PowerPoint allows speakers to pretend that they are giving a real talk, and audiences to pretend that they are listening. (Edward Tufte, 2006)
Ouch!
I am not against PowerPoint or any of the other slide applications. My view is that the slides should be made after the thinking has been done. I suspect many people start with the slides and all that choosing of themes and rearranging bullet points is actually a substitute for thinking.
Next time you have a presentation to give start by writing what you want to say. Revise and edit your writing until it is as short and clear as you can make it. Then, and only then, should you think about slides. And the first question is, do I need any slides for this at all?
The acid test for this will be whether your audience listens to you or just pretends to listen to you. And you’ll know if they are listening because they will be looking at you, not the slides, and they won’t be reading emails on their laptops or phones.
