New study: That PowerPoint presentation is... POINTLESS!
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ELECTRIC NEWS
New study: That PowerPoint presentation is... POINTLESS
April 21, 2007
BUSINESSES regard it as an important tool to sell a product or get a point across.
Schools use it in presentations and some churches even use it to promote their activities.
These days, PowerPoint, the Microsoft program for PCs, seems to be everywhere.
It allows a presentation to be designed in a series of slides which are beamed onto a screen for the speaker to use as a visual aid.
It is so popular that there are even PowerPoint presentations on how to do a PowerPoint presentation, reports the Telegraph.
But is it really the all-powerful tool it is often made out to be? Not at all, some would argue.
CHARTS AND SLOGANS
In fact, a new study claims that many who sit through PowerPoint presentations end up bored when faced with a seemingly endless stream of mission statements, charts, slogans, messages in capital letters for emphasis, and proposals given in bullet points.
The common scenario is that the speaker, often an executive or trainer, merely repeats the words on the slides so the audience gets the information twice.
FIZZLES OUT
And what starts out flashy at the beginning soon fizzles out.
And that, according to researchers at the University of New South Wales in Australia, is because the human brain cannot cope with processing information coming from a screen and a voice at the same time.
That kind of repetition makes the brain switch off,
A speech would be far less of a waste of time, the research claims.
The study concludes that PowerPoint presentations have little power and even less point.
It branded PowerPoint presentations a disaster and called for them to be scrapped.
According to Prof John Sweller, who headed the study team, there is a scientific explanation for a room full of PowerPoint viewers yawning and looking at their watches after a couple of minutes.
He said: 'If you have ever wondered why your eyes start glazing over as you read those dot points on the screen, at the same time words are being spoken, it is because it is difficult to process information if it is coming in the written and spoken form at the same time.'
PowerPoint is a Microsoft program for PCs. Prof Sweller said notes should not be read aloud from a display.
Doing so does not double the chances of the message getting across, he said.
He added: 'The use of the PowerPoint presentation has been a disaster. It should be ditched. It is effective to speak to a diagram, because it presents information in a different form.
TOO MUCH LOAD
'But it is not effective to speak the same words that are written, because it is putting too much load on the mind and decreases your ability to understand what is being presented.
'PowerPoint can backfire if the information on the screen is the same as that which is verbalised because the audience's attention will be split between the two.'
But MrChris Rothwell of Microsoft Corporation, said: 'We believe that PowerPoint remains a very powerful tool that can add impact and variety, but it is no substitute for being a good communicator.'
Anyone care to speak off the cuff then?
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The use of the PowerPoint presentation has been a disaster. It should be ditched. It is not effective to speak the same words that are written...
- Prof John Sweller, who headed the research team
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WHAT THE STUDY CLAIMS
The audience sits through a stream of mission statements, charts, slogans and proposals while a speaker repeats the words on the slides.
The audience gets bored and 'switches off'. -
This is what we are doing everyday. Now I know why my Communication Faci get so angry when we read the same thing from the slides..
Shall we abolish powerpoint?
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powerpoint is a tool
presentations are an art
if u are great artist, u can don't use a tool
and just because u can use a pencil - doesnt mean you will ever make it as an artist. -
PowerPoint presentation good for points only. You still need to elaborate the rest lah.
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Originally posted by ShrodingersCat:powerpoint is a tool
presentations are an art
if u are great artist, u can don't use a tool
and just because u can use a pencil - doesnt mean you will ever make it as an artist.
soo chim..
I think that Shrodingers's Cat theory is more easier to understand.. -
Sianz. me not very good at presentation leh..Originally posted by Tan Ah Teck:PowerPoint presentation good for points only. You still need to elaborate the rest lah. -
It's how you present ultimately. The human touch of the presentation is you in the end. -
Brother, your fac says he doesn't like you reading from the slides. It says so much already.
PowerPoint is great if you know what you are doing, what you are presenting, what you are explaining.
Who on earth attending a tertiary institution but don't know how to read? It's the same thing in the office. Imagine reading everything off the slides to the CEO, CTO, CIO and whatever Os. They obviously know how to read. What they want to know is how it works, how it can help the company, any effects, budgets, bla bla bla.
