Powerpoint has to be one of the most overused and abused tool ever invented. Lousy, uncreative and lazy presenters mistake good slides for a good speech or presentation. My point? Even though you have a “professional” Powerpoint presentation, you still are a mediocre (at best!) speaker.
Ok, maybe not you. But everybody else reading this blog.
Remember this speaking tip: every moment your audience is 
looking at your slides they are not looking at you. That’s fine if you’re selling your slides. But professional speakers need to sell themselves and their messages, so this PowerPoint-as-the-Center-Of-A-Program phenomenon is a disaster.
Here’s the moment you know your speaking career is going down the drain: somebody asks you for a copy of your slides. If your slides can stand on their own without you to make sense out of them, you’ve designed your slides and your presentation wrong.
And here’s another hint: if you feel the need to both project your slides and print them out as a handout, then you have truly hit a new low. Printed Powerpoint presentations do not equal “valuable handout.”
Advice: hire a pro. (Hey, here’s a better idea: hire me!*)
Contact me here.
Yours,
Brad Montgomery
Professional Keynote Speaker, Excellent User of LIMITED Powerpoint
* I know, I know. You saw that shameless self-promotion coming, right? Hey, what can I say. The kids need new shoes.)
Check out this hilarious video about lousy Power Point. This guy is right on.
Amen and Hallelulia! At last! A recognition of the value of PowerPoint: somewhere between a gun and a cuddly toy. Both have their uses but both are easier to use badly than use well!
(Apart from the cuddly toy.)
Simon