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Remedies
for Toxic PowerPoint
Our last newsletter
challenged you to take the PowerPoint Toxicity test (here
is that newsletter if you missed it). We also promised you
in that last newsletter to give you some remedies for some of
these bad habits we use that create Toxic PowerPoint.
 Here is a review
of question number one from our test:
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Do you use PowerPoint as a teleprompter?
If you put the majority of your comments on the slide as
text, then find yourself turning and reading from the slide
to your audience, you are using it as a teleprompter.
You are also
using PowerPoint as a teleprompter if any of the
following statements are true.
Well, I don't really have time to rehearse, so I'll just
put all my data on the slides where I can see it.
All the detail is very important, so I have to put it
all on the slides.
I'm afraid I'll forget something, so I need to put al my
words on the slides.
It's how I've always done it!
As a sidebar, we
want to share with you that when we talk to audiences about the
presentations they see, this topic almost always comes up.
Folks, audiences are so tired of having slides read to them that
they're close to rebellion. So listen closely to these remedies!
 Remedy
1, Don't use PowerPoint.
If your presentation isn't visual or is full of detail and data,
you'd better serve your audience by preparing a document and
sharing the information that way. There are many times when it
is perfectly appropriate not to use PowerPoint, maybe a flip
chart or white board will work instead. And you may be
pleasantly surprised at the nice connection you make with your
audience by leaving the projector and slides out of the meeting.
Remedy 2, Put the detail in the notes.
We repeat, put the detail in the notes. If you find yourself
apologizing in the middle of your presentation for a slide that
"I know you probably can't read this," you've committed the
biggest PowerPoint sin of all. Put the detail in the notes
section of PowerPoint, then print out the presentation in the
notes view and give your audience handouts (either before you
present so they can follow along, or after as they're leaving
the room). But do not under any circumstances try to put all the
detail on a slide when you know the audience won't be able to
read it. There is nothing worse to your audience than hearing
you apologize for a slide, then straining to read it anyway.
Remedy 3, Use notes or notecards for yourself.
If you're worried you won't remember your script or all the
detail in your presentation, create notecards or a print-out of
your speaker notes. An audience really doesn't mind if you refer
to your notes while talking to them. But they do mind if you've
projected your script in the format of "slides" and then read to
them. We know this because they tell us this all the time!
So there is our
first set of remedies. We hope this will get you started on your
way to creating better presentations for your audience. Stay
tuned for our next remedy, which will share ideas on alternatives
to bullet point slides.
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