Here’s the third installment of responses from the survey. I must say how impressed I’ve been with the eloquence of the responders. But I feel their pain. The white paper will include a campaign to turn rid the world of “Death by PowerPoint.” You’ll find out more about it soon!
“It was a cliche-induced, text-laden, “ya know”-laden presentation that made me shift in my seat and want to just give the presenter the “move on to the next slide” gesture. It was painful. It made me anxious and uncomfortable. I learned nothing except for how not to present.” CU, Wall, NJ
“He could not get the connection between computer and [projector] to work and could not function. After traveling to our city, buying us lunch, he could not present his usual canned presentation, so he simply apologized, told us he would send us slides, loaded up, and left.”
“Laziness. Selfishness. Lack of concern for the audience. Lack of concern for outcomes. Monkey see, monkey do – management clearly aren’t making effective presentation a priority and they clearly aren’t setting a good example. The vast majority of presenters are using PPT as an AutoCue rather than as a tool to enhance their message. It’s last-minute, zero-rehearsal stuff where the presenter bangs down a few thoughts and then gets up and presents that first draft. They HAVE to read out the presentation – they are so unfamiliar with the material. Way too many unnecessary, self-indulgent presentations that should be circulated as a Word document instead.” RM, Dublin, Ireland