Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Powerful Powerpoint

I really enjoyed the presentation on Powerpoint.  I tend to overlook Powerpoint as a bland, uninteresting tool, so it was a good reminder that Powerpoint is a powerful tool that can do so much more than create an overly wordy slide deck.

The slide below is from the class Powerpoint presentation - an example of how we tend to cram too much data onto a slide.  I have seen this slide in one form or another many times over the years.  It seems to be a favorite thing to do - present a slide that is impossible to read or understand!

The presenter inevitably says something like: "I know you can't read this, but what I wanted to show you was..."  Really?  If it isn't important for us to be able to read it, why are you showing it to us?  Isn't there a better way to present this information?  The audience gets lost in a slide like this - or worse-

Obtained from  SFSU, Dr. Merchant, ITEC815 iLearn Materials, Fall 2014

the audience zones out completely, like the folks below (also from the Powerpoint presentation):
Obtained from  SFSU, Dr. Merchant, ITEC815 iLearn Materials, Fall 2014

I love the slide above.  In the grips of death-by-Powerpoint, for sure!