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Conquering the Invasion of the Bullet Points
The Advantage: 8.08: V.5, 2nd Edition
You’ve all been there – a boardroom presentation, lunchtime CLE, keynote speech at an awards banquet. The lights go dim, the screen comes down, and here it comes – the predictable march of the bullet points. You hope for just one slide with visual interest – something to grab and hold your attention. But alas, you’re inundated with bullet point after bullet point after bullet point.
Microsoft Office PowerPoint has become one of the most user-friendly visual presentation tools on the market. The problem is that, more times than not, PowerPoint is not used as a visual tool – it’s used as speakers’ notes. Slides have replaced the memory prompting 3x5 note cards we all used in our college speech classes. This wouldn’t be so bad if the bullet-point approach to speechmaking didn’t bore audiences to tears.
Problems with PowerPoint
Audience frustration: Audiences have become so frustrated by PowerPoint presentations that it’s not uncommon for someone to quietly slip out of a meeting knowing that they can get the slides later. In today’s time-crunched business world, many people would rather read the slides on their own time than sit through a lengthy presentation.
Text is verbal, not visual communication: Let’s face it, no matter how pretty your background is, words on a slide are simply that – words. Making your bullet points fly in from the right or fade in from the back does not render your presentation “visual.” Additionally, words (even if taken to the fourth bullet level) are not visual communication.
Bullet points are inconsistent with audience-centered speaking: Text, no matter how dramatically displayed, actually impedes your effectiveness as a speaker. Dynamism is a component of credibility, and entertainment is crucial to an effective speech. Text followed by more text is counterproductive to those needs. Bullet points inhibit your natural style because of the tendency to read the content on the screen. Essentially, your slide presentation becomes an inferior alternative to you.
Creating a Visual Aid, not a Verbal Replacement.
Admit it – much of the time the creation of your “visual” presentation begins by taking your outline and applying it to a PowerPoint design template. Don’t. When you’re ready to create your presentation, remember that visual aids should be just that – “visual.” PowerPoint has many untapped design capabilities that allow you to create a powerful, visual supplement to your message. Your goal should be to create a presentation that is interesting to your audience, organizes your information, and makes your presentation memorable. The following are some guidelines to help you do this.
Limit text: It should be obvious by now that you should reduce the amount of text on your slides. Richard Mayer’s book Multimedia Learning theorizes that, “People understand a multimedia explanation better when the words are presented as verbal narration alone, instead of both verbally and as on-screen text.” Reading slides not only inhibits your audiences’ ability to process and retain your information, it also reduces your ability to express confidence, be yourself, and connect with the audience.
Use photographs to provoke interest: Think about how a simple theme-oriented photograph can be a backdrop to your message. For example, in our Gender Communication presentation we show a picture of a woman walking a tightrope in her business suit. The title of the slide is “Walking a Thin Line.” Using the conventional approach we could list the following bullet-points:
--Women must make special effort to establish credibility.
--Women who adopt a male presentation style of drama are generally perceived negatively by the jury.
--Women are in a double bind.
Instead, we let the picture capture attention while we educate with our verbal message. Hundreds of free downloadable photos are available at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/clipart/default.aspx.
Use the notes pages function of PowerPoint. Cliff Atkinson’s book Beyond Bullet Points suggests creating slides by using the notes page view. Doing this allows you to keep text hidden (but still available for your use while speaking) as opposed to the slide area (the part the audience sees). Your slide should be mostly visual with a few key words.
Keep clip art in the same “family.” If you use clip art on your slides, try to choose art within the same style family. You should be able to spot inconsistent art by simply looking at all of your clips at once. But if you are visually illiterate, Microsoft clip art on-line has a simple tool you can use. When you right click on a picture in the clip art gallery, you will find a style “family” number that will link you to the art within that “family.” Having said that, don’t be afraid to break the mold of the design wizard. Consistency is important, but it is not necessary that every slide use the same design template. For example, use a different background color to separate “chapters” or sections of your presentation.
Buy (and read) Cliff Atkinson's Beyond Bullet Points: Using Microsoft® PowerPoint® to create presentations that inform, motivate, and inspire (Microsoft Press, 2005). Atkinson’s book is a must-read for anyone who uses PowerPoint. Beyond Bullet Points provides a step-by-step process for creating high-impact, engaging, and memorable presentations.
For help creating a presentation or for feedback on one you have already created, contact Laura Dominic at laura.dominic@tsongas.com
Beyond Bullet Points: Using Microsoft® PowerPoint® to create presentations that inform, motivate, and inspire. Atkinson, Cliff. (Microsoft Press, 2005).
Multimedia Learning. Mayer, Richard E. (Cambridge University Press, 2001).
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