PowerPoint: know your medium

To make the most of PowerPoint in professional presentations, presenters need to understand some basic principles that transcend the software. These include a thorough grasp of the message a presenter wants to convey; the backgrounds, interests, and needs of the audience; and the best approaches to fitting the medium of delivery to the content of the material. PowerPoint is a useful tool, but like any tool, whether a stethoscope, a scalpel, or a CT scanner, it can be used well or ill. Using it to its full capabilities requires that we regard it less as a crutch that can compensate for our deficiencies and more as a springboard with which to vault our presentations higher. At its best, PowerPoint can serve us just as brushes and pigments serve an artist, but it can never substitute for a fertile imagination and a discerning eye.