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How to Avoid Death by PowerPoint: Steve Jobs Secret WeaponPhilip Yaffe, Claddagh Toastmasters in Brussels, Belgium
I have recently been reading and hearing comments that
bullet points for slide presentations are dead, as evidenced
by the legendary presentations of Steve Jobs, co-founder
and iconic president of Apple Inc. There are three thingswrong with this notion:
Bullet points, an extremely useful communication tool, are
moribund largely due to the unthinking, mind-deadening
way they are too often used. Steve Jobs did use bullet
points, but in the way they were intended with
spectacular results. There is no such thing as a slide
presentation at least not in the sense that too many
people seem to think.
But first things first. Just what are these things called bullet
points? And why are they causing so much polemic?
Bullet points are nothing but terse, telegraphic phrases that
encapsulate an idea, usually without trying to explain it. By
analogy, they are like chapter headings in a book. They give
a glimpse of what the chapter is all about without trying to
substitute for it. The chapter is still there to be read; the
heading only whets your appetite.
On presentation slides, bullet points do the same thing.
They give the audience a glimpse of what the speaker is
going to talk about in order to pique their interest. Often they
also serve as a reminder of what the speaker has said in
order the better to fix the idea in their minds.
How could such an outstandingly useful tool be considered
dead or deserving to be so? Quite simply, because many
presenters seem to have forgotten or never knew their
true purpose.
How often have you seen so-called bullet points written out
in long, convoluted sentences rather than in terse, pithy
phrases? How often have you seen 4-6 bullet points, even
well-written, splattered on the screen all at once like a plate
of spaghetti thrown against a wall? If their purpose is to
whet the audiences appetite for what the speaker is about
to say, they should be introduced one at a time, i.e. bullet
point 1, followed by the presenters comments about thepoint; bullet point 2, followed by the presenters comments
about it, and so on.
This is only common sense, which in recent years seems to
have become decidedly uncommon.
In the Dark Ages when people still used 35 mm slides,
doing this was difficult and expensive; nevertheless,
accomplished presenters managed it. Today, with
PowerPoint and other computer-generated slide programs,
this is exceedingly easy and implies no extra cost, yet many
presenters fail to make the effort.
Putting the full list of bullet points on the screen in one fell
swoop is like publishing a book with only a table of contents
but failing to put headings on each individual chapter. It
makes no sense.
But Steve Jobs didnt introduce bullet points one by one, didhe? Well, yes and no.
First of all, people who claim that Mr Jobs didnt use bullet
points at all are off-target. He used them all the time.
However, there is no requirement that a bullet point look like
a point, i.e. with a symbol (point, star, arrowhead, etc.)
followed by text. Mr. Jobs frequently showed only a single
phrase on the screen with nothing else there, or a single
phrase associated with a relevant image.
When he did show a list, he introduced the points
sequentially, commenting on each one before revealing the
next one. The process was so smooth that people didn'teven realize that they were looking at bullet points. Whether
recognized or not, the important thing is that they had the
desired effect.
If all this sounds somewhat theoretical, lets make it more
practical. Example A below is typical of slides seen in all too
many presentations. It commits both cardinal sins. It uses
full sentences rather than terse phrases, and it shows all the
bullet points at the same time. Example B does the job
correctly.
Style of Text
The style of the text should be
telegraphic. This is in order to:
minimize how much text the
audience must read on the
screen;
then re-focus the audiences
attention on the speaker so
that he can elaborate what
is on the screen.
Example A
Because the text in Example A is painfully long, the astute
speaker has no option but to remain silent while the
audience is reading it. Numerous surveys have shown that
the speaker reading a long text aloud sends the audiences
annoyance level right off the scale.
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Style of Text
Telegraphic
Minimize text audience
must read
Re-focus attention on
speaker for elaboration
Example B
Because the text in Example B is admirably short, the
speaker can read or paraphrase it along with the audience.
For example, he could say: You should use telegraphic
style to minimize how much text the audience must read
and to re-focus the attention on you, the speaker, for
elaboration.
By emphasizing the key aspects of the text through tone,
vocal variety, and perhaps even body language, the
speaker is unlikely to provoke the same degree of
annoyance as with the long text. On the contrary, the
audience is likely to appreciate the effort rather than reprove
it.
However, we are only halfway there. For best benefit, the
text should be introduced sequentially, not all at once.
As previously noted, with 35 mm slides this was quite
difficult. It was achieved by using build-up slides.
For example, instead of showing several bullet points on a
single slide, the speaker prepared six slides. The first slide
showed only the title; the rest of the screen was left blank.
The next one showed the title plus bullet point 1; the rest of
the screen was left blank. The next slide showed the title
plus bullet points 1 and 2; the rest of the
screen was left blank. The same was done for
each succeeding slide. It was only on the last
slide that the full text (general statement +
bullet points) became visible.
Producing six slides was of courseconsiderably more expensive than producing
only one. But it was also considerably more
effective. The result looked something like this.
Build-up - 1
Build-ups work like
this:Build-up - 2
Build-ups work like
this:
Show bullet 1
Build-up - 3
Build-ups work like
this:
Show bullet 1
Show bullet 2
Build-up - 4
Build-ups work like
this:
Show bullet 1
Show bullet 2
Show bullet 3
Producing build-up slides with computer-generated slide
programs is exceedingly easy and there is no additional
cost. But these are not the best reasons for doing so.
