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Summary: There is a quiet revolution going on in corporate America. People are beginning to protest against Microsoft PowerPoint presentations.

I think it’s safe to say that most people think of PowerPoint as the presentation instead of just a tool to help them give a presentation. Are the really dull presentations a result of PowerPoint or is it the person using PowerPoint? It’s both, but the majority of the problem is usually with the presenter. PowerPoint lets you get lazy with presenting because you can simply read your presentation from the screen. As a result, a cycle of declining speaking skills and increasing audience annoyance ensues.

Below are some ideas for using PowerPoint (or any presentation software for that matter) more effectively:

The latest trend is to use little or no text whatsoever on PowerPoint presentations. By using graphics that match the speaker’s content, very limited (or no) text and good presentation skills by the presenter, it is possible to put together a great presentation. Warning: this technique requires more preparation than using a PowerPoint laden with text.

How about taking a course on presenting in order to sharpen your presentation skills? Relying on your PowerPoint presentation to be your presentation never works. We’ve all seen great presenters give outstanding presentations with really bad PowerPoints. If the presenter is a terrible speaker, the best PowerPoint in the business won’t pull things out of the fire. Get to the root cause and quit blaming PowerPoint for all your problems.

How about not using any presentation software whatsoever. What a radical idea! Flip charts, audience participation, speaker notes and role playing are wonderful and refreshing substitutes for PowerPoint, not to mention tried and true ones. Think of the best presenters you have ever seen. Did any of them use PowerPoint? This technique also requires more preparation by the speaker.

A good starting point for improving your PowerPoint presentations is to use better PowerPoint creation techniques. Let me get you started by listing some basic rules of thumb for crafting better PowerPoints.

Limit number of bullets to six per slide.
Cool it on the animation; less is more.
Lose all the fancy headers and footers.
Keep consistent and large font sizes and types.
Use no cartoon characters to depict people; only use photographs of people. Generally limit your use of all cartoon type graphics.

Audiences are tired of PowerPoint. But what they are really tired of is poor presenters. Creating a professional PowerPoint presentation and using good presentation skills are all under your control.

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Tags: PowerPoint

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