Management Rules: 50 New Rules for Managers

CHAPTER 37

THE USE AND ABUSE OF POWERPOINT

PowerPoint is a good example of how technology is only as good as the people who use it. In the wrong hands, PowerPoint is a giant leap backwards for mankind. Too many managers have had to suffer at the hands of the important panjandrum with nothing to say, or at the hands of the frenetic manager who has too much to say, and is determined to read his entire 300-page presentation verbatim.

Just because the technology allows us to produce 300-page presentations, it does not follow that we should. Just because we can produce fancy graphics, it does not mean that they will help with the clarity of communication.

The first rule of using PowerPoint is: don’t use it. How many Presidents and Prime Ministers ...