PowerPointless, Not!

What a fantastic talk on TED. One thing that I have noticed, watching TED, is that few speakers have very compelling slides to compliment their presentations...this talk by Scott McCloud is an exception, in the extreme. He is animated and articulate and passionate, AND his slides compliment his points with a simple elegance that is so rare.

How to Give Good Presentations: one of the most popular 'talks' that I give, because it is so important to present well, and yet creating the great presentation is so elusive. Like many others, I have been frustrated by the effect of PowerPoint on presenting in general, while at the same time, fascinated and thrilled by the possibilities that it offers...adding video, sound, images, animations. Why describe anything anymore, when you can google a great image of it to throw on a slide?

Well, I wouldn't say don't google the image. "A picture is worth...etc." The image is important, but the presenter is MORE important. Maybe the reason that we don't grasp this is insecurity - we sell ourselves short. We spend a lot of time connecting through this medium (I sit alone in my house as I type), and less time appreciating and cultivating the eye-to-eye and face-to-face connection - so maybe we forget (or never learn) how powerful it is.

Or maybe, we have bought the Hollywood fallacy that a person worth watching must be beautiful. No. She must be human, genuine, and believe in herself.

At a concert last month, I was moved almost to tears by music that I have heard on my stereo a thousand times. This shocked me because I don't see enough live music, and also because I had forgotten the power of the face-to-face. It can be magical.

A good presenter - someone who stands before her audience and feels respect for them, even love for them in their willingness to sit passively and listen - will have a very powerful impact WITH HER WORDS ALONE. PowerPoint can certainly illustrate your point. A clever animation, carefully timed to your words can be a distraction, but can also pound your point home in a way that leaves your audience breathless. But don't, DON'T turn the lights down while you are speaking! Your audience needs to see you, to look into your eyes and see your passion. That is the best way to make them feel it, learn it, and want to know more.