The document discusses the pitfalls of using PowerPoint in presentations, highlighting its potential to detract from effective communication, as evidenced by incidents like the NASA Columbia disaster. It emphasizes the importance of meaningful content, clear visuals, and engaging storytelling instead of excessive text and distracting design. Ultimately, it advocates for a more thoughtful approach to presentations that focuses on audience engagement and effective message delivery.

1. Saved by PowerPoint
Ahsan Saleem – March 2014

2. Agenda
 PowerPoint casualties
 How to protect humans from PowerPoint?
and .. I will use PowerPoint for today’s talk

3. We have been there ..

4. More Serious Stuff - US Strategy in Afghanistan

5. wtf!

6. NASA Shuttle Columbia Disaster 2003

7. Columbia Shuttle – Death by PowerPoint

8. Edward Tuft (Information Visualization Specialist) analyzed NASA
Team’s presentation on a launch incident with Columbia Shuttle and
concluded that a bad PowerPoint presentation was one of the major
reasons why NASA could not assess proper risk

9. Growing dislike for PowerPoint

12. “The use of presentations has been a disaster.
It should be ditched”
Research by University of New South Wales

13. Bill Gates and his Slides: Too much content and a sleeping audience!

15. PowerPoint is the Devil!

16. Who will save PowerPoint and
Presentations – and Us?

17. Less and meaningful
content on slides

21. Jobs to Audience: Ever wondered why we
had this small pocket in pocket ?

22. To keep iPod Nano!

23. How to make audience realize how super
thin and light MacBook Air is?

24. Who is a visual artist here?

25. Al Gore – An Inconvenient Truth
Using a crane to show the really high CO2 Spike

26. Randy Pausch – The Last lecture
‘You will get arrows in the back pursuing big dreams in life’, and ‘I have
Cancer but I am still strong’

27. Jane McGonigal
Jill Bolte
Maysoon Zayid
Some Amazing TED
Speakers made it personal and
people remembered

28. PowerPoint – Angel or Devil?

29. What’s wrong these slides?

30. Slide
 This page contains too many words for a
presentation slide. It is not written in bullets,
making it difficult both for your audience to
read and for you to present properly. Although
more words will not convey anything extra but
now it looks much more complicated. In
short, your audience will spend too much time
trying to read this paragraph instead of
listening to you.

31. Slide
 Using a font color that does not contrast with the
background color is hard to read
 Using color for decoration is distracting and
annoying.
 Using a different color for each point is unnecessary
– Using a different color for secondary points is also
unnecessary
 Trying to be creative can also be bad

32. Slide
• Avoid backgrounds that are distracting or
difficult to read from
• Always be consistent with the background
that you use

33. Items Sold in First Quarter of 2002
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
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January February March April
Blue Balls
Red Balls

34. Items Sold in First Quarter of 2002
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
January February March April
Blue Balls
Red Balls
Items Sold in First Quarter 2013

35.  Can you read me
 THIS IS NOTHING IMPORTANT BUT I LIKE TO
USE CAPS KEY AND HUGE LETTERS
Font Size

36.  OMG! This presenter can use animations
 I can not focus what the presenter is saying as these
animations are totally distracting
 OK now! Stop bouncing and let me read
 Finally!
Animations – Important?

37. Karma For Presentations
 Focus on telling a story and not teaching
 PowerPoint is a visual aid NOT a document
 Look at audience not your slides and hold their
attention
 Learn PowerPoint and do not use default templates
for new slides. A plain empty slide is the best
canvas

38. This is the Canvas you want to start creating your presentation

39. What Really helps
 Overcome fear of public speaking
 Love your topic
 Know your topic
 Have fun

40. ‘Never be boring’
Thank You!