Does A PowerPoint Presentation Have to Be Boring?

One of the most annoying things about most PowerPoint presentations is that they present text that acts as an outline of the presentation.  It is a useful feature for PowerPoint at its most basic, but annoying nonetheless because few presenters go beyond that capability.  Most tutorials for the application lay out more advanced features but never tell when it is a good idea to use them.  PowerPoint does support graphics, audio, video, and automation that can spruce up the garden variety presentation.  Saying that, however, isn't saying much that isn't already in one of those tutorials.

Microsoft has posted one help feature on its web site that breaks out of that mentality.  The page is called "Beyond Bullet Points I:  Telling a story with your presentation."  It is well worth a look to examine how to use PowerPoint rather than simply using a feature.  There are links to two other associated tutorials,"Using Storyboards to plan your presentation," and "Delivering your presentation."  Part of this is an extension of Cliff Atkinson's book, Beyond Bullet Points: Using Microsoft PowerPoint to Create Presentations That Inform, Motivate, and Inspire.  Some of the information in these articles may make your next PowerPoint presentation have more impact.  [MG]