Holy crap, I hate powerpoint

[LeftyMom]

I hate powerpoint lectures. They're shitty substitiutes for good communication, and throwing one together when I'd rather just give a well organized speech with evocative imagery is really annoying the crap out of me.

And if I look at another picture of animals stacked up in thier own shit I'm going to scream.

[Heidi]

1. Don't even get me started.

It's the lazy person's substitute for a well-prepared lecture or an engaging discussion. I _loathe_ PowerPoint. :puke:

[Broken_Hero]

3. why the hate for power point? nt

[Heidi]

7. Because I've sat in jillions of meetings where the presenter's

PowerPoint presentation basically repeated exactly what the presenter was saying, rather than providing supporting data. It's as though people use PowerPoint to show that they're computer literate, rather than to add anything substantial to the lecture or discussion. :shrug:

[Broken_Hero]

9. True

but I have seen some pretty powerful presentations...Tammy is a PP guru...some of the things you can do with it, are amazing. I dabbled with it last year, when I did a PP presentation on the Astro's defeat of the Cardinals, for a Astro fan bud of mine...it was rather...comical...:)

I use to prefer the old chalk board/hand out approach....but I do admit that PP does have a lot more advantages...but thats just me...:P

[Heidi]

11. When it's used in meaningful ways, it's fine.

But when it's used gratuitously, or as a bells-and-whistles substitute for real preparation: :boring:

Sounds like Tammy uses it the way it's _meant_ to be used. :thumbsup:

[Broken_Hero]

12. To be honest...

she puts together the board reports for her company....so, she is very good. Anytime someone pulls some report togehter for the big wigs, dealing with hiring/firing/diversity, or anything HR related...tammys' hands are all over it....:P

[anarch]

27. yeah, I hate when people do that

If others can give such a lazy, boring presentation as these slide-reading events usually turn into, can I just prepare a powerpoint slide show, get to the meeting and just say: "You guys can all read, can't you? OK, good, I won't bore you with reading what's on these slides then...you can read them on your own time. Thanks." And then I'd just leave. Come to think of it, most meetings are pretty much a waste of time all the way around.

[Broken_Hero]

2. sorry...

but most work places use powerpoint exclusively now...and animals in their own excrement? What kind of slide show are you putting together?

on edit:grammar

[LeftyMom]

4. it's on factory farming

That should explain the poo.

[Broken_Hero]

5. oh...when is this due? And how

do you think your lecture is going to pan out?

[LeftyMom]

8. I'm not giving the speech until next week

I want to finish tonight so I can do a dry run and make sure it's going to run okay on the classroom computer and projector tomorrow.

The speech will go fine. My big concern is going off on tangents and running over time (as we all know I can talk on animal issues for hours,) so I'll really have to stick to my outline.

[Broken_Hero]

13. Good plan...:)

I usually spend a good day, or two doing my practice runs...:) I hope it goes well...:hi:

[speedoo]

14. So, are you planning to read your speech, or to talk, based on...

an outline? I've given hundreds of presentations, so if I can help.... I'd be happy to.:)

[LeftyMom]

16. I'm just going to use the outline to stay within the time limit

Otherwise, the topic is one I'll ramble on.

I should do fine, I did four years of public speaking in high school, I'm just not used to working with visual aids, and I'm a bit grumpy about having to do it.

[speedoo]

17. Well, I would just put your outline on a series of PP slides.

I think it is helpful for the audience to see the bullet points as you are speaking. Have you done that before?

PP can also be very useful in showing graphs and charts, as well as tables of data, as long as they are not terribly busy.

I agree with Heidi... stay away from the gimmicks (unless you see something that would clearly help), and you'll be fine.

[LeftyMom]

19. I can't show my outline

The instructor will have another student reconstructing my outline based on my speech, with the idea that they should be able to figure it out just from hearing me speak on it. Most of it comes through on the slides, but I really am not supposed to spell it out like that.

Mostly I'm using the PP images to compare and contrast idealized media images with the reality of the situation. I figure if I'm stuck with visual aids that's at least a good use of them.

[speedoo]

21. Sounds kinda wierd to me.

I mean, the idea of having another student attempting to recreate your outline is interesting, but to then require that you use PP as well...

I dunno... just sounds wierd, and I can see why it's bumming you out.

[Oeditpus Rex]

6. I don't understand

how schools can require projects created with a certain type of software — as if everyone has access to it or the skills to use it.

[Broken_Hero]

10. damn

its been that way IME for quite a while...every single one of my presentations in college in my stint from 02-03 had to be PP presentations.

[LeftyMom]

15. Well, the computer lab has it

and apparently all the younger kids did this kind of thing in high school. Some in grade school even- I'm really not old enough to feel old, would somebody please inform my classmates?

Anyhow, that's really not the issue, the issue is just that I think it's a crutch. Unless a person's explaining something wildly complicated or technical, visual aids are less efective than the good use of imagery in a speech itself. To use what I'm doing as an example, I can do powerpoint and show pictures of animals on factory farms, or I can tell you about it so vividly you smell it, hear the flies in the air and feel the sense of resignation. The mental image I can paint is more effective than the still photo. That's why I think that powerpoint is a crutch. It'd be another thing if I was explaining something technical, then a visual might make more sense.

[Oeditpus Rex]

18. I think it is the issue

Or, it's certainly one of them.

Maybe I'm just out of touch with modern education, but — is Powerpoint included in core curriculi now or is it just assumed that everyone learned it in high school? Is it taught in high school?

If you're assigned a Powerpoint project and you don't know it, is it expected you'll learn it in a couple of weeks or whatever?

Remember, when I was in school, computers were the size of Winnebagos. :blush:

[LeftyMom]

20. The instructor did go over the basics of the program

but it's kind of hard to get much out of that when one doesn't have the program in front of them to follow along. Maybe I ought to suggest (she said aloud she wasn't wholly happy with the lesson) that next term she book the computer lab for that class session.

[hunter]

24. My kids learned powerpoint in 5th and 6th grade.

Everyone in the class did. Most of the presentations were awful to sit through, but mercifully short. A few were really funny. But damn, some of the music kids brought in...

One of my kids did a powerpoint for the school board in sixth grade. It was pretty good.

It's not hard to learn the basics, which is probably why there are so many hideous powerpoint presentations.

[datasuspect]

28. Microsoft PowerPoint

it's to prepare people for their proactive self-starter careers in corporate america.

i can't wrap my head around the idea of an academic basing part of their class on PowerPoint in the first place.

i thought colleges were places to learn and discuss ideas, not master the finer points of administrative tasks.

[LeftyMom]

22. Update: the powerpoint of poop and doom is done. I'm pooped.

Goodnight everybody. :hi: :boring:

[sir_captain]

23. It really depends on the context

in medical school, they're a godsend. We get bombarded with 35 hours of lectures every week, and they are all incredibly dense. And I would never be able to keep notes fast enough to keep up.

[JackBeck]

26. I agree.

I do HIV and Hepatitis C health education mostly for persons with low literacy. Using powerpoint helps break down the difficult language and actually helps open-up a discussion, instead of squelching it.

[Mutley]

25. We did one today.

She barely gives us enough time to scrawl the notes down, too. :grr:

[KurtNYC]

29. Powerpoint hating has been raised to a high Art

by Edward Tufte ("Power corrupts. PowerPoint corrupts absolutely.")

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/ppt2.html



But David Byrne (Talking Heads) has found another use for it:

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/ppt1.html