Powerless Point

Last week, I was cleaning up a presentation ("Virtual Teams in the Age of the Network") that I gave last Fall at the Brookings Executive Education program for a new one I'm giving there next Tuesday. It was, let me see, a frustrating (no), aggravating (closer),  *!#$%^***!! (getting there) experience.

For reasons known only to some programmer (not even a developer) who's probably cashed out by now for life on a private Caribbean island, I could not change the footer. Page numbers would not appear. Bullet symbols would not convert from vertical lines to small dots. Line spacing would not reduce.  Please don't send me suggestions as I didn't just fall off the PPT turnip truck. I tried saving with a new file name, copying content of troublesome slides to new slides, changing slide master, etc. We all know the tricks. A colleague with a PC (yes, I'm Mac, he's PC) - after struggling as well - was finally able to make most of the changes.

So when I was asked to speak at the Boston KM Forum, I decided to go slideless. Just stand up and speak. True, the topic lent itself to addressing the audience directly: "Moving Beyond Web 2.0 Resistance." Which ultimately is not about technology but about people, ye ole' "90% people, 10% technology" rule.

When Larry Chait introduced me, he said I would not be using slides. A hearty round of applause followed. And as I spoke, I sensed that people were actually listening, as in making eye contact, nodding their heads, responding when I asked questions. Note to other speakers out there: IT FELT GREAT!

Doug Cornelius live-blogged my talk which Paul Levy has responded to with "Throw off the crutches of ppt!" - where he gives a really good list of reasons why Powerpoint may not be exactly the most powerful way to engage an audience. Read them both. And thanks, guys. Maybe we can teach a class about how to give a presentation without slides.

One last thought: Edward Tufte gives a very good seminar (and has written an essay called "The Cognitive Style of Powerpoint," in which he gives some excellent suggestions for how to use PPT if you must). I attended it a few years ago and, humbly, feel that when I do use slides, they're the better for it.

Comments

[Cristián Saracco]

I've gone to several presentation with PPT, also to several without it...

Also, I've been hearing presentation fo people who are reading his/her PPT... I admit, I hate this situations!

Probably, the issue is that PPTs' are supporting the message (and only that) and the key is in the person that is communiacting, telling you a story, giving you some fantastic contents. If so, presentation are reinforced with words, images,...

Some time ago, I posted a presentation in Brand 3.0 (www.webjam.com/brand30) to inspire other members of the blog... 30 slides, 30 images, 15 words... and the message was understood!... And I wasn't there :)

[sadalit]

Jessica, it was a great talk, and now I can't imagine it WITH ppt.

I was particularly moved by your urging to be gentle (and persistent!) with those who are resistant to web 2.0 tools. I had a personal experience with this (convincing my brother to try Flickr, a process that took many months but had a huge payoff) and I bet everyone in that room could have shared a story on the subject. Thanks for bringing a real human side to the forum.

[jessica lipnack]

Cristian, Sadalit, thanks so much! Next time I'll ask everyone to recall their experiences too.

[Marc Solomon]

I found your talk inspiring from the vantage of the implict change management badge that every KM professional wears on their sleeves.

[Gil Friend]

I must be old, since I remember when people used to communicate quite well _without_ PPT!

I don't mind using it when it enhances, I just hate that it's become obligatory. (My friend Joel calls the app "PowerlessPointless". ;-)

If you must, great resources at http://www.presentationzen.blogs.com/ and http://www.presentationcoach.com/

[jessica lipnack]

What about overheads, Gil? 'member those? I shudder thinking about all the plastic we generated and schlepped around to presentations back then. Both these resources you've provided look very useful. Thanks.