By now, most of us are comfortable using AI to generate our slide decks. Be that as it may, it might still be worth paying heed to this article about the challenges in communication.
“We’ve all sat in those presentations. A speaker with a stream of slides full of text, monotonously reading them off as we read along. We’re so used to it we expect it. We accept it. We even consider it ‘learning’. As an educator I push against ‘death by PowerPoint’ and I’m fascinated with how we can improve the way we present and teach. The fact is we know that PowerPoint kills. Most often the only victims are our audience’s inspiration and interest. This, however, is the story of a PowerPoint slide that actually helped kill seven people.”
It refers to Columbia, the space shuttle that crashed in 2003, killing its crew of seven. The shuttle’s re-entry was deemed at risk after a damage was spotted. But the re-entry was anyway proceeded with after a presentation of the findings of Boeing’s engineers to NASA management was lost in communication – thanks to a poorly constructed PowerPoint slide. The article is about the review of the slide by a communications professor at Yale. While it is not always a matter of life and death, the short read is worth your while for some lessons in making PowerPoint slides.
“Since being released in 1987 PowerPoint has grown exponentially to the point where it is now estimated than thirty million PowerPoint presentations are made every day. Yet, PowerPoint is blamed by academics for killing critical thought. Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos has banned it from meetings. Typing text on a screen and reading it out loud does not count as teaching. An audience reading text off the screen does not count as learning. Imagine if the engineers had put up a slide with just: “foam strike more than 600 times bigger than test data.” Maybe NASA would have listened. Maybe they wouldn’t have attempted re-entry. Next time you’re asked to give a talk remember Columbia. Don’t just jump to your laptop and write out slides of text. Think about your message. Don’t let that message be lost amongst text. Death by PowerPoint is a real thing. Sometimes literally.”
Note: Microsoft, Amazon are part of Marcellus’ Global Compounders Portfolio, a strategy offered by the IFSC branch of Marcellus Investment Managers Private Limited and regulated by IFSCA. Accordingly, Marcellus, its employees, immediate relatives, and clients may hold interests or positions in these stocks. Any references to these companies are made solely for informational and educational purposes, in the context of the article discussed.’
If you want to read our other published material, please visit https://marcellus.in/blog/
Note: The above material is neither investment research, nor financial advice. Marcellus does not seek payment for or business from this publication in any shape or form. The information provided is intended for educational purposes only. Marcellus Investment Managers is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and is also an FME (Non-Retail) with the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) as a provider of Portfolio Management Services. Additionally, Marcellus is also registered with US Securities and Exchange Commission (“US SEC”) as an Investment Advisor.
