You're (probably) Doing PowerPoint Wrong - Part 1

When I started my professional career, a presentation slide deck consisted of a life preserver sized carousel filled with 35mm slides. They were cumbersome. They were noisy. Worse still, they were a pain in the butt to put together. They were also expensive to produce. Not to mention time-consuming. And forget traveling with them.

Then PowerPoint came along and changed business presentations forever. And mostly for the better.

However.

PowerPoint decks have become a nightmare in corporate America. The punchline to jokes. Rarely do I see a PowerPoint presentation that does anything other than send me into depths of head-shaking confusion, full-on annoyance or abject despair. They invariably look like brochures shoved onto a slide. And those are the least offensive ones.

Before I get started, I know the reality of PowerPoint use in corporations. Decks are used as handouts. As brochureware that is meant to be read. It’s been co-opted as design software. They’re densely packed with information. Again, that’s fine for reading. As for presenting? Not fine.

You’ve seen them, too. You might have even inflicted them on audiences. If you have, are you ready to change your ways? Ready to step away from the PowerPoint dark side? Yes? Good. Here are my rules.

Rule 1. Never write a presentation in PowerPoint. This is the sine qua non of reforming your PowerPoint ways. Write what you plan to say in Word. Or on paper. Or in some other place that isn’t PowerPoint. And, no, you may not write in the speaker notes. Just cool your jets.

Rule 2. After you’ve figured out what you want to say then decide what visuals you need to support your main point(s). Think past bulleted lists. You’re not going to get up there and read off your slides. Are you? Of course not. So what should you display for your audience that reinforces your message and/or makes it more engaging or entertaining.

Rule 3. When you’re thinking about what text you might want to include, pretend each PowerPoint slide is a white board or a sheet of flip chart paper. That will tell you how many words should be on the slide.

Rule 4. Use images. These can be photos, charts, graphs, maps, drawings. Images can serve a variety of purposes: graphs or charts will reinforce a point more strongly than words alone; photos or drawings can advance the story, explain a concept or simply set a mood.

Rule 5. Don’t be afraid to blank the screen. Most remotes will allow you to “mute” the visual. Or just put in a black slide. Do this when you want all eyes on you, i.e. when you’re making your main point.

Rule 6. Match your slide background to the light in the room. Lighter backgrounds in bright room, darker backgrounds in a not-so-bright room.

Rule 7. Never use default PowerPoint themes. Most of them suck, anyway. If your company doesn’t have a template, use a straight-forward plain layout. If you’re a consultant and don’t have your own template, what are you waiting for. Create one. It doesn’t have to be fancy; it just has to match your brand. Whatever you do, keep it simple.

Rule 8. Ditch the stock clip art. It’s all crap.

Rule 9. Animate and keep it simple. Appear and fade are usually sufficient for text. Using simple animation helps keep the audience focused on what you’re saying. The key is to not let the animation distract from your presentation. Never use spinning anything. Seriously. There’s no excuse for that.

Rule 10. No sound effects. Ever. Don’t even think about it. Please note: I don’t mean you shouldn’t use audio. By all means. I’m talking about whooshes and boing-boings. If you’re giving a presentation on birds, an .mp3 of bird call might be completely appropriate. Just test the embedded file to be sure it plays properly.

Annoyed? Nodding your head vigorously in agreement? In either case, I’ll continue my instructional rant in Part 2.