Discussion on:

Want to have better meetings? Ditch PowerPoint

Once upon a time I had to make a presentation to a large group. Nervous, I'd been provided with all the props, and I attempted to do it that way, but I felt I was losing my audience. I said, "Excuse me," shunted all the equipment aside, then faced them all, talked and gesticulated. Despite the subject being very technical, it went well from that point onward. Yeah, ditch the PowerPoint, and ditch projectors, white boards and all the other things that come between you and your audience. You don't need them; you need personal contact.

I'm well acquainted with 'death by powerpoint'. It's used for almost everything in our business (if Excel isn't involved!) so the idea of ditching it does pique my curiosity.

Here's the thing though - PowerPoint is a tool and it has it's uses. Should we not use the tool just because other people misuse/overuse it? If we do drop PowerPoint in a presentation or meeting, what are the alternatives to getting a visual point across to the attendees? Or to put it another way why would I use a hammer when it's a screwdriver I need to get this particular job done?

Flip charts won't work and neither will cue cards or picture boards because they have the same issue as PowerPoint - people tune out. Whiteboards are slightly better than flip charts because they appear more interactive to the audience (IMHO, but I don't get why) but it's essentially the same thing. Talking your attendees through statistics of any kind is interminably dull and takes longer than simply showing them.

Does anyone have any tried and true method for replacing PowerPoint in the environment they might otherwise choose it? How do you 'show, not say' in your meetings when PowerPoint has been cast out?

(For context to my thoughts, in my own experience I avoid PowerPoint as little as possible and if I do have to use it it's because I feel it's the best tool for the job. When using powerpoint I keep things concise (using the absolute minimum number of slides to do a job), inject a little humour to stat-heavy or dry presentations and keep things as interactive as possible with the audience to keep them engaged (sometimes even turning off the slides for sections of the meeting). The very work presentations or meetings I go to are those where every slide is a block of coloured text where the trainer, presenter or salesperson is simply reading the text on the screen. I HATE that! I can read myself, dummy - just give me the slide content in a leaflet or e-mail and stop wasting BOTH our times. Grrrrrr!)

dl_wraith you are right in that if you need a tool, why not use it? But although the tool might work perfectly well (I can feel this analogy slowly dying a horrible death) as a TOOL it might not actually achieve what you want to achieve.

So, start with the outcome you want: an engaged audience, an answer to a question, a project moved along. If you need to present key facts to support an argument, how best should you 'deliver' them to the audience? Key facts document, wall poster, 'assumptions' flip chart could all work.

Then, what do you need to do with that audience? Make them respond, inform them, tell a story? That's where you choose your tool. Personally, if I have story to tell or a pitch to communicate, I like prezi.com. Whereas ppt is linear - one thing after another - Prezi is good at context, using zoom levels to go down into detail then back out to show the big picture. for anything with a strategic context, this is very useful. It does require learning some new skills, but not much time before you are able to put a presentation together.

If you are one of the people at your company who actually does work and are required to also attend meetings with the people who just try to look busy all day (they love meetings and stretch them on and on), get rid of the chairs in the meeting room. That will ensure that meetings are always short and to the point.

True, Powerpoint is a tool, but the mistake most people make with it is that that tool takes the form of a crutch. Instead of using other tools, like discussion, visual aids, intonation, passion, etc., they expect Powerpoint to do it all for them. The worst presentation example I ever witnessed was someone who didn't feel comfortable presenting and just showed his slides, expecting the audience to read and take it in. At which point, it becomes less a crutch and more a blunt murder weapon ala Death by PPT.

With due respect Toni, as much what you have scribed is true to a certain degree but please do not blame the tool. That is why they call it "Powepoint". I used powerpoints in many occassion and I do not have any issues with my audience, esp face-to-face engagements. Presentation skill is what one need to focus on and DESIGN the slides to emphasize/supplement your points. Morale of the story, it is the user not the tool.

The article suggests not using PowerPoint. I don't think this is the same as "don't ever use PowerPoint." The aim is to get you to think about what *really* needs to be in your presentation, and if there may be a better (i.e., more personal) way to transfer that info.

Lots of people complain about the presenter reading slides to the audience. How else do you know how long to give the audience to read themselves? Do you know they even are reading it? Slow readers will feel the need to rush, and fast readers sit through an awkward silence. The article suggests fixing this by delivering that info another way. It can be a memo emailed prior, or a live discussion instead, or summarized data points that you use as a cue card and expand upon by talking.

Relax. Nowhere does she say "uninstall the thing and never look back." There are shades of gray here.

I agree that it is the user's fault more than the tool. But the widespread use of Powerpoint means that it's in the hands of more people who don't know how to use it than those who do. I can count on the fingers on one hand the number of meetings I've been to where PP was used effectively. And that is since its inception. So I think ditching PP in favor of interaction is a better alternative.

Face to face? Hmmm...now that's definitely a way to waste time and money...I think we'll find it will all go the other way...remote employees and online meetings...then powerpoints are absolutely necessary...people need something to focus on IMHO...people will tune out regardless...so you just have a very good reason to have the meeting then be compelling in your delivery...ask yourself...do I really need to have a meeting...

