5 ms·

The people who seem to rail the most against PowerPoint are the ones who cannot create meaningful and well-designed presentations. It is like any other tool, i

The people who seem to rail the most against PowerPoint are the ones who cannot create meaningful and well-designed presentations. It is like any other tool, if you use it improperly, the results can be terrible. Used properly, it is an effective and efficient way to display your information and ideas.

BjoernKW 9y ago
While that's generally true PowerPoint (and other presentation software that followed in its footstep) not only makes it easy to craft terrible presentations by its default settings it almost guides you along that path the most notorious example being that the default template for any new non-cover slide is the bullet point. Can you blame inexperienced presentation designers to then fill that blank sheet with as many bullet points as they can? Inexperienced presentation designers become experienced presentation designers but those habits remain and can be very hard to unlearn, which is how you get expertly crafted 50+ slides monstrosities of bullet-pointy splendour.
- pvdebbe 9y ago
  Also the fact that if you stuff enough text into a slide it won't overflow outside the slide, but rather Powerpoint helpfully starts to shrink the font size!
- dilemma 9y ago
  Bullet points are possibly the best textual communication tool. It forces you to be brief and structured.
f_allwein 9y ago
Recommended reading on how to make better presentations: Death by PowerPoint, https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/thecroaker/death-by-powerpoint https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/thecroaker/death-by-powerp...
- dogruck 9y ago
  Thanks, that’s excellent.
gpresot 9y ago
I agree. But I think the reason is only partly due to lack of knowledge of what Powerpoint can do (and how to do it efficiently) or on how to create the presentation. I think the main reason for poor presentations (with Powerpoint or any other tool) is the approach of leaving the "preparing the presentation" as the last bullet point in the TO DO list. As if the way content is delivered does not matter. I see tons of corporate presentation that have been clearly put together one or two days before that very important meeting. People often wonder why presentations by consultants (think Mckinsey, BCG, Bain and similar) look so smooth and effective (there are always exceptions, of course), but that is because the PP presentation is for them often THE document they deliver, not the 20MB excel model behind that, not the weeks of research, etc.). They start thinking about the storyline from day one, they set up the analysis based on what they think should be on the slides and what is the best way to pass a certain message, and they spend an absurd amount of time reviewing the slides to make sure that those are the best they can be, within the time constraints they have. All this has nothing to do with fancy transitions like infinite zoom etc.
- gpresot 9y ago
  And to add one more point, one of the old school partners at a management consultancy (he started as a consultant way before computers became widely available) mentioned the clear drop in presentation quality (also by consultants) with the new tools like powerpoint compared to the old times of decals on transparent sheets for projectors, that forced you to spend hours planning how a slide should look like before even touching the sheet, because the time cost of errors was so high.
  - seanmcdirmid 9y ago
    Sort of like how Dijkstra supposedly lamented that kids didn’t think about their code carefully enough when using interactive terminals as they did when they had to use punch cards.
    - gpresot 9y ago
      Painpoints (or their avoidance) are very effective incentives for good planning and preparation
unwind 9y ago
In my opinion, I feel the most negative about PowerPoint when I'm forced (due to being in some kind of obligatory meeting) to sit through a badly done presentation. That's way more annoying than making presentations of my own, but that's so rare as to be almost incomparable. It's possible to dislike PowerPoint due to how others use it, since in corporate/work environments you're often exposed to that bad usage. And it can be quite annoying.
- rtpg 9y ago
  Would be good to force a minimum font size, maximum slide count, etc. Through some Windows security policies...
  - mnx 9y ago
    I hope you are joking. The way to enforce such constraints is definitely not by disabling them in software. Imagine trying to just fix some outside presentation, and wondering why it doesn't work. Just teach people the basics, it's not that hard.
lisper 9y ago
The problem with PPT is that it encourages the creation of bad presentations, encourages the emphasis of style over substance. Honestly, under what circumstances can (say) a flashy transition animation ever convey useful information? 90% of PPT's features exist so you can distract the audience from the fact that the presentation has no substance with bright shiny things.
- Sangermaine 9y ago
  Or it's an acknowledgment of the reality that humans aren't computers just absorbing information during a presentation. They get bored, they get restless, they get distracted, etc. I'm not saying effects aren't used in the way you say, but I think they can have a place to keep a presentation from becoming dull and monotonous. Even the most interesting content can lose the audience if the way its presented doesn't hold their attention.
  - lisper 9y ago
    If a presentation is boring and monotonous then the way to fix that is not by distracting the audience with bright shiny things. The way to fix it is to change the presentation so that the information conveyed is relevant and interesting rather than boring and monotonous. And if that's not possible then the way to fix it is to cancel the presentation and just point people to a document they can refer to. Seriously, the whole point of giving a presentation is that sometimes watching a person tell a story about whatever the topic is is better than reading about it. If that's not the case (and often it's not), then a presentation is a waste of everyone's time.
- gumby 9y ago
  What kind of tool would encourage substance over style? I mean beyond a simple text editor?
  - lisper 9y ago
    A whiteboard. Seriously. A presentation is (or at least should be) first and foremost about a human being telling a story, which humans have been doing for hundreds of thousands of years. If you can't tell an effective story without a computer then no software is going to save you. Take a look at some of Eddie Woo's videos on YouTube. He gives some of the best presentations ever with nothing but himself and a whiteboard. [EDIT] Start here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McDdEw_Fb5E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McDdEw_Fb5E It's three minutes long. Notice the audience reaction and total absence of bright shiny things.
drzaiusapelord 9y ago
Or worse, the practical alternative in a business setting then becomes a "no powerpoint" culture where you're lectured for an hour. I'm not a robot, I can't just digest an 1 hours worth of spoken data easily or efficiently. We have visual aids and such because of limitations with human attention, how we remember things, etc. Amazon is famous for its no powerpoint culture, but meetings there start with everyone being handed a 2 page memo, and everyone spends the next 10 minutes reading it and making notes on it. That has practical limitations as 2 pages only covers so much and you are not allowed to ask questions during the read. You can only read silently and hopefully you remember your questions for when Q&A is allowed. Visual presentations are more fluid, allow for slower intake of longer sets of information, and make an effort to keep the attention of the listener. Not sure why that's so awful. I suspect most people have PP as a placeholder for things they don't like about working a job in general.
zeveb 9y ago
I certainly won't say that there's no place for PowerPoint or similar slide-style presentation tools, but I think that they are greatly abused. In many cases, a point paper would be a more effective way to communicate information. Unfortunately, point papers generally require the recipients to actually think, and PowerPoints generally don't. I don't actually mean that snarkily — in a lot of cases it doesn't actually immediately matter if those receiving information via PowerPoint actually understand it. It's more of a business ritual than an actual value-creating activity.

