PowerPoint

“Nearly all engineering presentations at NASA are made in PowerPoint.” This adds a new dimension to my conception of PowerPoint as a useful presentation tool. However, as Tufte argues, PowerPoint is still not a very serious tool. It is basically a dumbed-down, idiot-proof presentation software for those with little technical skills. PowerPoint is not appropriate for engineering and scientific communication.

Power Point still has potential to be a useful tool, but it is so often misused. A presentation aid, such as PowerPoint, is not meant to provide the entire presentation. It is meant to guide the presenter through a complex discussion with multiple dimensions of critical thinking, and to highlight key points and ideas.

I was always taught the 3-7 rule. This requires that on any one PowerPoint slide, there are either 3 lines of text with 7 words each, or 7 lines with 3 words each. This keeps things simple and does not bog the viewer down with too much reading. Viewers of a presentation are supposed to be engaged in a topic, not reading it off of a screen.