Showing posts with label PowerPoint. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PowerPoint. Show all posts

Thursday, March 17, 2011

How to Feed Your PowerPoint Addiction

Who knew there were smartphone apps designed to help people give better presentations?

In this week's "Killer Apps" on Slate.com, Farhad Manjoo shows us a few:

http://www.slate.com/id/2288534/

I was disappointed to see that the main app featured enables further dependency on PowerPoint. The app actually lets you download your PowerPoint presentation right onto your phone.

What a brilliant way to merge two addictions - PowerPoint and Smartphones!

Could someone design a public speaking app that teaches speakers to get away from the screen - and connect with the people in the audience?

But perhaps this is a lesson that's better given in person.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Props, Not PowerPoint

Passover begins Monday evening. Our family will gather together for the Passover Seder - the retelling and re-experiencing of the Jewish people's exodus from slavery in Egypt.

Certainly, there's a lot of important information to cover. So, why not make a Passover PowerPoint presentation and show it at the Seder? Surely this would be a lot more "sophisticated" and "impressive" than the traditional, "old school" visual of the Seder plate!

So, what makes this such an awful idea?

Aside from certain religious prohibitions, one can only imagine that a PowerPoint presentation would turn a potentially meaningful, exciting and interactive experience into a dreadfully boring and passive one.

The Seder plate, on the other hand, with it's various, colorful symbolic foods, is a brilliant visual. It is concrete, tactile, and a great trigger for discussion of the topic at hand. What's more, it helps the participants remember the information, even after the holiday is over.

From the Green Room: Next time you give a presentation, consider minimizing your usage of PowerPoint, which inhibits human interaction and connection. Instead, choose a prop to emphasize your point. When used correctly, a prop not only helps you communicate your message, but helps your audience remember it, long after you have stopped speaking.