I sat down at the breakfast table this morning with my cup of coffee (What's that? Oh, Larry's Beans Single Origins Decaf Mexico. Organic and fair trade. Why do you ask?) and opened up the newspaper. There on the front page, first column, top left, was the important and earthshaking news story: "Software can't repair sheer hot air - Yet PowerPoint is trendy way to say little at great length."
Kind of a slow news day in Raleigh.
The staff writer points out the fact that putting bullet point text on 44 slides in a row and reading them verbatim to your audience is unlikely to make you a persuasive or effective speaker. Seems obvious, doesn't it? So why do we have to keep SAYING it?
On behalf of audiences everywhere... Please don't read to us, please minimize the use of text and bullet points, please stay on topic with real information we need to make a decision, and please be animated and interested in your own topic.
Thank you. You may now turn to page 2 and see if we have gone to war with anybody new overnight.
