TheLen

Wow. And I thought I hated PowerPoint! My dislike of PowerPoint as a presentation tool is nothing compared to Tufte’s. Although I felt he was a little too vitriolic at points, most of his arguments about PowerPoint’s failures, weaknesses, and flaws are dead on. Too many presenters rely on PowerPoint to give their representation rather than using PowerPoint to complement or enhance their presentation. Chartjunk and PowerPointPhluff are both very real dangers to any PowerPoint presentation and the examples Tufte uses highlight these dangers with a very real sense of humor. I particularly liked the Gettysburg Address as PowerPoint example.

As I read the article, I kept trying to figure out how I would use PowerPoint for a presentation later this semester. My research does not rely on images, but I think PowerPoint presentations are part of the tool of research requirement, so I need to think of something. Perhaps make a couple PowerPoint presentations for the class I’m teaching this summer? Regardless of the topic, the discussion at Tufte’s and the Presentation Zen websites have some great ideas about presentation styles, habits, etc. that I will certainly be returning to before my next presentation.

I didn’t have any particularly pressing questions from this reading, but I am curious to know how many people use/enjoy/appreciate/tolerate/despise PowerPoint and how they plan to deal with it and similar programs in the future? Also, if you have a primarily word-based presentation, but must use PowerPoint, how would you reconcile the “dumbing down” effect of PowerPoint with your presentation needs? I think I would use PowerPoint to give my audience an outline of my presentation — while providing a more substantice paper handout. But, I may very well find a picture of Nixon doing the chicken dance when I go to the Archives on Wednesday, so maybe I will have pictures for my presentation. Of course, I could always weave images (of people, places, documents) and sounds (from the Nixon tapes) into my presentation.