“NEVER do this. ALWAYS do that!”
Haven’t we all, at some point, suffered through a PowerPoint presentation that had us inwardly screaming for it to JUST STOP?
Whether it is a presenter never taking their eyes off the PowerPoint presentations or it is a veritable waterfall of far too many slides in a short period of time, PowerPoint presentations can be the best of the world and the absolute worst!
This has led to the formation of countless webinars and how-to courses, where the worst offences are highlighted, and sound advice is given on how to avoid them; this has been an essential part of the evolution of power points, which were invented in the 1980s for business meetings, but now are an integral part of learning in schools, universities, and in my field of work in continuing education for professionals.
PowerPoints carry inherent pitfalls, which we as educators can all too easily slip, fall, or even dive into! So, it is comforting that there is advice on how-to to be had. But it seems a narrative of absolute DO NOTs has emerged and is sometimes followed too stringently.
PowerPoints used well, used effectively, and not least, used creatively, can enhance and further the points that educators are trying to get across. The key word here — is creative and leans into how we can merge what we are told to do with what feels natural.
The first piece of advice I often encounter:
⭐ ALWAYS, always maintain eye contact with the audience!
No one can argue against this statement, for it is essential for the human experience in general, and for the transfer of knowledge specifically, that those listening feel a connection to those speaking — and the quickest way to establish a connection is from eye to eye. However, looking out on a lecture room in 2024, a good chunk of an audience of adult learners are not constantly seeking eye contact with the educator: They might very well be jotting down notes on their laptops, or they might be participating online.
My contention is not that eye contact is unimportant, but rather that the true essence of eye-contact, in the context of learning, can be achieved by other means than direct eye to eye contact. Our learners are open to this shift in perspective. The essence of eye to eye is not merely looking at learners, but rather, looking with learners. This necessitates educators who are willing to incorporate a learner-centric approach, understanding and valuing the learners’ viewpoints as knowledge is shared.
➡ Looking with learners is grounded in a willingness to ‘read the room’ What is catching learners’ attention/what are they responding to — or not? Looking with learners allows educators to look into that space in which the transfer of knowledge most likely will occur.
➡ Instead of the mantra: Always maintain eye contact, I propose a different perspective. The crucial aspect is for the educator to take the initiative in establishing a connection by recognising the professional or student world from which the learners come and ‘looking with them’ into that sphere.
Another piece of advice often cited:
⭐NEVER read directly from the PowerPoint presentation!
This piece of sound advice stems from those experiences in which presenters more or less turn their backs on their audience and seem to communicate only with their own densely written PowerPoint presentations, thereby losing contact with those listening. When presenters do this, it looks like they are using their power points as the source of knowledge and themselves as the microphone.
➡ The challenge here is that most educators spend time and effort producing their PowerPoint points, with attention paid to the clarity of the text — it might very well be that those ten lines of text on a PowerPoint slide really are the best way of explaining a complex detail. So why, then, should the educator invent another way of explaining details orally for the sake of ‘maintaining contact with the learners’? Is there a way of bridging these two opposite demands of contact and clarity? I would tentatively say yes.
💡 If an educator were to maximise the use of PowerPoint points — not as a source of knowledge, but as a chosen method of communication, then arguments could be made for how and when to read from the presentation directly: If the educator wants to highlight a particular point in which the aim is to deliver non-negotiable knowledge (e.g. heart resuscitation instruction), it might be an advantage to read the text directly. This signifies the importance of the text as a bearer of knowledge, and the written sentences aid the learners in remembering the point. In comparison, when the goal is enhancing learners’ reflections on a given subject, an educator can present a slide show while adding context orally, creating a space for learners to think, generate, and adjust their assumptions.
In summary: Instead of the mantra — Never read directly from the slides — I would claim that reading directly from PowerPoint slides can be used as a learning method when an educator wants to get a particular point across. Methods, in general, can be effective in some circumstances and less so in others; reading directly from PowerPoints/not reading from PowerPoints should correspond with the overall aim of the learning goals rather than being an absolute position on presentation.
Do you know of any other myths about using PowerPoint?
