Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Software
PowerPoint kills brain cells: I couldn't agree more
James Stoup has written a great article at Apple Matters entitled. PowerPoint Kills Brain Cells. Speaking as someone who has endured countless mind-numbing slide presentations, I've got to say he's right on the money. I don't care if you've created the slickest Keynote presentation with beautiful transitions, stunning graphics and your own unique, personal flare. I don't want to see it. For me, the problem is twofold. First, when I watch a slide show, I invariably slip into "television mode." I sit in my seat, utterly inert, watching the pretty transitions and custom bullet points dance across the screen. All the while I am not internalizing a single syllable of what's being said. Keynote slideshows are even better for zoning out, as eye candy is such a major part of the application.
Secondly, I sometimes find myself critiquing the slideshows. While I hate watching these things, I've been forced to make several for different departments at work. Similar to the way a musician can't listen to a piece of music without analyzing the chord progression, I can't watch a slideshow without questioning the presenter's technique.
So, what's your take on slide shows? Does the thought of just one more professional conference make you cringe?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Victor Agreda, Jr. said 2:23PM on 9-07-2005
It's true that uninspired presentations of ALL sorts are a pain. So it is for bad music, bad hair, bad books, etc.
However, there are GOOD presentations out there. One of the very best I've ever seen is "Working with Color" by Bruce Heavin. You can pay to see it on Lynda.com and it is worth it just to see how good a presentation can be. Done in Keynote, naturally...
I also think Steve's are pretty good, but those are put together by a team of media specialists, and are quite sparse. "Simplify man!"
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aj said 2:51PM on 9-07-2005
It's pretty obvious that PowerPoint (and by extension, Keynote) are powerful tools, too often used to do things they shouldn't.
- Information-graphics guru Edward Tufte did a marvelous dissection of the bad presentation of data in a PowerPoint that led to important information regarding Space Shuttle safety being ignored by NASA administrators - "The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint".
- the main dude at Sociable Media, Cliff Atkinson, has a book, website and blog called "Beyond Bullets" all about the reasons PowerPoint presentations go bad.
- On a completely related topic is the latest tome from the people that created the Bullfighter plugin for Word that helps de-jargonize your copy. It's called "Why Business People Speak Like Idiots" and it touches on how business people's instincts lead them to create non-communicative communications filled with doubletalk, buzzwords and egocentric twaddle.
If you really want to get people's attention, know your topic, tell a story, be funny, use memorable props, tell the audience something they didn't know about themselves, and engage them with questions - that way they don't automatically turn off their brains or go into "BS-avoidance" mode.
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umijin said 3:03PM on 9-07-2005
Well, I give all my Biology lectures with PowerPoint so I can't agree. I also don't use any transition effects and very little animation at all.
Then again, maybe it numbs my students' brains.... Ask them!
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Twist said 4:34PM on 9-07-2005
I have a professor this semester who claims to be a graphic designer yet he makes these fugly Keynote presentations. The worst part is that he uses some of the worse sound effects I have ever heard in them. He is crazy about all the transitions as well. He tries to use every single one available in every single presentation.
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mike said 3:41PM on 9-07-2005
Agreed. Also wrote about this some time ago here. My biggest four issues were: (1) slides are suppose to summarize, (2) everytime you present, it's different, (3) Curb appeal and (4) file size too monsterous.
Try Textedit for a change.
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Dave Schultz said 3:48PM on 9-07-2005
OMG, somebody finally said the Emperor Has No Clothes.
Thank you, thank you.
99% of PP presentations are the triumph of (questionable) style over (insufficient) substance.
It's "Look at my Presentation!" instead of "Check out my Ideas!"
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Ryan said 3:54PM on 9-07-2005
I try to keep my presentations interesting by keeping them, well, as minimalist as possible.
I go for the Steve Jobs approach -- I do most the talking and demonstrating, and only use the Keynote as visual re-enforcement of what I'm saying. I never give a "read the screen to the audience" presentation. People are smart, they can read themselves.
The trick is to make the Keynote (or PowerPoint) another element of your entire overall presentation, rather than making it the focal point of everything.
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NL said 4:31PM on 9-07-2005
Thank you! I've been subject to so many at work, that the mere mention of another "presentation" puts me in TV mode.
As other people have said, most people do the whole presentation thing very badly by trying to write too much on the slides and expecting you to read them or reading them to you. That's what puts me into a stupor from which there is no escape. And when the color choices are poor or they've used Power Point's grotesque templates, that makes it even more painful.
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Jason Coleman said 5:07PM on 9-07-2005
I think the main problem is that somewhere along the way, the slide show became THE presentation. Since this is TUAW, I'll use the same example as a previous poster: Steve Jobs. The slides are just a visual aid. If you have some text to drive home some points, well that's great, too. However, the person is should be the focus of the presentation. Jobs always does this very well.
I don't want to hear how if it is a technical presentation, then this no longer holds true. I am a structural engineer and I use PowerPoint at work and used it in undergrad and grad school. It is up to the individual to engage the audience. If you are just reading to them, then why even show up? Just set the slides to change every 30 seconds.
My wife puts some of her lectures for med school classes online and she actually voice records her notes over them. The slides never contain all the information. You have to listen to get everything. The slides are no more than the summary of what she is going over for that section.
Personally, I've reached the point where my slideshows consist of very few slides, in which I use as nothing more than visual aides. People can take notes if they wish, but it's what I'm saying that matters. I'll bring in physical props if need be to engage the listener, but I'm not resulting to page upon page of bullet points written poor English with abbreviations.
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Chris said 6:46PM on 9-07-2005
I'm suffering a severe case of deja-vu here. Both the linked article, and the article it links to have recent dates on them, but I'm sure I first read this something like 5 years ago!
(not complaining about TUAW linking to a seemingly new article - but shame on the recycler)
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Willy T said 2:20PM on 9-08-2005
Seth Godin (aka the Purple Cow guy) put out a great little eBook about this on his website and Amazon about 5 years ago. I think the title was "Really Bad PowerPoint (and how to avoid it)." Few things make me tune out like "summary" slides and bullets. Complete waste of time.
His stuff on marketing, sharing ideas, etc is always worthwhile and fun to read. Look him up...
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