That's called presentation, not reading. It's a huge difference. -
Yar my team mate elaborate alot.. however im not that good.. must train up ler..
but funny lehh.. the points just cant get into my mind.. so my mind wad blank during presentation.. so as when im listening.. :X -
x2.Originally posted by hEaveN tEars:Yar my team mate elaborate alot.. however im not that good.. must train up ler..
but funny lehh.. the points just cant get into my mind.. so my mind wad blank during presentation.. so as when im listening.. :X
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Sometimes it's not about u being able to elaborate. It's about feeling at ease and calm in front of people u'r presenting. Once you understand the gist of what u'r presenting, and you're at ease, i'm sure u'll do well.Originally posted by hEaveN tEars:Yar my team mate elaborate alot.. however im not that good.. must train up ler..
but funny lehh.. the points just cant get into my mind.. so my mind wad blank during presentation.. so as when im listening.. :X
Try this.
1. Try presenting to a good friend one-on-one seated side by side. If u're not able to then maybe u need to work on the points. If u are able to, then its your confidence of handling a crowd. -
It's very difficult to remember sooooo many point in short time leh..
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that's why firstly have to throughly understand it. Secondly write down the points u wanna talk about on a card or something. Then memorise it.
Using a card during a presentation is ok, just dun read off from it.
My english was weak in poly, hence always presented badly, till uni time when i wrote down word for word of a whole 1 hour presentation i going to give. I had a friend to edit the bad sentence structure, singlish, etc. I then memorise the whole thing.
During presentation, i realised i did not managed to recite the whole thing, but presented very naturally, as if i had been doing it for 20-30 times. -
Pro!Originally posted by airgrinder:that's why firstly have to throughly understand it. Secondly write down the points u wanna talk about on a card or something. Then memorise it.
Using a card during a presentation is ok, just dun read off from it.
My english was weak in poly, hence always presented badly, till uni time when i wrote down word for word of a whole 1 hour presentation i going to give. I had a friend to edit the bad sentence structure, singlish, etc. I then memorise the whole thing.
During presentation, i realised i did not managed to recite the whole thing, but presented very naturally, as if i had been doing it for 20-30 times. -
woahhs.. pro!!
Hmm maybe i shld try writing the points down? hmm yes that would certainly help me in presenting den. hope so!! jiayou dark!! lols. -
Originally posted by hEaveN tEars:woahhs.. pro!!
Hmm maybe i shld try writing the points down? hmm yes that would certainly help me in presenting den. hope so!! jiayou dark!! lols. Wait long long. -
I hate the whiz and bangs. And the worst of all... flying letters that s..l..o..w..l...y form sentences .
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We just do page by page.. We never macrolize.Originally posted by choco B:I hate the whiz and bangs. And the worst of all... flying letters that s..l..o..w..l...y form sentences . -
Hahas funny.. den wouldnt it be like.. so bored?Originally posted by choco B:I hate the whiz and bangs. And the worst of all... flying letters that s..l..o..w..l...y form sentences . -
The audience plays an important part also. If they just stare blankly at the speaker, the speaker will have low morale too.
So if your presentation allows, ask a few short short yes/no questions. So at least they'll have a response. Do do something wrong purposely.
"have u heard of micheal jordan? He's the top in soccer, scored many many goals won many matches..."
Then act blur and say something like "Oh, he not in soccer at?? hehe"
You get the idea.
Goodluck for your future presentations.
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and pls dont use yellow text on orange background or some
strange combination calculated to make your reader blind. -
Refrain from using DIFFERENT effects on EACH slide.
Slides: Consistent design and layout. Point forms. You are nt putting a Annual Report for presentation.
Presentation: Eye contact with the audience. No money on the floor so dun look down. No zhaogeng at the ceiling so dun look up.
Watch ur body language, refrain from folding ur arms across ur chest... tts negative gesture. Dun hunchback. Short and sweet and straight to the point... eleborate when needed.
There's loads more... but hear from u guys n gals.
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Like watching tennis in mini scale.Originally posted by hEaveN tEars:Hahas funny.. den wouldnt it be like.. so bored?
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PPT is just used for reference...
You don't need to restrict yourself to using only PPT slides in your presentation.
You can use Applet simulations from the internet to engage the audience(class) attention. Or just create a play or skit to make the presentation interesting...