BjoernKW 9y ago

While that's generally true PowerPoint (and other presentation software that followed in its footstep) not only makes it easy to craft terrible presentations by its default settings it almost guides you along that path the most notorious example being that the default template for any new non-cover slide is the bullet point. Can you blame inexperienced presentation designers to then fill that blank sheet with as many bullet points as they can? Inexperienced presentation designers become experienced presentation designers but those habits remain and can be very hard to unlearn, which is how you get expertly crafted 50+ slides monstrosities of bullet-pointy splendour.

pvdebbe 9y ago
Also the fact that if you stuff enough text into a slide it won't overflow outside the slide, but rather Powerpoint helpfully starts to shrink the font size!
dilemma 9y ago
Bullet points are possibly the best textual communication tool. It forces you to be brief and structured.

f_allwein 9y ago

Recommended reading on how to make better presentations: Death by PowerPoint, https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/thecroaker/death-by-powerpoint https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/thecroaker/death-by-powerp...

dogruck 9y ago
Thanks, that’s excellent.

gpresot 9y ago

I agree. But I think the reason is only partly due to lack of knowledge of what Powerpoint can do (and how to do it efficiently) or on how to create the presentation. I think the main reason for poor presentations (with Powerpoint or any other tool) is the approach of leaving the "preparing the presentation" as the last bullet point in the TO DO list. As if the way content is delivered does not matter. I see tons of corporate presentation that have been clearly put together one or two days before that very important meeting. People often wonder why presentations by consultants (think Mckinsey, BCG, Bain and similar) look so smooth and effective (there are always exceptions, of course), but that is because the PP presentation is for them often THE document they deliver, not the 20MB excel model behind that, not the weeks of research, etc.). They start thinking about the storyline from day one, they set up the analysis based on what they think should be on the slides and what is the best way to pass a certain message, and they spend an absurd amount of time reviewing the slides to make sure that those are the best they can be, within the time constraints they have. All this has nothing to do with fancy transitions like infinite zoom etc.

