PowerPoint: The easy way out?
Thursday, May 19th, 2011 Category: PowerPoint, Speaking, Technique No Comments 
Why do so many PowerPoint presentations fail? Why are they not only boring but damn boring? Why have millions of C-suite executives, middle-level managers and front-line office workers come to dread walking into any meeting room that has a screen and a projector?
It’s simple: 95% of the people who use PowerPoint see it as a way to short circuit the presentation preparation process. “I don’t have to be a great speaker…” “I don’t have to rehearse…” “I can wow them with the data…” ”I’ll just list the things I want to talk about in bullet points and, well then, read them right from the screen.” “I’ll just put my data in one of those handy graphs and, well then, read it off the screen.” “Plus, I can print out the slide set for a handout.”
Done. See? Easy.
All this is easy. It gets the preparer out from under a very involved and difficult task: That of preparing a 10-15-20 minute presentation. See? Easy. Done.
But unfortunately the point is to communicate — to efficiently and effectively deliver information and ideas and even emotion. And to do that, to connect with people and influence them, to move them, requires work. It means being a good presenter. It means rehearsing and then rehearsing some more. It means understanding how your audience will react to your vocal delivery and your visuals. How those two elements can work together, engage both the left brain and the right brain and become greater than the sum of their parts.
In short, it is work. But it is worth it. We have all sat through a dreadful PowerPoint or Keynote presentation. But if you have ever been moved or motivated or educated or completely engaged by someone who understands the interplay of images and words then you know how great a presentation with visuals can be.
That’s what making meaningful presentations is all about: doing it right and connecting with people. It’s work. But it is well worth it.