Word Document to Power Point: Possible?

[reanjr]

Power Point is used so that no one pays any attention to the nonsense coming out of the presenter's mouth. It's a last ditch effort of those who have nothing to say.

Or, of course, there are those in a corporate environment who expect this sort of mediocrity and those in school being prepped for working in one of these environments.

 

[Marius Delphus]

Having given one or two presentations with slides myself, I must respectfully submit that there are exceptions. I can only assert, without proof, that one of my presentations got a standing ovation. I suppose, as this was from people in a corporate environment, I must take what comfort I can in having been applauded by people who expected only mediocrity.

Snarkiness aside, I'm afraid I must disagree by saying I think PowerPoint can be used well in a presentation. It often is not... but I really think it can be, which led me to my cautionary notes above.

Um... this is becoming something of a digression, isn't it... apologies for the derailment.

 

[reanjr]

I believe it can be used effectively, but I also truly believe its original purpose was avoid actual content by displaying something pretty. Just as an Nvidia card, designed for pure entertainment, can be effectively used in engineering.

 

[Fenris]

Every presentation at the last scientific meeting was in powerpoint. And I assure you there were no strange transitions, bells whistles or other distractions. They were lean, mean and chock full of science goodiness. Very chewy slides. But geared towards a "general" audience. You know, molecular biologists AND physiologists

But like any tool, it can be abused. And Marius' caveats are absolutely dead on and are many of my pet peeves as well. I dislike the elaborate backgrounds as well. Try to keep your sileds to "talking points" and make your audience listen to you and not your slides.

 

[Rl'Halsinor]

Well it seems that I have been utilizing many of the points given. My backgrounds are simple/plain, I usually use one color, two at the most, I rarely use more than one font, my fonts are big enough for the audience to read, try to keep every slide free from "cramming" content, and I don't use sound, animations, clip art or video clips, though I can see if done right they can be useful.

I want the power point to support my presentation, not dominate it. I did learn a few things though and so I want to thank everybody. It seems though that a number of you have sat through some tortuous power point presentations. Have you considered therapy?

 

[babomb]

1. Reading the slides to the audience. Don't. Just don't.

I agree with all of your points, but this one is my biggest peeve. If your presentation is just reading slides, post them and send me a link or give me a printout and stop wasting my time.

 

[Marius Delphus]

Have you considered therapy?

The only time I tried it, the therapist used PowerPoint badly. I still have nightmares.

 

[Rl'Halsinor]

The only time I tried it, the therapist used PowerPoint badly. I still have nightmares.

LOL!