PowerPoint (ab)use

Four fail-safe routes to presentation stardom

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The problem with many of the presenters I coach is diffidence. Often, they are so self-effacing that they write themselves out of their own story.

Before we had presentations, we had public speaking – a performance art on a par with drama, ballet or opera, in which personal magnetism played a prominent role.

But public speaking has been largely displaced by PowerPoint presentations, where the slides take centre stage and the presenter is reduced to acting as voiceover – a role that is all-but redundant when, as is often the case, all the text to be presented is on the slides and the audience can read it for themselves.…

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The six worst forms of PowerPoint abuse

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Is it the TV’s fault if a programme is boring? Surely not! Is a drill to blame for a poorly hung picture? Hardly! So why is it that PowerPoint is so often forced to take the rap for the dull, uninspiring and unmemorable presentations delivered daily in meeting rooms, conference halls and lecture theatres across the land?

I believe that PowerPoint is a useful and versatile tool when used as designed – as a visual aid for audiences. But it is a lethal weapon in the hands of its growing legions of abusers, which is why we now face an insidious epidemic of ‘death by PowerPoint’.…

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Death by PowerPoint: grant your audience a reprieve

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PowerPoint gets a pretty poor press but, as a regular user, I take the view that, as a mere tool, it is only as clever and effective as the person deploying it.

I’m a fan of PowerPoint because it allows me to project a lot of pictures and a few words that aid my audience’s understanding and retention of the material I am presenting and give them something to look at other than me. It is also ridiculously easy to use.…

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