gpresot 9y ago
And to add one more point, one of the old school partners at a management consultancy (he started as a consultant way before computers became widely available) mentioned the clear drop in presentation quality (also by consultants) with the new tools like powerpoint compared to the old times of decals on transparent sheets for projectors, that forced you to spend hours planning how a slide should look like before even touching the sheet, because the time cost of errors was so high.
- seanmcdirmid 9y ago
  Sort of like how Dijkstra supposedly lamented that kids didn’t think about their code carefully enough when using interactive terminals as they did when they had to use punch cards.
  - gpresot 9y ago
    Painpoints (or their avoidance) are very effective incentives for good planning and preparation

unwind 9y ago

In my opinion, I feel the most negative about PowerPoint when I'm forced (due to being in some kind of obligatory meeting) to sit through a badly done presentation. That's way more annoying than making presentations of my own, but that's so rare as to be almost incomparable. It's possible to dislike PowerPoint due to how others use it, since in corporate/work environments you're often exposed to that bad usage. And it can be quite annoying.

rtpg 9y ago
Would be good to force a minimum font size, maximum slide count, etc. Through some Windows security policies...
- mnx 9y ago
  I hope you are joking. The way to enforce such constraints is definitely not by disabling them in software. Imagine trying to just fix some outside presentation, and wondering why it doesn't work. Just teach people the basics, it's not that hard.

lisper 9y ago

The problem with PPT is that it encourages the creation of bad presentations, encourages the emphasis of style over substance. Honestly, under what circumstances can (say) a flashy transition animation ever convey useful information? 90% of PPT's features exist so you can distract the audience from the fact that the presentation has no substance with bright shiny things.

Sangermaine 9y ago
Or it's an acknowledgment of the reality that humans aren't computers just absorbing information during a presentation. They get bored, they get restless, they get distracted, etc. I'm not saying effects aren't used in the way you say, but I think they can have a place to keep a presentation from becoming dull and monotonous. Even the most interesting content can lose the audience if the way its presented doesn't hold their attention.
- lisper 9y ago
  If a presentation is boring and monotonous then the way to fix that is not by distracting the audience with bright shiny things. The way to fix it is to change the presentation so that the information conveyed is relevant and interesting rather than boring and monotonous. And if that's not possible then the way to fix it is to cancel the presentation and just point people to a document they can refer to. Seriously, the whole point of giving a presentation is that sometimes watching a person tell a story about whatever the topic is is better than reading about it. If that's not the case (and often it's not), then a presentation is a waste of everyone's time.
gumby 9y ago
What kind of tool would encourage substance over style? I mean beyond a simple text editor?
- lisper 9y ago
  A whiteboard. Seriously. A presentation is (or at least should be) first and foremost about a human being telling a story, which humans have been doing for hundreds of thousands of years. If you can't tell an effective story without a computer then no software is going to save you. Take a look at some of Eddie Woo's videos on YouTube. He gives some of the best presentations ever with nothing but himself and a whiteboard. [EDIT] Start here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McDdEw_Fb5E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McDdEw_Fb5E It's three minutes long. Notice the audience reaction and total absence of bright shiny things.

drzaiusapelord 9y ago

Or worse, the practical alternative in a business setting then becomes a "no powerpoint" culture where you're lectured for an hour. I'm not a robot, I can't just digest an 1 hours worth of spoken data easily or efficiently. We have visual aids and such because of limitations with human attention, how we remember things, etc. Amazon is famous for its no powerpoint culture, but meetings there start with everyone being handed a 2 page memo, and everyone spends the next 10 minutes reading it and making notes on it. That has practical limitations as 2 pages only covers so much and you are not allowed to ask questions during the read. You can only read silently and hopefully you remember your questions for when Q&A is allowed. Visual presentations are more fluid, allow for slower intake of longer sets of information, and make an effort to keep the attention of the listener. Not sure why that's so awful. I suspect most people have PP as a placeholder for things they don't like about working a job in general.

zeveb 9y ago

I certainly won't say that there's no place for PowerPoint or similar slide-style presentation tools, but I think that they are greatly abused. In many cases, a point paper would be a more effective way to communicate information. Unfortunately, point papers generally require the recipients to actually think, and PowerPoints generally don't. I don't actually mean that snarkily — in a lot of cases it doesn't actually immediately matter if those receiving information via PowerPoint actually understand it. It's more of a business ritual than an actual value-creating activity.