PowerPoint Rant and Remedy

By Karen Susman
A speaker spoke at a breakfast meeting for business executives. Her topic was interesting. She was charming. She'd given a version of her presentation numerous times and so was well prepared. She spoke well and her remarks were geared to the needs of the audience. She even had a sense of humor that was appropriate and worked with the audience.

Just one snafu. Her PowerPoint presentation was unreadable. She had requested a projector for her PowerPoint presentation. She brought her assistant to set things up and make the marriage between the projector and her computer. The marriage between the projector and her computer was an arranged marriage where the two parties met for the first time at the wedding. The marriage didn't work. As in most of these arrangements, it's hard to say whose fault the mismatch was.

Problems:

· The projector couldn't bring itself to focus. Blurry and fuzzy do not make for standing ovations.

· Even if each slide had been focused, the text didn't fit onto the screen. Unless you enjoy reading text projected onto flocked wallpaper circa 1976, you'd never get the message.

· There was too much text on each slide. PowerPoint is an aid. It isn't your whole program. If it were, you could just send copies and not show up.

· From what you could see on one of the slides, the slides were prepared for a different group and presented on August 7, 2007. That doesn't work for a presentation delivered on October 9. It's easy to overlook these details and it's also easy to correct them. Take the time to proof your slides and handout materials every time you present.

· Even though the PowerPoint was a distraction, irritant and ineffective, the speaker kept on going, changing the slides, looking at the screen to read from them, etc. Thus, she kept directing the audience's attention to the irritating screen.

Solutions:

· Check your equipment out in advance. Have back-up. The back-up isn't necessarily another projector. Back up could be printed copies of the slides or a flip chart or white board. Back up can be your confidence that you can present your program without visuals.

· Don't let bad projection stay on the screen. The audience looks at the speaker as in charge of the success and failure of a program. So, take control and decide not to torture the audience with bad A/V.

· Know your talk so well you can give it without any A/V. Ironically, the speaker knew her stuff and could have presented without PowerPoint. In fact, she was most effective when she simply conversed with the audience.

Audiences and speakers have become so dependent on PowerPoint that they get the shakes at the thought of not using it. There was a time in the good old days, when speakers used no A/V. Slides were a problem because the room had to be darkened. Overhead projectors usually had scratches and smudges that made even professionally created transparencies appear ready for the scrap heap. Plus, presenters either left a slide on endlessly or removed it resulting in blinding the audience with a glaring white screen. Remember that keystone distortion? Oh! What about the transparencies spilling onto the floor when taken off the projector? Using an overhead requires coordination and moves the Bolshoi Ballet would admire.

The flip chart isn't used as often as before for the very reasons that make it so powerful. A flip chart is spontaneous. When the speaker has the urge to jot down a number, key word or ideas from the audience, the audience knows these are important points. The flip chart sheets can be posted around the room so ideas are retained. Audience members can write on the flip chart and thus help create the presentation. Most speakers are afraid of spontaneity. Speakers like to know that the presentation slides are all prepared and would rather bore the heck out of a group with bullet after bullet and statistic after statistic than use a visual for emphasis.

To repeat, know your presentation so well you can present it without PowerPoint. Practice using a flip chart. Learn to write big. Always have a flip chart or white board on stage with you. Bring your own markers. Make sure they work. Just because you have prepared a PowerPoint presentation doesn't mean you've made a pledge to Bill Gates to use it no matter what. If it doesn't work, dump it. Create an atmosphere where the audience can listen, learn and act. Irritating them and not doing something to relieve their pain is not the atmosphere you're after.

By the way, the audience liked the speaker since she had such important and interesting things to say. Her presentation was like taking a lovely walk with a rock in your shoe. Or, being served good food served on a dirty plate. Or...you get the idea.

Karen Susman is a Speaker, Trainer, Coach, and Author of 102 Top Dog Networking Secrets. Karen works with organizations that want to maximize performance. Programs include Humour at Work; Balance In Life; Networking Skills; Presentation Skills; and Building Community Involvement. Order new guidebooks on humour, networking, time management, and community involvement by calling 1-888-678-8818 or e-mail Karen@KarenSusman.com www.KarenSusman.com.