PowerPoint Is As Good As The Person Using It : TJ Walker Video
The backlash against PowerPoint, whereby people swear off using it and bemoan its failings as a program, is fast becoming a tired routine. It's very easy to blame the tools if you're bad at something, and presentations are no exception.
Powerpoint doesn't make bad presentations. People make bad presentations. As speaking and presentation expert TJ Walker argues, in answer to the Death-By-PowerPoint brigade:
''There are people who drive drunk, and kill people. Does that mean that no one should ever drive again? Does that mean we should shut down highways? No. You have to learn to use tools correctly.''
The vast majority of boring, uninspired presentations are not due to PowerPoint, but due to a combination of poor design and monotonous delivery. PowerPoint can be a powerful enhancement to your presentation, but you need to follow some basic rules if it is going to help you rather than compound any of the presentation's weaknesses.
TJ Walker suggests the following three golden rules:
''Have one idea per slide.
Don't use a lot of text.
Think images to make your ideas come alive.''
Next time you sit through a deathly dull presentation, see if the presenter has paid attention to these rules before laying the blame on the tools they're using. Chances are they will have broken at least one, and probably more, of these simple rules for effective presentation.
posted by
Michael Pick
on Tuesday, November 14 2006
Tuesday, January 15 2008
URL of this article:
http://masterview.ikonosnewmedia.com/2006/11/14/powerpoint_is_as_good_as.htm
