January 25, 2006

Death by PowerPoint

I’m watching CNN (sigh, it’s the only thing on) this morning and I see they are interviewing someone can Van Heerden. He said he went to the White House before Hurricane Katrina hit and gave a PowerPoint presentation to a White House official of how bad it could be. He said it took about 15 minutes and he left the CD with the official.

A PowerPoint presentation and he wonders why no one seems to have paid attention to his spiel. I’ve a question. Did he check to see if anyone was awake after his little speech?

PowerPoint is one of my pet peeves. People doing presentations love it. I suspect those doing the watching don’t. In my opinion, PowerPoint is no substitute for a good speech.

If Mr. Van Heerden had 15 minutes with the White House official, I think a PowerPoint presentation was too much. Just sit down with the official and make your case as a conversation between two people.

If you have something important to say, communicate don’t present.

Posted by The Vorlon at January 25, 2006 7:39 AM
Comments

Excellent posting. I totally agree. A well worded speech will stick in someone's mind for a long time. Looking directly into a person's eyes during a speech carries more power, then looking at a slide in a darkened room.

Posted by: Reb Orrell at January 25, 2006 11:05 AM

I can't stand power point. It seems to be the main means of communicating here at the state. You don't even have to attend the meeting. You can email people and bore them at a distance. Upper management thinks that they are great. I can't remember a single power point topic and I have seen hundreds.

FWIW

Posted by: Ned Swift at January 25, 2006 12:03 PM

Excellent comments from a true Toastmaster.

Posted by: Dennis at January 25, 2006 9:53 PM