Doesn’t this article by Geoffrey James at Inc. scream “TWENTY-TWENTY?” But this version of “Hell on Earth” has been evolving since acetate film first met laser printers.
This author cites an article from Inc. magazine that said the “audience will be just as happy with your presentation if you do it without your slides.”
Actually, the research is clear. If happiness is measured by what they understand and retain, the audience will be happier if there are no slides.
This article in Forbes magazine suggests that presenters should stop using powerpoint because it may damage a brand.
Citing a study at Harvard, the author points out that in a business scenario, PowerPoint was rated as no better than verbal presentations with no visual aids.
The author says that research found “a more engaging and enjoyable experience for an audience with an oral presentation’s total lack of visual aids.”
The author of Public Speaking Skills for Dummies! says he doesn’t have a problem with slides, as long as they enhance what the speaker is saying.
His biggest complaint is that the slides should complement what the speaker is saying, but often there is one thing on the screen while the speaker is saying something else.
He also makes a point that has long seemed obvious to me. Why would someone bother attending the presentation when they can read the PowerPoint deck and stay home?
This author believes too much emphasis is being put on developing “snazzy presentation slides.” He believes it “is a waste of time and elicits a deluded sense of accomplishment.”
In his opinion, spending “days and days doing up a colourful slides with funky animation or photoshopped images” is not an optimal use of time.
This article makes the point that PowerPoint should be banned in lectures because it makes students more stupid and professors more boring.
And, based on my conversations with students and professors, moving bad PowerPoint lectures from the room to via Zoom has just made things worse, not better.