Death By PowerPoint (or video or....)

I know, I know... everybody knows that PowerPoint is all too often abused. Though we are aware of the crime, death by PowerPoint remains way too commonplace in everyday corporate life. This slide show at CIO Magazine's website is a good reminder for us all.

John Medina's book Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School does a great job of explaining why good slide manners matter. Get his book, but also check out the "Vision" video on his website.

My observation: the problem isn't just poor slide design. It often starts with a misunderstanding of how to architect an effective message. I watched a video that a friend posted on YouTube to talk about a company that his organization will be partnering with in 2010. It wasn't clear to me whether he was targeting the video for existing customers, prospective customers, or people who want to buy into his franchise idea.

On Monday Night Football this week, IBM paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to show a couple of their Smarter Planet ads, such as this one. Though I find the ads intriguing, it led to an equally intriguing discussion with some friends and family: what is it that IBM actually does these days? I could answer that 25 years ago. Today? I'm not as sure.

To whom are they targeting that ad? Is it worth the cost? The smart minds behind the Smarter Planet initiative clearly think so. I'm not as convinced, based on the discussion around our munchies Monday evening.

My point: whether it's a presentation, a video, an e-mail, a marketing piece, or any other communication, start with the basics: who is my target audience and which of their problems am I addressing? How can I best communicate how we address those problems?

If you can't clearly answer those initial questions, it really doesn't matter how slick (or sick) your PowerPoint slides (or video or....) looks. The message will get lost in the fog.

Do you have a favorite abuse of PowerPoint (or video or web page or....)? Send me a pic or link! Here's to your success communicating today!

Labels: communication, influence, marketing, presentations

posted by Andy at 7:51 AM