Introducing text sequentially rather than splattering it on the
screen like spaghetti makes reading or paraphrasing theslide to the audience even easier and increases the
effect.
Remember: The words are on the screen to support the
speaker, not to replace him. Speaking each line as it
appears and giving it appropriate vocal and body language
emphasis ensures that the words on the screen
support the speakers presentation in two crucial
ways:
Firstly, the attention of the audience is totally
focused on the bullet point (the chapter heading).
Next, it is totally focused on the speaker for
elaboration (the chapter).
At no time is the audiences attention split between reading
and listening.
Moreover, at no time is the speaker standing mute while the
audience is reading, as i f his presence didnt matter.
Lets look at a real example of this approach and technique.
Here is a build-up slide I use in my writing and public
speaking workshops, with the commentary I use as each bit
of the slide appears on the screen.
At no time is the
audiences attention
split between reading
and listening.
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Interest depends on Clarity
Virtually everyone agrees that interest depends on clarity.
For a text to be interesting, it must be clear. In other words,
people must understand what you are talking about. The
problem is, the word clear has no practical definition. What
is clear to one person may not be clear to another. What we
need is a functional definition, like a recipe, to be sure that
our text is clear that virtually everyone will understand it.
Interest depends on Clarity
For clarity, you must do 3 things:
To ensure clarity, you must do three things.
Interest depends on Clarity
For clarity, you must do 3 things:
1. Emphasize info of key importance
Emphasize information of key importance. This means that
before you start writing, you must first identify the key ideas
you want your readers to take away with them. This is notalways easy, but unless you do this first, there is no sense
even sitting down at the keyboard.
Interest depends on Clarity
For clarity, you must do 3 things:
1. Emphasize info of key importance
2. De-emphasize info of secondary
importance
De-emphasize information of secondary importance. You
dont want your key ideas getting lost in the details, so you
have to make certain that details are clearly identified as
such. There are various ways of doing this. We will look
them at in a moment. But before we do, can anyone guess
what the third thing is we need to do to be clear?
Allow a few moments for audience participation.
Interest depends on Clarity
For clarity, you must do 3 things:
1. Emphasize info of key importance
2. De-emphasize info of secondary
importance
3. Eliminate info of no importance
Thats right. Eliminate information of no importance.
Remember: Nothing in a text is neutral. Whatever doesnt
add, subtracts. It doesnt matter how interesting or amusing
a piece of information may be. If it isnt relevant, it doesnt
belong.
If arguing that the speaker should read or paraphrase slide
text aloud sounds heretical, it is probably because you have
never seen it done properly. However, when it is done
properly, it is an extremely valuable tool.
You don't have to take my word for it. Watch Steve Jobs. Inhis highly lauded presentations, virtually every time text
appeared on the screen, he read it aloud, using both his
voice and body language to give it full meaning. And most of
the time, the text appeared on a blank screen without a
visual. Why? Because an irrelevant visual is just that
irrelevant. And therefore distracting.
No wonder Mr Jobs was such a popular presenter. He gave
the audience precisely what they wanted full information
precisely the way they wanted it in carefully crafted,
easily digestible nuggets. You can find an excellent example
of Mr Jobs in action at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZBffb1HkfM&feature=related
As all good presenters have always known, the term slide
presentation as too commonly interpreted is a pernicious
misnomer. There is no such thing as a slide presentation,
meaning a presentation where the slides are dominant and
the speaker an accessory. Quite the reverse. The presenter
is the star; the slides are supporting players. Supporting
players can make a significant contribution to the total
performance, but they should never take over.
In the parlance of show business, never let what is going on
behind you, upstage you. As demonstrated by Steve Jobs,
the presenter and the slides should share the stage, with
each player doing his utmost to support the other.
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So the next time you decide to do a slide presentation, stop
and think. If you ever feel that what you are showing is
becoming more important than what you are saying, you are
heading down the wrong track. Delete the slides, tear up
your speech, and start over again.
This takes courage. But both you and your audience will be
better off for it.
Philip Yaffe, ATM-B, a member of the Claddagh Toastmasters in
Brussels, Belgium, is a former reporter with The Wall Street Journal
who teaches persuasive communication techniques. This article is
based on his 2010 book The Gettysburg Approach to Writing &
Speaking like a Professional. Other books by Philip Yaffe are:
The Gettysburg Collection
A comprehensive companion to The Gettysburg Approach to
Writing & Speaking like a Professional
Actual English: English Grammar as Native Speakers Really Use It
Gentle French: French Grammar as Native Speakers Really Use It
Whatd You Say? / Que Dites-Vous?
Fun with homophones, proverbs, expressions, false f riends, and
other linguistic oddities in English and French
Science for the Concerned Citizen: What You Dont Know CAN
Hurt You
The Little Book of BIG Mistakes
The Eighth Decade: Reflections of a Lifetime
College-level Writing: The Essential Ten Percent
Logical Thinking: The Essential Ten Percent
Public Speaking: The Essential Ten Percent
Wise Humor: The Essential Ten PercentThe Human Body: The Essential Ten Percent
Word for Windows: The Essential Ten Percent
Reach him at [email protected]