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To PowerPoint or Not to PowerPoint, That is the Question
It's 9:00 am. You are about to hear a 10-minute status report from one of your managers. On cue, the manager takes center stage. Instantly, you are bombarded with 22 PowerPoint® slides and seemingly competing dialogue. You struggle to understand his message. Quickly, your manager loses your attention, and his own credibility, by making a very common mistake.
Whether we are selling a product, introducing an investment
opportunity or communicating a corporate update, audiences are going to
buy that message from the presenter…not a fancy slide show. Yet,
when we think about typical corporate presentations, one would think the
word "presentation" automatically translates into "PowerPoint
slide show". When was the last time that you sat in on a corporate
presentation that wasn't driven by PowerPoint? Unfortunately, this PowerPoint
epidemic is the death of many compelling messages.
In our previous columns, we covered our first two secrets
that help audiences connect with their audiences and get results:
- Audiences want a story
- Less is more
In this column we will address the third and final
secret, which covers the role of PowerPoint in effective presentations.
Secret #3 - People buy from people…not PowerPoint.
Audiences respect presenters who think, not read busy
PowerPoint slides. A presenter who plays the leading role in their own
presentation and allows PowerPoint to play a supporting role will consistently
draw in audiences. To ensure that the PowerPoint is not encroaching on
that leading role, presenters must rigorously challenge two ingrained
assumptions associated with PowerPoint.
Assumption 1 - Every presentation needs PowerPoint
If we think about famous presentations in our history, PowerPoint would
not add to the message. Imagine "I have a Dream" in PowerPoint.
It loses something. The Gettysburg Address? Again, simple bulleted slides
could not enhance that historic moment nor add to the passion brought
forth by the presenters. Today, there are many extraordinary presenters
with compelling messages that instantly get lost in the translation to
PowerPoint.
So, what drives presenters to assume that PowerPoint makes every presentation
better? A few factors contribute to its overuse. First, PowerPoint has
become the norm. And, as presenters, we often feel the need to "fit
in". Yet presenters actually want to differentiate their message.
Using a tool as ubiquitous as PowerPoint is not always helping our cause.
Secondly, PowerPoint is easy to use. We can capture, animate and make
last minute changes to our thoughts with ease using this software package.
Unfortunately, ease and expectations can be a deadly combination when
it comes to connecting with an audience.
To challenge this assumption, presenters should ask themselves a few questions:
"Does this presentation really need PowerPoint? Will it help me connect
with my audience? Will it help me better communicate my message? Would
a flipchart or white board better illustrate my points?" Asking these
questions will likely cause you to leave the laptop at home and realize
that no supporting role is needed.
Assumption 2 - Everything that will be said needs to be on the PowerPoint
slides.
Often times, presentations are well served by incorporating PowerPoint.
Yet, have you ever seen a presenter stand up and read their text-laden
PowerPoint slides to you? What's your reaction? For many it is, "This
is a waste of time. Just give me the slides and I can read them on my
own." The audience feels their precious time has been wasted and
the presenter's credibility quickly heads south.
In their defense, some presenters may not read everything on their slides.
But let's think about the experience from the audience's viewpoint. A
slide comes up, slathered with text and the presenter is talking. What
does that force the audience to do? Choose. Choose whether to read the
slides, listen to the speaker, or the more likely choice, mentally check
out all together because the message is too difficult to absorb.
The best way to challenge this assumption is for presenters to revisit
the purpose of visual aids. Visuals should aid the message, not be the
message. Additionally, visual aids should not play the dual role of visual
aids and handouts; they are two entirely different tools. Handouts are
designed to provide the details and stand on their own. Visual aids should
be simple and need a presenter to bring them to life. In this case, one
tool does not fit all.
So, back to our manager giving his status update. What
should he do? Chances are he assumed correctly that his presentation needed
PowerPoint. Yet, clearly he has given up his leading role to PowerPoint,
which is quickly becoming a show, and possible career, stopper.
In our next column, we will share some specific tips to help our manager
regain his leading role.
Diane West is president of 2Connect, a San-Diego based company specializing
in presentation training and coaching. She can be reached at dwest@twoconnect.net or 858-638-7544.
Copyright San Diego Daily Transcript --
On the Web at www.sddt.com
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