Slip sliding away…

Now that I re-joined the Word of Tweet and (gasp) actually remembered not only my password but how to do it, I read/commented in a group of Tweets about power point slides.

There are lots of Rules Of PowerPoint that No One Shall Break … but I did all the time.  I think the rule should be, what information needs to be imparted? What is the environment? Can the slides be easily read by the folk in the back? Do they get a copy?

If it is a marketing/sales presentation then less is more. Hit the highlights, make it light and amusing (unless it is selling a funeral home).

If it is a class, what is the subject? For me it would have been cataloging. Cataloging can be broken into sound bites but there will be TEXT. Can’t really avoid it. You might also have to have samples. There will be tons of slides, depending on the focus. In my online classes I used the powerpoint as a handout/guide to help so they often were text-ladden. But, they were easily viewable and readable. Slides were designed to help the student learn and provide enough information so the student knew what we had discussed during that particular slide.

If it is a conference presentation, again, subject matters. Make sure the slides are visible and readable from the far corners of the room. Please use colors that can be read (in bright OR dark rooms), charts that can be seen, and limit the text on the slide – actually, to make it readable, you have to limit the text (font size).

The cardinal sin to me is viewable.  If I can’t read it, it is not useful. I have no worries with someone reading the slide. In fact, it irritates me when the speaker is droning on and I do not have the time to grasp the information on the slide – especially they are talking around it and not about it. If you are not going to discuss what is on the slide, why did you make the slide?

Best ever use of powerpoint (or powerpoint like slides) in a presentation at a conference? Mark Funk‘s acceptance of the Janet Doe Lecture at the Medical Library Association meeting May 2012. Don’t believe me? Go watch the video. And, btw, he breaks some of The Rules.