on November 21, 2006
I can't believe no one has mentioned The Gettysburg Powerpoint Presentation
posted by neuron at 10:20 PM on November 21, 2006
posted by neuron at 10:20 PM on November 21, 2006
« Older Good times, good times! | Robert Altman Dies Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
But still... I call Richard Dawkins on this post.
posted by Mister_A at 8:05 AM on November 21, 2006