The Power of PowerPoint: Good Presentation Isn't All About the Software

PowerPoint has an undeservedly bad reputation. To be honest, I, myself, have knocked the tool when my scorn should have been directed at really bad presentations, and I’ve sat through quite a few. And it’s an important distinction; we can’t alter PowerPoint or other presentation software, but we can do much to improve the quality of projects using these tools. For your next slideshow, consider taking a whole new approach.

If you doubt the impact that a “preso” can make, consider the story of Palm, Inc. The one-time leader in handheld computers has fallen on hard times. With the advent of smartphones, Palm’s market share has dwindled along with their product line. Then, with one brief slide show at the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2009, Palm was suddenly the talk of the tech blogs and seemingly resurrected as a company. How did they pull it off? Basically, Palm gave one heck of a slide presentation.

While you and your students probably don’t have a large team at your disposal like Palm does, there are still some tips and tricks you can share with classes. For one, notice how Palm’s Jon Rubinstein, like Apple CEO Steve Jobs, treats the presentation like a story. Rather than simply spouting facts about the new phone, he employs narrative to connect listeners to the device on a more personal level. An evil marketing trick? Perhaps, but also an effective technique that you can adopt the next time you appear before the school board. Also, take note of the slide style. With sparse text, the presentation uses full-screen images to convey the ideas being shared. This technique can help presenters avoid the dreaded turn-and-read maneuver while also helping the audience stay focused on what you are saying.

Palm isn’t the only one to benefit from a radical update to their presentation style. Al Gore’s famed slideshow (above right), the basis for the Oscar-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth, was similarly refined to help strengthen the message. Nancy and Mark Duarte of Duarte Design, which helped shape Gore’s presentation, have written a book that details their design philosophy. Slide:ology: The art and science of creating great presentations (O’Reilly Media, 2008) provides amazing ideas for getting the most out of PowerPoint. Sample files on an accompanying Web site help demonstrate the principles. For more ideas, Garr Reynolds’ Presentation Zen: Simple ideas on presentation design and delivery (New Riders, 2008) is another beautiful book filled with simple suggestions that can enhance your presentations and those of your students.

In the end, we can start with our students in restoring some dignity to the slide presentation. The American Association of School Librarians Standards for the 21st-Century already address the importance of speaking skills in communicating ideas. Very likely your state or local English language arts curriculum cites verbal presentation, too. So why not ditch traditional PowerPoint conventions and introduce your staff and students to informational storytelling. Instead of creating slideshows with tedious bullets detailing an animal’s habitat, diet, size, etc.—assignments that only serve to reinforce bad research and presentation—have students present a more inspired book report. Exercise those right-brain skills by having them find images to represent characters or parts of the story. Slides should contain no more than four words; powerful presentations are all about images, key ideas, and the speaker’s words.

I hope you will consider joining with me in two pledges. First, let’s stop knocking PowerPoint, the program. Next, let’s stand up and say no to the same old boring presentations. Don’t get wrapped up in the tool, focus on the student and his or her ideas instead. PowerPoint or another program can help, but in the end, they’re just tools that help our kids shine.