The US Army reports that misuse of Powerpoint (in other words, using Powerpoint the way most people use it, the way it was designed to be used) is a huge issue.
I first wrote a popular short free ebook about this seven years ago and the problem hasn't gone away. So much for the power of the idea.
Here's the problem:
- Bullets appear to be precise
- They define the scope of the issue, even if they are wrong
- They are definitive, even if they aren't
- Bullets that are read from the screen go in one ear and out the other
- Bullets are used as a defensive measure
- see, I told you this in the meeting on 12.3.08
- Bullets are unemotional and sterile
- The lizard brain causes us to make presentations that are too long so that nothing in particular gets commented on or remembered or criticized
- It is harder to interrupt and have a conversation with someone who has a clicker
See what I mean?
If there was any other tool as widely misused in your organization, you'd ban it. The cost is enormous in lost opportunity and lost time. Guns don't kill people, bullets do.
