Power Point® All?in?One Desk Reference For Dummies®

Chapter 4. Planning Ahead for a Solid Presentation

In This Chapter

• Constructing a presentation from the ground up

• Choosing a look for your presentation

• Showing your presentation

As nice as PowerPoint is, it has its detractors. If the software isn't used properly, it can come between the speaker and the audience. In an article in the May 28, 2001, New Yorker titled “Absolute PowerPoint: Can a Software Package Edit Our Thoughts?” Ian Parker argued that PowerPoint may actually be more of a hindrance than a help in communicating. PowerPoint, Parker wrote, is “a social instrument, turning middle managers into bullet‐point dandies.” The software, he added, “has a private, interior influence. It edits ideas. . . . It helps you make a case, but also makes its own case about how to organize information, how to look at the world.”

I think complaints about PowerPoint should be directed not at the software, but at the people who use it. Many presenters fail to take advantage of PowerPoint's creative opportunities. They treat PowerPoint as a speaker's aid or crutch that they can lean on to take away some of the burdens of public speaking. They don't understand that PowerPoint is a medium, a method of communicating with people using visuals, animation, and even sound.

This chapter explores how you can take advantage of PowerPoint's creative opportunities. It explains how to build a persuasive presentation and what to consider when you design a presentation's look. You will also find ...