Carl Lowenstein wrote:
On 12/26/06, Rick Carlson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> Are PowerPoint slides during tech talks an evolutionary leap for
mankind or a
> step back?
>
That depends. Are you specifically asking if 'PowerPoint' slides or just
a presentation package form of slide show is beneficial or not?
I will leave the merits, or demerits, of Microsoft software to debate by
<> others.
The bigger picture concerns the use of presentation packages. I have an
interest in cognitive science (CS). In the discipline of CS there are
some ideas about how people learn. Most people learn through a visual
style and these people find presentation packages very helpful. Assuming
the person using the package understands the basics of graphic arts and
good communication principles. One of the most disastrous examples of
clueless people using PowerPoint is executives who dump a spreadsheet
into a PowerPoint presentation and then project it onto an inadequate
projection screen in a darkened lunchroom and then ramble on forever,
stopping occasionally to try and explain what you would see if you could
see 10 point type projected badly onto a movie screen lost among an
entire spreadsheet page of too much information on a single screen.
If you were the type in school who found charts and diagrams helpful in
comprehending new material then you fall in the majority of people who
learn through a visual style. On the other hand, the second most popular
form of learning is through auditory presentations. If you are the sort
who 'watches' television from another room simply by listening to the
sound coming from the other room you are probably more auditory than
visual.
A good communicator knows that visual and auditory covers most of the
bases for the majority of people. This is why television replaced radio
for the masses in entertainment.
If you are in the minority you probably found that learning in school
sucked whether it was through charts or lectures. More than likely you
fall into the third group which learns through body movement involving
large and/or small muscle groups. If you learn more easily by taking
something apart with your hands, then you are what is called a
'kinesthetic' learner. If you want to identify a kinesthetic learner
watch them while they are concentrating on learning something new. They
will more often than not be very focused on what they are doing and will
not know that they are sticking the tip of their tongue out between
their lips as they concentrate. The tongue is controlled by fine motor
control nerves and it helps a kinesthetic person to focus.
A good communicator will use visuals. A better communicator will use
visuals with sounds or music. And a great communicator will use visuals
such as illustrations and charts, sound and music including a voice
which is full of inflections and varying tones, and will sweep up the
others by having a hands-on workshop where everyone has a chance to put
the material into use. Even if there is no chance of having a hands-on
workshop a great communicator will make sure there are handouts that a
kinesthetic person can hold and relate to during the presentation. Not
just a photocopy of the notes but something with weight and texture that
the kinesthetic can experience while taking in the visual and auditory.
> I tend to think a talk with slides is somehow 'better' but some
dissent has
> appeared with people claiming PowerPoint is /not/ beneficial.
>
Perhaps it is more a case of people having disdain for something that
they believe everyone knows rather than PowerPoint itself? After all,
PowerPoint is a tool that comes with Microsoft Office and has a 'wizard'
that will walk you through making a presentation. Anyone can make a
presentation using the wizard. Very few people read the manual and even
fewer learn what is behind the need for the tool. That makes the
difference between owning tools and knowing how to use them.
Think of something that you feel very knowledgeable about and are
skilled in doing. Now think about how under-appreciated you are by
others who do not understand your special knowledge and skills.
They say familiarity breeds contempt. Public education fosters this.
Lazy people go through public education and they learn ABOUT things.
They mistakenly believe that if they have heard about something that
makes them capable of doing those things. So, they don't think they are
difficult or important if they don't need to do them for themselves.
How often do you run into people who hear you are competent in your
field and they are not impressed because they have you to turn to if
they actually need your services? If on the other hand they needed your
services and they could not afford them or could not convince you to
provide them then you would be in more demand.
It is a two-edged sword. That is why one of the more important functions
of clubs and organizations of people with shared knowledge and/or skills
is to provide peer support and respect.
Edward Tufte (author of _The Visual Display of Quantitative
Information_) has written an essay on the Cognitive Style of
PowerPoint. He pans PPt. For an excerpt, see
< https://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/powerpoint >
Don Norman, formerly of UCSD, believes that Tufte has missed the
Point, although it is still pretty easy to abuse PPt.
< http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/in_defense_of_powerp.html >
Lots of dialog can be found by Google with search terms Tufte Powerpoint.
carl
I recently attended a diabetes conference, "/Taking Control of Your
Diabetes/". Most of the speakers used something like a PowerPoint
display although the machine on the podium was a Mac. Right after lunch
there was a (thankfully) brief presentation by a podiatrist. I feel
confident that nobody in the room nodded off; some may have had
difficulty retaining their lunches. Nobody there will forget the gory
details of what can go wrong and I'm sure almost everybody will be
taking better care of their feet.
I have sat through some incredibly boring presentations but I've also
seen some excellent shows, especially those prepared by the Mars Society
of San Diego on current and possible future explorations of the planet
Mars. After attending a two-hour presentation on how to prepare
PowerPoint presentations, I came home and, using OpenOffice.org's
package, prepared a brief presentation of my own. It is a good way to
present much of the same type of information you could present on a Web
site: text, visualizations and sometimes sound. Just as there are good
and bad Web sites, there are good and bad presentations.
James
--
James E. Henderson
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