mardi 31 mai 2016

The first rule of PowerPoint...

Seen "The fight club"?… Then this should sound familiar:
- The first rule of Fight club is "you don't talk about the Fight Club!"
- The second rule of Fight Club is you DO NOT talk about the Fight Club!
And on it goes...

I have my own set of rules for another special club you are hundreds to belong to: the PowerPoint club! Problem with this club: nobody, and I mean NO-BODY respects the rules! And we all know what happens when the rules are not respected : Chaos! Which in this case means boredom, waste of time, waste of money...

Here are the 10 rules of PowerPoint:

1st rule of PowerPoint
You do not use PowerPoint for yourself as a presenter. PowerPoint was invented for your audience. So they could better understand whatever you're here to talk about.
2nd rule of  PowerPoint
PowerPoint is a distraction, if you decide to use it, there must be a reward : they get the point, they remember, they understand faster...
3rd rule of PowerPoint
The Background of your slides must be DARK. Slides are about light, not pigments! You are blindening your audience with your white slides!
4th rule of PowerPoint
Don't turn your back at your audience. This is rude and ineffective! This is called upstaging yourself and it will not work. Communication works face to face / eye to eye.
5th rule of PowerPoint
When you don't use it (basically, when you talk), turn the damn thing off! Mute, dark slide, do whatever it takes to get rid of the distraction.
6th rule of PowerPoint
Use bold images. One slide-One point. Period. You don't need an image to help people understand every word you say (yes, they know what a team is!)
7th rule of PowerPoint
Use wise animations to control the attention of your audience. Simple but super effective. Avoid anything cheesy.
8th rule of PowerPoint
Danse with PowerPoint: it's a double act. When you talk, PowerPoint goes silent (off!), when it talks, let it do its magic: you shut up. Don't talk both at the same time, it'll get messy!
9th rule of PowerPoint
You don't HAVE to use it! Most of the time you are much better presenters when you don't.
10th rule of PowerPoint
PowerPoint is NOT the presentation. You ARE. Saying: "I forgot my presentation at home" is as stupid as an actor saying: "I forgot my performance in my livingroom." 

If you shall respect those rules, you will become part of a club with a very short and exclusive number of members: the ones who know how to use this very sophisticated software!


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