I agree with most of the other comments here as well...

Good points made. Have noticed for some time that many people seem to roll their eyes when someone is about to make a "short" power point presentation. Still in this visual age a good image to illustrate a more verbal prestentation can be of help. This also includes the use of quotes (only one per slide) to help frame a point made verbally by the presenter.

... this is so classic. The lights dim, the printout (of the Powerpoint) is already crumpled in your hand, you're looking forward to a snooze. Someone should take a survey of this, more often this is what happens than not.
Just don't present it as a PP presentation... LOL

A picture paints a thousand words, and that goes up to a million if the picture is an architecture diagram or a workflow. By all means ditch the bullet points, they should be no more than aides-memoir for the speaker anyway, and please ditch the "humorous" animations, but if your attendees aren't seeing the same depiction of what is under discussion you are going to sow confusion and waste a lot of everyone's time.

Also how do you do "face to face" when the attendees are split across three or four timezones?

It is not a matter of PowerPoint itself, but one of creating good slides and presenting properly. And who says the lights have to go out? With modern projectors one can have plenty of light in the room.

And *never* give out hand-outs at the start. Leave them to the end.

Don't blame the tool! If you don't tailor your communication to your audience, every presentation will be just a frustrating and agonizing experience. I agree with a lot of the comments being made here but from personal experience, I also disagree with quite a few of them. Not saying that they are wrong or right, it depends on the people you have to reach and the topic. Some prefer diagrams, some prefer tables with a lot of numbers and other prefer short bullet point lists but all are in the same room with you! Usually I try to anticipate this and have backup slides up in my sleeves just in case somebody doesn't get it. In general I use as less slides as possible but as a rule of thump I try not to use more then one slide per 3-5 minute presentation. Use large, sans serif fonts! If you have to excuse yourself because the slide is unreadable then don't use it or rework it until the last mole in the room can read it! Animations are a waist of time, unless they are absolutely necessary and serve a specific purpose but that's my personal view. The same for colours: Don't go too artistic! Once I had a project status presentation and it turned out that one guy couldn't differentiate between the colour red and green I used as status indicator (BTW: About 9% of men are affected but only 0.8% of women!). In the next presentation I added text to represent the status

Sometimes Powerpoint is indispensable, like when you want to make a presentation of facts and figures which other just need to have a know about.

But powerpoint as a tool for engaging the audience is where most presenters and presentations fall flat. They forget that they need to engage the audience. If the presentation is made keeping this in mind, I am sure, the tool (powerpoint) will not come in the way of the presenter or the presentation.

Making some bold and or controversial statements is the best way to engage the audience.

You stated correctly in your article, it's not about ditching PowerPoint it IS about using it correctly. While I totally understand people making you fall asleep it is not PowerPoint that is the issue. Coming in with a face to face with NOTHING in your hand will make for ANOTHER unproductive meeting as not only are people not willing to stay awake, they are not willing to THINK. So if you come in with a blank slate and no proposals, which they will only look at in visuals because they have no time. Sorry Strongly disagree and as a consultant that travels from Corporation to Corporation it is the same theme line.
Keeping the PowerPoint to a high-level with the point and not a lot of text, ANDDDDDDD learning how to PRESENT is the way to go.

PowerPoint is not the real issue (although I think Prezi is a better tool). If the message is delivered to an appropriate audience in an appropriate manner, then Powerpoint is a useful tool. There are lots of presenters who need some proper presentation training and need to listen to critique to hone their skills. It is like any activity and needs practice if you want to engage an audience fully. Think about the message you are trying to convey and pick out the key threads. Do not overload the audience and definately don't read from the PowerPoint slides (especially from the screen - as your back will be to the audience). Know your subject and deliver the message with confidence. Don't blame PowerPoint - It didn't cause the car crash if the presentation went badly!

Part of the training should be HOW to present with powerpoint not just how to fade between slides or add music. But before you talk about ditching it just imagine all those presentations with just a talking head and nothing else to look at! We don't want to return to those days...

We have several guys who use a Mind Mapping tool to present their info. In this case MindManager although there are many other options such as FreeMind, XMind and the Brain.
A presentation using a mind map shows the evolution of the idea and thought processes rather than flat facts. It is not for every situation but can be a much better way to present your ideas - especially if this is a work in progress.
One of the guys actually takes his meeting notes as a mind map so that it give more info on how the team reached a decision rather than a one line statement in isolation.
PowerPoint has it's place and can be very effective in the right hands. One thing that transforms it is to use a cordless presenter (20-30 sterling) that allows the presentation to be advanced remotely. This allows the presenter freedom to move around and talk flowingly without having to run back to the PC. Most devices have laser pointers and some have addtional features like presentation blackout (stop looking at the screen and listen to me!) and can give timers with vibrate alerts at 5 and 2 minute to end.

I do all that, and more, and use PowerPoint