Power Point is a Back Up Dancer.

What is the most you have ever paid for a concert ticket?  $100, $200, $1000 or perhaps even more?  Well chances are no matter what you paid, the cost of the tickets was not justified in your mind because the back up dancers were going to be so amazing. No!  We pay the money to see Tina Turner (or Britney Spears, or Lady Gaga, or Taylor Swift, or dare I say Barry Manilow) shake her tail feathers and sing her heart out.  And the back up dancers?  Well they are there to make TINA look good.

YOU are Tina Turner.

For far too long we have allowed Power Point to BE the presentation while the presenter simply stands to the side (often with back turned to the audience) reading the dull, lifeless and cluttered Power Point slides that were prepared as nothing more than giant notecards.

Look familiar?  SO BAD! SO PAINFUL! Blech

It is time to put Power Point in it's place--backing you up in the presentation.  It's job is to make you look good; to visually accentuate your message, not be the message itself.  I often get resistance from the "business as usual"professional who simply cannot think about doing a presentation with their good old safety net the Power Point.

Imagine for a moment that Martin Luther King is alive and well in 2011 and is preparing to deliver for the first time his (what will be history making) speech "I have a dream".  Do you imagine he would use a Power Point for the Presentation? I can just see it now--a slide with ten bullet points in 14 point font with a terrible stock image of kids holding hands.  NO!

MLK would not use a Power Point.  Neither would Lincoln to deliver the Gettysburg Address.  Or Maya Angelou to recite why the caged bird sings.  The greatest speakers know that the power to move an audience lies in their words, conviction, passion and ability to connect to the audience.  

So do you abandon Power Point all together?  Not always (but in some circumstances I say yes!  get rid of the Power Point and YOU be the presentation).  If you are going to use Power Point then use it wisely--quit making slides that are nothing more than giant notecards.  Challenge yourself to create a presentation that has ZERO bullet points in the entire presentation.  AND use this rule as your guide: Slides should VISUALLY reinforce the ideas you are communicating.  If your slides don't do that then start over.

To get some GREAT ideas on how to use Power Point more effectively, click on the presentation below and you will get a new appreciation for the POTENTIAL of a KICK AWESOME slide presentation.  Please share this presentation on facebook, leave a comment on slideshare and follow Bravo CC for future presentations.

Power Point is a Back Up Dancer click here

http://www.slideshare.net/BravoCC/power-point-is-a-back-up-dancer

The lesson is clear--when a Power Point doesn't know it's place you get a Kevin Federline type situation.  Too big for his britches, Kevin thought he was on par with his boss Britney Spears.  And shame on her--she allowed it.  Don't let your Power Point act like it's the star.  It isn't. YOU are the Star!

Here's to your next presentation!

PowerPoint Sucks

Okay, so it's not the most eloquent phrasing, but I think the title of this blog pretty accurately describes the state of PowerPoint these days.

Here's a clip of comedian Don McMillan's take on the problems with PowerPoint:



One of the main problems with PowerPoint is that it is often the first line of defense for a speaker, rather than what it should be -- a demonstration of the culmination of a great deal of planning and forethought. Instead of creating a clear message with concise supporting points, we just start with the title slide and then for the subsequent "Title with Bullets" slides, we type the first thing we think of and all the pieces of information that go with that title. The end-product is a compilation of pretty much everything you know about the topic and often resembles a stream-of-consciousness brainstorm session much more than well-planned presentation.

And you've all been there -- sitting through the PowerPoint slides with way too much information but not enough useful substance. Throw in a few complicated charts and whizzing animations, and you've got a real dandy.

But, PowerPoint doesn't have to suck! In fact, it can be one of the most useful tools in your toolbox if you use it correctly. But, you have to put it in its place. Just as a dentist doesn't start with the drill, neither should presentations start with technology.

That's right -- presentations start with a little bubble in the brain that is rolled over and over and then translated onto paper. Or, for those of you who have forgotten how to use a pen, typed into a word processing document. The point is that you should know exactly what the content of your presentation will be before you even open PowerPoint. This allows you to use PowerPoint as a creative tool that complements your message.

I won't try to cover everything there is to know about building PowerPoint slides in one entry, so stay tuned for updates! I'll leave you with a couple of examples of really great presentations:

Present! - Edition #1 Rethinking Presentation Design

view presentation (tags: ppt powerpoint design presentation)

Brain Rules for Presenters

view presentation (tags: reynolds garr zen presentation)

I know I'm inspired to build more interesting and creative presentations. How 'bout you?

-- Millie Shaw