10 Reasons why I hate powerpoint

Chalk and talk is an art. It's a dying art. You should have something to say and Powerpoint makes it easy to show people things while you say them. The problem is we have gotten so wrapped up in the children's game of show and tell that have actually forgotten to tell anyone the important part.  The only thing that matters is our final MESSAGE. 


I don't use PowerPoint in class anymore.  I actually have slides, but I don't use them. Why? Because Powerpoint is BORING. I teach the yuck/wow generation, but the same applies to all humans irrespective.  


So here goes:


1. Overuse of effects
Powerpoint Rangers. *God. Eye. Stab. Now.*  You know the people that try to use a different effect on every bloody slide. Gross. Just find the subtle ones. Fade and wipe is almost all I ever use. And I actually use quite a lot of effects. But these people use things that fly in, circle around and then settle.  Maybe THEN they can start to narrate. It just draws away from your message. The canned applause sound effects at the end of a presentation? Give me a break.  Microsoft should have included a vomit sound effect, maybe a snoring sound effect, or better yet "are there any questions? *crickets chirping*".  That would be FAR more accurate. 



2. Presenters don't actually write a lesson plan
Most people will use the PowerPoint slides as a lesson plan, and it's not the same thing. You must plan your speech. Good presenters will use the "notes" function of PowerPoint to remind them what to say. Even better, memorise what you are going to say, and have the gentle written text to back up spoken words.  Use the text as the visual underline to your key points. 


3. Too easy to use too much text
You think "This paragraph is really important! I'd better cut and paste it in." I guarantee, your audience does not agree. Short sentences. Market researchers know that most people will read anything under two lines.  Longer is too long. 


4. Too easy to hide behind the presentation
You are not your slides. You are the presenter, not your crappy slide show. You should not divert the attention to anything other than your final message. 


5. The spoken message is more important
Everything you are doing is about convincing people. Even if you are teaching boring Dr and Cr, you are actually trying to sell the concept to the audience. Make sure that you are at all times a salesman.  Would you "buy" it?


6. Your train of thought doesn't always match the slides
How awful it is when you look like you have gone off track because your slides didn't match what you were going to say next. It's probably because your mind is dynamic, but your slides are static.  Good speeches are dynamic. But when you storyboard out using PowerPoint, you become limited, and over-limiting risks boring. 


7. People like seeing you draw pictures
There is something engaging about watching someone draw.  No matter how crap you think your stick figure is, people are VERY encouraging about it. 95% of the audience can't draw better than you, and the chance that the final 5% would have the guts to get up in front of an audience and do it live is very low.  Drawing diagrams also means you have to explain them as you go.  You can't just throw up some random diagram that doesn't make sense. 


8. If you can't write fast, neither can they
Too many slides, too many words, too quick, then the brain will shut down. If you really want them to absorb the idea, let them write as fast as you can on the white board. 


9. Too hard to point to the important things
On a white board you can just CIRCLE the key idea.  You can actually do the same on PowerPoint, but no one ever does.  And more importantly, the body language is important as you gesture to the key part.  Laser pointers are usually a bad idea because people do not hold the pointer on the important word part long enough and it looses the body language gesture.  White boards are just so simple and effective here. 


10. People tend to READ their slides.
This is the worst. I can read at least twice as fast as you can talk. And listening to you talk is not any more interesting.



I still use PowerPoint, but I know it has limitations. And where I don't need to, then I wont. It's all about good taste. 


I have to say, PowerPoint 2010 is a VAST improvement on PowerPoint 2007. While the Word and Excel versions did not functionally shift, PowerPoint has.  Animate (things moving on slide) has been separated from Transition. You can run simultaneousness windows, etc... I get the feeling that they have stolen a lot of behaviours from the Mac world ~ but they are improvements all the same. 

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