Avoid boring people to death in meetings

Microsoft PowerPoint is the presentation tool of choice for sales pitches, conference speeches, office meetings and for delivering trainings. Before PowerPoint and related technology-based tools became common, storytelling was the means by which information was relayed.

Whereas PowerPoint can help a speaker present their ideas in masterful ways, it can also stymie their ability to connect well with the audience. It is a tool that has been bashed for aiding in muzzling creativity, leading to dull and dry speaking sessions.

When I typed the words “death by PowerPoint” on Google, in less than one second, Google returned 91,400,000 results, meaning that this is a topic widely written about and deeply discussed. There is nothing as infuriating as sitting through a presentation where a speaker sprays you with a stream of slides written in hard-to-read text, difficult-to-decipher graphs, irrelevant and banal images and poorly designed templates.

PowerPoint was designed to be used by speakers to bring to bear their innate story telling prowess and not to stymie creativity. Hooked to PowerPoint, many speakers stand fixated at one point on the podium, making them appear wooden and unable to connect with the audience. Their eyes pivot between the notes and the slides, and hardly connect with their audience.

Some speakers also use PowerPoint to guide their speeches even when they shouldn’t. Think about Martin Luther King Jr and his legendary, “I have a dream” speech. He wasn’t turning slides or echoing his speech using a new graphic: He spoke from his heart and his speech changed the arc of America’s history.

Steve Jobs, the brains behind the iPhone and other Apple products, made his presentations masterfully, combining a few strategic visuals with short stories while at the same time walking purposively on the stage. Internet is teeming with legions of eclectic examples of masterful presentations, especially the growing repository of TED Talk videos on YouTube. Here is my point: Technology can be a boon or a bane, depending on how it is used. Seasoned speakers start their presentation by telling their audience what to expect. They inform them what they will cover first, whether and when they will pause for a break and if they’ll be taking questions during the presentation. They then use carefully crafted PowerPoint slides to reinforce their message.

They purposely use their body, especially their face and their hands, to convey emotion and passion. They connect with the audience by looking into their faces. Meeting a person's gaze establishes a personal connection and keeps people engaged. They don’t allow technology to stand in the way of the message. Instead, they use technology as a tool to drive home their message.

Next time you walk to the podium to speak, use PowerPoint as a tool. Don’t be a tool for PowerPoint to use you.