What’s the Point of Power Point? Or…what’s the Power?
This post was written by Jacob McNulty
For LCB’s Big Question for May they asked:
”Power Point - What is Appropriate, When and Why?”
Recently my wife participated in a sales presentation to the Executives at a Fortune 500 organization. They were there selling consulting services to implement a new ERP package. For this type of sales meeting her organization typically produces slides that are literally packed with information. I encouraged her to include some other slides that had less information and rather just supported the point she was making.
When she went to her boss (who would be presenting with her) with this idea he iddn’t want to include the more “abstract” slides. After the presentation concluded, my wife concurred that she didn’t feel the audience would have been receptive to those types of slides.
When looking through the other responses to the LCB’s Big Question I see many that recommend less text, minimal bullets, etc…essentially things that will position your slides as props for your message instead of the message itself. I certainly agree with that philosophy and it’s the one I use myself when doing presentations. But it would not have been effective with my wife’s audience.
Orbital RPM just completed a change management project for a Fortune 500 organization. One of the things that was part of my role in the project was coaching the Project Sponsor for his presentations to the Steering Committee.
If I had suggested slides with abstract images I would have been jeapordizing the client. This organization is very formal and their presentation are expected to be to the point and complete with thorough data.
I think that PowerPoint can be a very powerful tool when used effectively. But ‘when used effectively’ is a grey area. Always using pictures, minimal bullet points, etc. will not be appropriate in all presentations. It depends on your audience and the information you’re trying to convey. What is your audience expecting? What are they conditioned to receive? Are you doing a keynote or a project summary? A sales presentation or a summary of sales?
Are you telling a story? Have slides as cues or points of inflection. Are you presenting information? Have the data - it’s comfortable for the audience.
To expand on stories, though, takes us more into the power of PowerPoint from a learning perspective. Stories hit us at an emotional level and help us connect with and recall the information presented and therefore are a powerful aid in teaching. PowerPoint is certainly a tool that can enhance stories (although not tell them).
PowerPoint also seems to be the tool of choice that rapid elearning engines are built around. It may not be an ideal solution but…
It’s the tool that eveyone knows and the tool that can be used in a mind-boggling number of ways. PowerPoint or a similar equivalent will not be going away any time soon - learn to use it as a supplement and your stories will come alive. If you’re presenting data to a Steering Committee you may have to stick with slides that are overflowing with information but if it’s what they want who am I to argue?
Tags: business training, change management, corporate training, development, learning, learning strategies, organizational learning, professional development, rapid elearning, workforce development