Making-Original-Products-presentationzen

esulting in poor supporting visuals for the live talk and a series of document-like
slides filled with text and other data that do not read well (and are therefore not
read). A series of small boxes with text and images on sheets of paper do not a
document make.
The slideument isn’t effective, it isn’t efficient, and it isn’t pretty. Attempting to
have slides serve both as projected visuals and as stand-alone handouts makes for
bad visuals and bad documentation. Yet this is a typical approach. PowerPoint and
other digital presentation tools are effective for displaying visual information that
helps tell your story, make your case, prove your point, and engage your audience.
Presentation software tools are not good, however, for making written documents.
That’s what word processors are for.
So why don’t conference organizers request that speakers send a written
document (with a specified maximum page
length) that covers the main points of their
presentation with appropriate detail and depth?
A Word or PDF document written in a concise
and readable fashion with a bibliography and
links to even more details for those who are
interested would be far more effective. When
I get home from a conference, do organizers
really think I’m going to attempt to read pages
of printed slides? One does not read a printout
of a two-month-old slide deck. Rather, one
guesses, decodes, and attempts to glean meaning from the series of low-resolution
titles, bullets, charts, and clip art—at least they do that for a while…until they
give up. With a written document, however, there is no reason for shallowness or
ambiguity (assuming one writes well).
To be different and effective, use a well-written, detailed document for your
handout and well-designed, simple, intelligent graphics for your visuals. And while
it may require more effort on your part, the quality of your visuals and takeaway
documents will be dramatically improved.
Chapter 3 Planning Analog
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