I’m beginning a new series on PowerPoint® to examine what the research indicates about its effectiveness as a presentation tool. My intent is to reveal how we can use the evidence to guide and, maybe, just maybe, to create “best practices.” This 1st blog provides a disclaimer on what I will cover and not cover in the series. I hope you find it of value.
DISCLAIMER: At present, there are approximately 300 million PowerPoint® users (30 million presentations per day) worldwide (Lowenthal, 2009), give or take 5 professors on sabbatical. That number is just slightly more than the cast of Glee. There are barrels of books, articles, blogs, and outsourcing businesses that describe the “appropriate uses” of PowerPoint® and extol its virtues. You have probably followed their ubiquitous guidelines for preparing the content on your slides, such as titles, lists, text, and graphics (see Abela, 2008; Altman, 2007; Atkinson, 2008; Cooper, 2009; Duarte, 2008; Paradi, 2000, 2010; Reynolds, 2008; Tufte, 2003b).
However, there is also a small bucket of articles recommending that every software version of PowerPoint® be blown up with military-grade explosives (see Elwood, 2005; Kapterev, 2008; Tufte, 2003a). Since I have no experience with explosives and minimal practice even with squirt guns, I have chosen not to engage in PowerPoint® polemics (e.g., Amernic, 2006; Doumont, 2005) or evaluate the merits of alternatives, such as Keynote (for Macs), Prezi, and Pecha-Kucha.
Instead, this blog series will focus on three elements of PowerPoint® which are neglected by most sources on the topic, but have a strong research foundation and the potential to change the impact significantly of any presentation to any audience. Those three elements will be kept secret and guarded by TSA agents on Starbucks® break at O’Hare International High-Security Really-Safe Airport until it is time to reveal their contents, the elements, that is, not the agents.
WHAT’S NEXT: I’m going to present the “Top 10 Research Conclusions about Basic PowerPoint®.” Stick around. It will get interesting.
COPYRIGHT © 2011 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
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