Piling on PowerPoint

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 28th, 2005 at 7:58 pm and is filed under PowerPoint, Presentation Design, Presentation Skills. You can follow any responses to this entry through the comments RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

9 Responses to “Piling on PowerPoint”

1. D'ave says:
   

   Yeah, the thing is, though, she’s pretty much right.

   Most decisions on what does and doesn’t work are logical. Studies schmudies.

   Think about what has worked and what hasn’t in presentations you’ve been to. You tell me, except in specific cases, where a text heavy bullet list actually helped someone make their point more effectively. Consider the medium of the visual aid. It’s not a handout.

   June 29th, 2005 at 4:26 am
2. Cleve says:
   

   Just a friendly nudge here Robert - Kathy Sierra is absolutely brilliant. Her posts are always valuable and her track record as a communicator is simply amazing. When you cool down a bit check out her archives and you’ll see (and then it would only be fair if you wrote a follow-up post retracting your off-the-cuff condemnation…).

   It’s true that studies need to be done, and that Tufte overstates his case. On the other hand there’s gotta be some studies somewhere showing that images have a greater cognitive impact than text does (”a picture’s worth a thousand words” and all that). Richard Mayer maybe?…not sure.

   (Anyway if this was a deliberately provocative post designed to elicit comments, then I bit. But, really, check out Sierra in depth - she’s great.)

   June 29th, 2005 at 9:57 am
3. Robert Befus says:
   

   Thanks Cleve - great comment - point is - the whole Death by Powerpoint thing has been done “to death” - it’s all a bit much and a bit pointless in my opinion.

   There are studies in memory that clearly point to memory retention benefits when right brain images are tied to left brain “data”. But there is simply no data I am aware of indicating that a text-based visual is worse than no visual at all… even though many try to convince us that it is.

   It is not that I love bulleted text… it is that I would love to see more objective data upon which to draw conclusions about the effectiveness of presentation media. (in fact I am working to drum up funding for exactly this kind of foundational study right now)

   In spite of my migraine induced ill-temper last night - I am sure you could tell I meant no disrespect whatsoever to Ms. Sierra or her brilliance.

   June 29th, 2005 at 10:19 am
4. Robert Befus says:
   

   D’ave - most people who promote presentation design and delivery tips do so using either: 1) anecdotes and conjecture or 2) data from one or two studies from the early 1980’s which were used to sell overhead transparencies.

   If presentation media professionals today want to be taken seriously we have to do better than this. What is intuitive or what seems “logical” is not always accurate or true. For instance:

   Most people say that pie charts should be used to show parts of a whole… even though some well conducted studies show it takes longer to interpret pie areas than bars. Most people think charts are more effective than tables when the data on this is not that clear at all. In 3 out of 7 studies on this, people interpreted tables faster than bar or line graphs. In the other 4, charts were faster.

   In the arena of presentation design and delivery, I would just like to see less opinion and more facts.

   July 3rd, 2005 at 10:18 am
5. Valerie Gravley says:
   

   First let me say I am new to this site, and it is terrific. I too am tired of hearing and reading PowerPoint slam articles. As a presentation designer of I work with over 100 different presenters each year, each with different presentations styles, audiences and oh yeah, information. PowerPoint is the one common thread that keeps this process from being completely out of control. As presentation professionals it is our responsibility to work with these speakers to help them understand what works and what doesn’t. To try and pidgeon-hole all presenters and presentations into a few rules of presenting is lofty and unrealistic from my stand point. PowerPoint is a tool not an creator of good presentations. Lack of skill in conveying a message verbally or graphically is not the fault of PowerPoint. I often ask the question, “What are you really trying to say?” and work from there. Keep up the great work with this site. I will from now on visit it often.

   July 8th, 2005 at 2:03 pm
6. Robert Befus says:
   

   Valerie - glad you like the site. Headlines like this just drive me crazy.

   July 9th, 2005 at 11:33 am
7. Kathy Jacobs says:
   

   Robert,
   I thought that you might like to know… I have an article on Office Online that combats this idea that the tool is the problem. It is called Making a presentation is like playing Go, and can be found on Office Online.

   Let me know what you think!

   July 11th, 2005 at 1:38 pm
8. Robert Befus says:
   

   Enjoyed the article very much Kathy… thanks for the link. Have never played Go, but seems like a good analogy. As I was reading it… and as you were carefully and patiently going through your analogy… I started wondering if professionals in other arenas do this same thing. For instance, are their places where professionals carefully describe for the amateur how to design an annual report? How to use graphics, images and text in Publisher or Quark.

   Don’t most people (in the business world anyway) have a sense that an annual report should be designed by someone with design training and experience? Why is there the perception out there that anyone can design an effective presentation if they just follow a few tips?

   Maybe it is the ubiquity of PPT that makes people think anyone can be a presentation design expert. Or maybe as you suggest it is it’s relative simplicity and ease of use.

   I am not sure how, but I hope someday presentation designers are able to earn the same kind of respect and recognition that top print, Web or even industrial designers receive. I think that is what most of us in the ICIA Presentations Council are working towards.

   Anyway, thanks again for the link to your article. Sorry I went of on a bit of a tangent here.

   July 11th, 2005 at 9:03 pm
9. Valerie Gravley says:
   

   Robert, I couldn’t agree with you more. Many years ago when I worked for a creative firm other graphic designers asked me “How can you possibly make a living working only with PowerPoint? Anyone can create a PowerPoint.” We all know that is not true. Anyone can use PowerPoint, but few use it really well. In all these years of working as a presentation professional I can not think of an instance when I worked with a client who did not see value of working with a professional when it was all said and done. The hard part sometimes is making people aware that our services are available and then to take that first try. What corporate executive really has the time to create their own presentation? It is important for us to keep in touch with other professionals and keep the good messages about presentations coming. Thanks to everyone who contributes to this site.

   July 11th, 2005 at 10:32 pm

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