David Sparks, from MacSparky, has a great post reflecting on the new study commissioned by the International Journal of Innovation and Learning showing the negative effects of PowerPoint presentations on viewers. David is absolutely correct in his observation that it is not PowerPoint which is futile, but the way it is being implemented.
As David suggests, at TechnoEsq Presentations we also try and persuade our clients, other attorneys, from using too many words in a presentation and letting the visual aspect of the presentation speak for itself. We often have to convince our clients of this by comparing and contrasting with and without bullet points, but eventually they begin to understand our philosophy behind creating presentations and appreciate the difference it makes in their demand and mediation presentations as well as at trial.
If you want to learn more about how to effectively use presentations, first throw PowerPoint away and then read a book such as Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds. A lot of TechnoEsq Presentation’s philosophy on presentations was borne out of reading this among other authorities on presentations. Garr has a new Online Streaming video on Presentation Zen so you can watch a video on creating more effective presentations at your leisure, the online video and DVD are available here. we highly recommend either purchasing the book ($19.79), Online Streaming Video ($25.19) or the DVD ($26.99) of Presentation Zen. You can also read his blog at Presentation Zen.
For future reference, TechnoEsq Presentations doesn’t create PowerPoint presentations… we create presentations using myriad programs from TrialSmart, Sanctions and Apple’s Keynote; we just happen to export them to PowerPoint when requested. It’s like putting the body of a Hyundai on a BMW frame…why you would want to do it is beyond us, but we do as we’re paid.