powerpoint is teh evil
I’m not a huge fan of PowerPoint. I tend to use Apple’s Keynote, which I think is a lot more presentation and design friendly, but occasionally I turn to PowerPoint (esp. when working with others or when it’s something I’m going to have to email out). Over the last few years, there’s been plenty written about how PowerPoint is evil, banal, suspect, etc. Overall, I think I agree, mostly because no one really uses presentation software in a way that isn’t just summarizing points or providing something for the presenter to read (a crutch). My friend and colleague Sara tagged a few websites that discuss how PowerPoint is evil on del.icio.us for me (go here to see my del.icio.us page for the tag “PowerPoint”). I haven’t taken the time to read through them all, but I thought I’d share this hilarious tidbit: Via Bill Totten, I came to a PowerPoint presentation of the Gettysburg Address. Here’s a sample slide:
This slide is pretty clever, I think, showing how banal the use of PowerPoint can be.
However, I think most of these websites seem to simplify things too much. I agree 100% with the argument that because it’s from Microsoft, we shouldn’t use it (though i still do use it sometimes) simply because we shouldn’t be supporting a monopoly on software. But the argument that it’s inherently evil is a bit too simplistic. As Jim Porter argues in his “Cyberwriter’s Tale,” it’s most important to think of how we design, use, and engage technology. Certainly there are problems with the expectation that everyone use presentation software, but the problem isn’t solely within the technology itself: it’s within the use and engagement of that technology. So, I agree, dump PowerPoint — there are a growing number of (improving) collaborative presentation programs out there that we can use. But let’s think about how we can use presentation software in ways that actually enhance what we’re arguing/claiming/presenting.
(This is especially on my mind as my defense is tomorrow and I’m probably going to have a Keynote presentation going, so I’m considering how to best use it.)
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I can honestly say that I’ve only used PowerPoint when I’ve needed to show images or charts/graphs as part of my presentation. Oh, and I used it once so I could show a list of numbers on the screen for a budget I created for a grant project. But I have seen it misused so many times that cringe when I see someone setting up a computer/projector for a presentation.
but then, I’ve seen bad handouts and other low-tech materials, too. People really should be taught to use presentation aids.
I agree with you that PP isn’t necessarily evil but it does make us lazy and it does obscure vital information or connections. The link I tagged (from Tracy Ann) from Virginia Tech’s Assertion-Evidence format looks like a good way to go. In Business writing and Tech Writing class we train students to use these tools and to use them effectively and ethically.
For myself, I don’t use PP much, except for Vis Rhetoric where the slides are just for presenting images.