“Powerpoint makes us stupid”–these bullets can kill
The US Army reports that misuse of Powerpoint (in other words, using Powerpoint the way most people use it, the way it was designed to be used) is a huge issue.
I first wrote a popular short free ebook about this seven years ago and the problem hasn't gone away. So much for the power of the idea.
Here's the problem:
- Bullets appear to be precise
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- They define the scope of the issue, even if they are wrong
- They are definitive, even if they aren't
- Bullets that are read from the screen go in one ear and out the other
- Bullets are used as a defensive measure
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- see, I told you this in the meeting on 12.3.08
- Bullets are unemotional and sterile
- The lizard brain causes us to make presentations that are too long so that nothing in particular gets commented on or remembered or criticized
- It is harder to interrupt and have a conversation with someone who has a clicker
See what I mean?
If there was any other tool as widely misused in your organization, you'd ban it. The cost is enormous in lost opportunity and lost time. Guns don't kill people, bullets do.