PowerPoint gets a bad rap. Most slide presentations are only fair (and that's being generous) and many are truly poor. Now I would argue that this fact is NOT the fault of PowerPoint. As the saying goes: it's a poor workman who blames his tools.
Nevertheless, there's a growing number of presenters who have decided to "solve" the PowerPoint curse by not using PowerPoint (or other slide applications) at all.
The lack of slides does remove some of the symptoms of a bad presentation:
But of course, addressing symptoms provides some relief, but doesn't cure the underlying disease. In this case that disease is a lack of story. If you don't know the story you want to tell, if you haven't thought though how to bring your audience along with you, if you haven't planned the flow of content, you will not be effective, slides or no slides.
Presenting "naked" required more preparation, not less. You, or more precisely your thought process, is alone and exposed. This is not the time to wing it!
One way to be very effective without slides is to actually start with SLIDES -- because often you are convey information that DOES need some visual support. But every utterance does NOT need a corresponding bullet point. Start with a full presentation, then delete any that are not completely vital to effective communication. Left with only a handful of slides, you can decide if you want to insert slides into your talk only at key points or use handout, flip chart, or other method to aid audience understanding.
This hybrid approach will allow YOU to hold center stage for most of your presentation. Try it before your let all your slides slide.
Nevertheless, there's a growing number of presenters who have decided to "solve" the PowerPoint curse by not using PowerPoint (or other slide applications) at all.
The lack of slides does remove some of the symptoms of a bad presentation:
- Too much text on a crowded slide
- The hypnotic compulsion to read slides to the audience
- Seemingly random content or disjointed flow
But of course, addressing symptoms provides some relief, but doesn't cure the underlying disease. In this case that disease is a lack of story. If you don't know the story you want to tell, if you haven't thought though how to bring your audience along with you, if you haven't planned the flow of content, you will not be effective, slides or no slides.
Presenting "naked" required more preparation, not less. You, or more precisely your thought process, is alone and exposed. This is not the time to wing it!
One way to be very effective without slides is to actually start with SLIDES -- because often you are convey information that DOES need some visual support. But every utterance does NOT need a corresponding bullet point. Start with a full presentation, then delete any that are not completely vital to effective communication. Left with only a handful of slides, you can decide if you want to insert slides into your talk only at key points or use handout, flip chart, or other method to aid audience understanding.
This hybrid approach will allow YOU to hold center stage for most of your presentation. Try it before your let all your slides slide.
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