The Unaware Presenter: Death by PowerPoint
It’s 9:30 am on a Friday, the last day of a required five-day presentation at work, and I just heard a presenter whisper to another presenter, “How did we get so far behind schedule”? I wanted to say we are far behind schedule because YOU talk and talk without regard for other people’s time. His presentation style is not uncommon. Some people have been presenting in the leadership and development (L&D) world for so long that they no longer see or feel the audience, nor do they implement feedback that they’ve received about their presentation style. The other day, I sat in a presentation for two hours straight because the presenter wanted to press through because they got off their intended schedule and didn’t realize their first presentation would run so long. I assessed that they did not practice, they did not need to tell their own stories in addition to the mundane information being presented, and they should have kept their question and answer (Q&A) portion of the presentation to a minimum. I’ve used the bathroom three times in two hours because I drink water to remain awake.
Why do we still do death by PowerPoint? Have we not learned anything at all over the past few years? There are so many different tools that have been introduced that we can use to make presentations more engaging to the recipients. Yet still, we get up in front of a room full of people, we brief the slides, and we add extra stories and adlibs that make the presentation longer than necessary. I often ask myself, when sitting through these presentations, are these people not tired of talking to people who don’t talk back? I even mentioned to other audience members that I believe that these in-person presentations could have most likely been virtual presentations.
Recently, I had a presenter who enjoyed presenting. He is astute and knows his material in-depth enough to give this presentation with his eyes closed, probably. I am always so impressed by people who can speak for over an hour without knowing how the audience is doing. I can tell when people are bored, falling asleep, or disengaged. Some of the presenter’s voices are so monotone I am often tempted to fall asleep.
The Death by PowerPoint presenters love to piggyback on things said during discussion. Let’s stop that. You don’t have to add your two cents, especially when you are most likely saying the same thing. No one and I mean no one, has the time or patience for your infinite amount of piggybacking. If we have approached the end of your presentation time block, we, the audience, definitely do not have the patience for your comments either.
When we think of tools available for facilitating learning and development material, there are so many that we can use that are not Microsoft PowerPoint. I love creating PowerPoint presentations, but if you are someone who uses your presentation as a crutch instead of a supplement, then you are doing a disservice to yourself and your audience. Using your presentation as a crutch not to have a personality when presenting is not cool; try something else.
I like it when people use one slide. They usually have a slide with a few main points, and they brief on those principal points instead of clicking through several slides. This allows the briefer to showcase their personality and not discourage them from hiding behind their slides. Something else I have seen presenters do is brief from a series of photos. As the presenter clicks through the images, they present information to the audience. Doing this is another way to keep the audience engaged without boring them with a bunch of words on a slide. Lastly, I like when presenters don’t have presentation slides at all. The person giving the presentation can talk to their material without the support of a presentation. The pros to this are that your audience is guaranteed to be engaged, they usually ask questions, and you very rarely will have your audience fall asleep on you. A major con to this is that you can get off-topic. Another con is that now there is an opportunity to forget information or not present all the information that you intended to. Whichever alternative method you use, my advice is to make it your own, practice, and try to engage the audience.
It’s unfair to your audience when you lack awareness as a presenter. The bottom line is you should show up prepared, be engaged, and not read from your slides. Get your audience involved as much as possible. Keep track of time and recognize when your audience members need a break. As the presenter, you control the time, so ensure your audience gets ample breaks and is released on time. Prepare, prepare, and think outside of the box. Don’t bore your audience with an unplanned and non-thought-provoking presentation.
