Excessive PowerPointing?

Why is everyone so obsessed with making PowerPoint® presentations? Shouldn’t there be rules on when to create PowerPoint presentations and when not to? There are plenty of guidelines to follow to create effective PowerPoint presentations, but some presentations would be better without making PowerPoint presentations the main focus.

PowerPoint has created a new form of speech writing. Back in the day, people wrote speeches, then created slides to go with the speeches. Today, people create PowerPoint presentations, then read the PowerPoint presentations to glassy-eyed audiences.

In many instances, people making PowerPoint presentations add comic strips to avoid having to warm the audience through engaging and entertaining rhetoric. No need for an introduction … let PowerPoint do it.

What? No worthwhile content for a speech? No problems? … Just create a PowerPoint presentation and no one will ever know.

Imagine English classes using PowerPoint today. Instead of writing complete sentences, kids are making PowerPoint presentations. In essence, they are writing the outline and never having to finish the final product. Sure, they are able to add creative graphics to their presentation, but what will happen to the ability to paint a picture with words?

Everyone knows the stereotype. The executive-level businessman making PowerPoint presentations by putting his back to his audience and reading the slides put together by his assistant. Certainly, it would be more effective for him to use notes and just speak in an engaging, yet conversational tone. But, making a PowerPoint presentation is so much easier … especially when someone else is creating it.

Granted, PowerPoint is a very effective tool for augmenting certain presentations. However, to some people, making PowerPoint presentations acts as an excuse for poor delivery. Good presenters will ask themselves several questions to decide when making PowerPoint presentations is beneficial and when making PowerPoint presentations is detrimental.

Do I need visuals to help make my point?
Presenters should create PowerPoint presentations only if all or some of the information requires pictures or graphics for the audience to fully understand the message. For example, an engineer might make a PowerPoint presentation to display blueprints, aerial photos, and sketches, all of which are necessary to understanding the project.

Am I relying on PowerPoint to remember what I have to say?
Presenters should never create PowerPoint presentations to avoid using notes. Giving an effective presentation, with or without PowerPoint, always requires forethought and practice. When making PowerPoint presentations, presenters should be able to effectively deliver the message without consulting the PowerPoint presentation.

Will PowerPoint make my presentation more engaging?
Creating PowerPoint presentations is easier for some people than standing up and engaging an audience with skilled rhetoric. And, in some cases, PowerPoint presentations help the audience by showing images, appealing to their emotions, or explaining complex numbers.

However, PowerPoint presentations are not a substitute for engaging the audience. Making PowerPoint presentations to avoid eye contact with the audience is not acceptable. Making the presenter feel more comfortable is never a good reason to create a PowerPoint presentation.

Am I comfortable working the PowerPoint presentation?
The only thing worse than a bad presenter is a bad presenter fumbling with technology. PowerPoint should be a tool to make presentations better. A presenter who doesn’t know how to operate PowerPoint should learn to use the tool before giving PowerPoint presentations in front of audiences.

Will I command more attention than the PowerPoint?
If, while giving PowerPoint presentations, the PowerPoint commands more attention than the speaker, the speaker will lose credibility. Presenters who have a difficult time commanding attention from the audience should never try to compete with a PowerPoint presentation.

Does the PowerPoint offer more than what can be said?
Making PowerPoint presentations should only be done when that PowerPoint presentation offers something other than what the presenter could say in words. The PowerPoint presentation should never simply reiterate what the speaker is saying in bullet form. And it certainly shouldn’t do so in full sentences. It should add value in some other way, such as a graph of the numbers the speaker is talking about, or a quote that goes along with the concept the speaker is describing.

There certainly are people who can knock anyone’s socks off while making PowerPoint presentations. That is an art in itself. Those people should be paid a lot of money to travel the world … or at least the country … teaching executives how to deliver an effective PowerPoint presentation. Unfortunately, those folks might find themselves telling people more often than not that they should simply stop making PowerPoint presentations.