Avoiding Death by Powerpoint

For those of us who started their scientific careers in the era before personal computers, preparing and delivering a scientific talk was a long and tedious process. Figures often started as a hand drawn rough sketch then polished by professional graphic design professionals. Graphs were prepared using black adhesive elements for axes, data points and labels. Most commonly, we used physical slides, prepared well in advance, stuck into a carousel (backwards and upside down.. don’t ask) in the proper order. It was always a crapshoot that the slides were in the correct order, properly inserted, would display clearly and the bulb in the projector wouldn’t burn out.?

And then came Powerpoint*. Slides could now be prepared at the last minute using templates. Data could be prepared in stand alone software and imported into Powerpoint, images could be scanned and pasted in, text could be added in big blocks or point form and all of this could be done by anyone at any time - usually at the last minute and projected straight from a personal computer into the unwitting senses of the audience.

And that is where the problems arose. Because anyone could do it, the specialized skills used by slide designers got lost. Instead, slides got jammed with information - often unreadable from the back of the room. The esthetics of slide design were ignored in favor of flashy backgrounds, uninformative animations and annoying transitions. Presenters spent so much time explaining what was on their slides that presentations became tedious, hard to follow and ineffective. Thus the term ‘Death by Powerpoint (DbP)“ arose. The technology made it so easy to create slides that the slides became the focus of the talk rather than the slides being used to support what the speaker is saying.?

My advice on how to avoid DbP is straightforward.?A talk should be mostly about what you say.?The things you show on slides should be there to support your message, not replace it. That means starting with the outline of what you want to say - especially the story you want to tell - and designing slides that complement your message.

“But what about the data?“ You might ask. Data is an important component of a talk. In a real sense, data is the currency of a scientific talk. But when I ask our students to recall memorable talks and what made them so effective, no one mentions data. Ever. Rather, they focus on the impact of the message, the story, the connection presenters made with the audience and how the talk changed them.?

Starting from the principle that slides play a supporting role, design becomes easier. Simple is almost always better than complicated. Ideally, each slide should have one - and only one - main message. Data should be presented clearly, with easy to read labels (even from the back of the room) and be graspable in the time that the slide is shown. Headings should be used to clarify what is on the slide. And each section should have a conclusion explaining what you think is the main message.?

I would like to challenge readers to have a look at the latest slide deck they prepared in this light. How can it be improved to avoid DbP? Feel free to reach out to me either here or at my wordpress site (stuartaberger.com) if you would like help preparing an upcoming talk. And please like, repost or comment to spread the word.

*I am using Powerpoint as a generic term for presentation software.