Thursday, October 16, 2008

How NOT to Use Powerpoint

I just viewed the "How NOT to Use Powerpoint" video, and I found it both entertaining and informative. The video is done in a kind of comedic way, but there is a great deal of truth to what the video is saying. As I was watching the video, I noticed several things that I have seen in other peoples' powerpoints as well as my own. It is very easy to get wrapped up in all that the powerpoint program has to offer. It becomes a matter of figuring out what features are productive for a presentation and which ones are going to take away from your presentation. Just because powerpoint can do something doesn't necessarily mean that you should use it.

I feel like this video is something that I will keep in mind for the next time I make a powerpoint presentation. I believe a good general rule for using powerpoint is to keep the powerpoint as simply as possible. Confusing graphs and too many bullet points only serve to distract the viewers from the point of the presentation. Overall, the video was entertaining and a good source of information with regard to pitfalls of powerpoint presentations.

2 comments:

Dr. Luongo said...

John,

You claimed, "Just because powerpoint can do something doesn't necessarily mean that you should use it." How true. I guess this saying can go with anything in teaching. There needs to be a reason behind it (also known as an objective).

As usual, great blog posting!

Thanks for your response.

MrsBlev710 said...

I agree with you. I also felt the video was very informative. I do alot of my lectures using power point as a visual aid. I am guilty of sometimes over doing. I know the students are divided as to weather or not they like power point