09.04.05
Powerpoint is OK - boring talks are NOT!
Mr Coathup and Mr Cain
Have you heard of Edward Tutfe (wikipedia)? If not, but you care about information and presentation, then please check him out … I have three of his books, and I think they’re awesome! (A bit of a stunner for the coffee table too… but too precious for small children and animals perhaps :~)
There’s something to learn even if you don’t become a believer in his religion. His religion eh? Well, strong words I know, but he does believe very strongly about good and bad forms of visual communication. Guess which category the Prof. puts Powerpoint into eh? Well, to be more accurate, he says the use of powerpoint templates “usually weaken verbal and spatial reasoning”. See his essay info and some slides on powerpoint.
Famously and somewhat controversally, he’s credited powerpoint (usage) with contributing to NASA’s space shuttle Columbia tragedy. Google away for more on that one…
However, I like this quote of Don Normand over at jnd.org:
“Is PowerPoint bad? No, in fact, it is quite a useful tool. Boring talks are bad. Poorly structured talks are bad. Don’t blame the problem on the tool.” in defense of power point The rest of that article is good too and gets me thinking.
Lucien and I were recently wondering about different printed material for a subject, and how to most effectively revamp some material. Again, Don makes an interesting distinction for three very different types:
- Personal notes - by the speaker, for the speaker, not for the public. essential for good presentation.
- Illustrative slides - major points, illustrate, motivate the “listener”. (note - not “presenter”)
- Handouts - the place for refs, data, appendices, detail. To help remember the presentation, but also go on futher in the future.
When teaching and presenting lectures, how can we capitalise on this? Point 2 has been the topic of recent discussion around here… slides in lectures eh?. They should add to the talk, not distract from it. Words are not needed. “What good is a cleverly drafted talk if the audience is not listening” writes Don. And this brings me back to Andrew Cains recent personal observation experiments on whether attention is on the slides, the presenter etc.
Hmm.. gets me thinking. Back to Don “And don’t blame the tool for a poorly prepared, poorly presented talk.”
Yeap. Nuf said. Now if i can just stop being human, and start being perfect…