May 29th, 2007
Tim Sanders' PowerPoint epiphany
Tim Sanders ran into an all-too common problem at a speaking engagement. The sequence of speakers at a conference was running behind schedule and he found himself facing a hungry, tired crowd just before lunch.
Faced with these circumstances, he made the snap decision to ditch the PowerPoint deck he’d prepared and interacted with the audience – from the audience.
What could have been a disaster turned out very well. And Sanders says he’s going to limit his slides or go without more often. Based on my experience this is a sound strategy, not only when presenting at a conference but also when conducting a meeting. Use mind-mapping, affinity brainstorming, and other approaches that engage everyone. You’ll get better results and more cooperation.
There are times when a slide deck is just the right thing and there are certainly people who can use them effectively (think Steve Jobs and Tom Peters). Cliff Atkinson literally wrote the book – Beyond Bullet Points – on how to approach presentation building from a storyteller’s perspective. So I’m not saying don’t use the tool. I am saying use it with discrimination and mix up your bag of tricks.
Marc Orchant has been building, testing, and sometimes breaking hardware and software for 25 years. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
