In 1987, Robert Gaskins and Dennis Austin released PowerPoint 1.0 for the Macintosh. That makes PowerPoint 20 years old this year, just shy the age one needs to be to indulge in the type of activity it may take to get through some of the presentations that rely on it.

Within the year of its original release, it was acquired by Microsoft for $14 million and by 1990 the software giant released the first Windows-based PowerPoint program. But it seems the program has strayed from its original intent.

"[W]hat might be called the downside of the culture of PowerPoint is something that bemuses, concerns, and occasionally appalls PowerPoint's two creators as much as it does everyone else," according to a May 20, Wall Street Journal article.

The program was originally designed to supplement analysis and proposals. But, even though the program has taken a turn for the worse, Gaskins maintains a sense of humor about it. Linking users to several parodies of the program he helped create on his homepage, Gaskins points out how many users confuse content and graphic. Take this text from a Dilbert cartoon:

Presenter: "That concludes my two-hour presentation. Any questions?"

Dilbert: "Did you intend the presentation to be incomprehensible, or do you have some sort of rare ‘PowerPoint' disability?"

Presenter: "Are there any questions about the content?"

Dilbert: "There was content?"

Using PowerPoint Effectively

Gaskins explains that PowerPoint was never supposed to be the entire presentation, just a summary of something more thought-out. For example, Gaskins' original business plan for PowerPoint consisted of 53 densely packed pages accompanied by only 12 slides that contained the highlights.

"A lot of people in business have given up writing the documents," he complains in the WSJ article. "They just write the presentations, which are summaries without the detail, without the backup."

That's just one of the complaints the 63 year-old creator has with "cubicle warriors who, in the guise of doing actual work, spend endless hours fiddling with fonts."

So what's the best way to use PowerPoint? Well, opinions abound, but here are a few practical ideas.

• Use PowerPoint in a presentation only if it will enhance audience attention, understanding, or retention: Many presentations do not require PowerPoint at all (Hamilton College)
  
  
• Use the Outline View first: The most important part of any presentation is the content, not the graphical appeal. (Think Outside the Slide)
  
  
• Have only the minimum required text on each slide: Too much text distracts your audience and can be difficult to read. (Minnesota State University)
  
  
• Remember that you are the show - not the PowerPoint slideshow: Never allow the slides to draw attention away from you for long periods of time. Take charge. Be engaging yourself. (Minnesota State University)
  
  
• Use a big enough font: Take the oldest person in your audience and divide by two, that's the smallest font you should use; generally no less than 30 pt. (Guy Kawasaki, The Art of Innovation)

Users should also avoid the following.

• Do not read from the slides: This is the same as passing out handouts and then just reading all of it back to your audience. You should have much more to say than what appears on the slides. If you want your audience to have copies of all that you say, pass out note pages after your presentation. (Minnesota State University)
  
  
• Do not stand behind a computer when you present: If necessary, have an assistant run the computer while you speak. (Minnesota State University)
  
  
• Eliminate clutter: Don't just take charts, tables, maps, and graphs wholesale from other sources. Put up only what you need. (Hamilton College)
  
  
• Do not zip through your PowerPoint: PowerPoint slides should be short and to the point, but that doesn't mean zipping through the presentation. A good rule to remember is 10/20/30: 10 slides, in 20 minutes, with 30 pt. font. (Guy Kawasaki, The Art of Innovation)
  
  
• Do not use moving text: When text comes on the screen, we want the audience to read the text, then focus back on the presenter to hear the message. If the text moves onto the screen in any way - such as flying in, spiral or zooming - it makes it harder for the audience members to read since they have to wait until the text has stopped before they can read it. (Think Outside the Slide)

Content Is King

Edward Tufte, former professor at Yale University and author of The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint : Pitching Out Corrupts Within gives all would-be presenters this warning, "Alas, slideware often reduces the analytical quality of presentations. In particular, the popular PowerPoint templates (ready-made designs) usually weaken verbal and spatial reasoning, and almost always corrupt statistical analysis."

Tufte argues that PowerPoint presentations elevate format over content and turns everything into an infomercial or sales pitch.

"Presentations largely stand or fall on the quality, relevance, and integrity of the content," writes Tufte in a 2003, Wired article. "If your words or images are not on point, making them dance in color won't make them relevant. Audience boredom is usually a content failure, not a decoration failure," he adds.

Where does that leave us average PowerPoint users? After some tough introspection, I've concluded that my own presentations could use some work (note to self - completely redo my NASFAA Annual Conference presentation). In the end though, the main point is clear: Content, not graphics, is king.

By Justin Draeger
NASFAA Assistant Director for Communications

Posted 06/28/07 to www.NASFAA.org. Redistribution to non-NASFAA institutions is prohibited. Please submit Web Site questions or comments to Web@NASFAA.org.