Death By Powerpoint
One of my pet peeves is when students and business professionals use power point as a crutch. It is not very engaging when a person simply reads off their slides. I believe we have become too dependent on power point.
Here is a great funny clip that you can show students to help them understand common power point mistakes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp8dugDbf4w
Our network blocks YouTube so I'll have to watch it elsewhere and get back to you.
I too dislike when people simply read straight from their powerpoints. I believe they are meant to be a visual accessory (emphasis on accessory). When used effectively powerpoint can be excellent tolls, but when read straight from the slide they loose any effectiveness they might have had.
I think my pet peeve about this entire media thing is that it can invite passiveness. For instance, let's say that someone produced a Powerpoint presentation and read from that and also made hardcopy for the audience. What is left for the audience to do. At that point, nothing. At that point could go to sleep and not miss a thing. So what is the solution?
I like to use the Powerpoint to provide the skeleton of an outline with hardcopy that requires the audience to pick up a pen to complete by listening carefully and taking notes. Now we have active participation and the audience is not only visually and aurally involved but also kinesthetically involved. If they go to sleep now, they won't get the message. The Powerpoint is the 'track' but the message is in the 'journey'. What do you think?
I enjoyed the video! In addition to being entertaining, his points were quite valid.
I don't like Powerpoint presentations much either. Typically, the presenter is controlling the meeting tightly and not allowing for interaction. On those few occasions where I have seen questions allowed, it has always been at the end. If the presentation was lengthy, there will be little enthusiasm for it.
I've never seen it done, but a considerate presenter could break up the presentation into "bite size" pieces and allow for discussion in between. What do you think?
I teach a PowerPoint class. Unfortunately PowerPoint (or any other slide show for that matter) is often used as the presentation rather than to enhance the presentation. Here are some tips I pass on to my classes:
1. Ban all fonts lower than 24 point.
2. Remember the Rule of 7 (7 words per line and 7 lines per slide).
3. Space lines for legibility.
4. Be consistent and keep unity of design from slide to slide; use a master slide.
5. Content filled slides are OK (when used sparingly).
6. For Projected Images: Background: Use black or the darkest shade of blue or green. Foreground/Text: Use white, pale gray, or yellow shades. Hints: Do not use shades of red. Yellow is great for highlighting.
7. For Transparencies: Background: Use light colors or no colors. Foreground/Text: Use black or other dark colors.
8. Use a sans serif font such as Arial, Futura, Avant Garde, and Helvetica.
9. Use Bolding to emphasize words.
10. Do not use Italics except for Scientific names.
11. Use landscape page set-up and avoid crowding of images and text.
12. Tell 'em what's coming, what is, and what's been said.
13. Use Powerpoint interactively. Ask the audience questions.
14. Use no more than 1 slide per minute and don't read each slide.
15. Distribute printed copies of slides.
EXCELLENT!!
I made a copy of this (with the source reference) and I will use it the next time I use Powerpoint.
Thank you very much.
Heather,
I agree with you that PowerPoint can be abused. However, email messaging, memos, and phone calls all have the potential to be abused. A PowerPoint presentation is just one more tool of many we use to communicate an ideas and facts. We need to teach our students that PowerPoint presentation is not the purported panacea that has been made to be. Telling them not to use it is not in their best interest, however.
Thanks,
J Medina
Thank you for the clip. I will show it to my students.
I think power point is a useful tool, but "how to use it in a right way" needs to get more attention.
I find it very difficult to sit and listen to a powerpoint presentation that is just being read. I just block out the speaker. So when I give a presentation I make sure I'm animated and I ask questions. The powerpoint should be just that Power Points that allow you to elaborate on your subject matter as you give your lecture. The point is to engage your students.
Great clip! The guidelines for Powerpoint presentations are right on--ignoring them is what gives Powerpoint a bad rap. It is a useful tool when used to complement a presentation, but often becomes the driver of the whole presentation.
Those mistakes can ruin a presentation.
I usually use power point to help direct a discussion or for pictures of the subject.
I used to dislike when professors would fill out their slides, print them out, hand out to the class, and then just read what was on the slides. This was discouraging because the entire lecture was spent basically reading the slides, which could have been performed at home instead of in the classroom.
I really enjoy using powerpoints, but I use as limited amount of text possible, include pictures and videos or movable objects, and try to use visuals on the powerpoint rather than words to correlate with my speech or lecture.
I agree that; "less is more". I like using powerpoints in my class but I do not like to use more then 10 slides because I loose their attention
Great clip! I have viewed and shared it multiple times.
