Most are probably familiar with that verse from the New Testament that states, “The love of money is the root of all evil,” but I’m really beginning to wonder if that verse contained a typo, or if “money” was really symbolic of something else. Like Powerpoint.
We’ve had all sorts of common, famous, and infamous people stealing and committing fraud for thousands of years, but a whole host of crimes picked up tremendously once Powerpoint came into existence and people began to use and abuse it. (Bet Enron used Powerpoint lots!) Mind you, it’s not Powerpoint itself that is evil, but instead it’s the love of Powerpoint that is evil…and far, far too many people really, really, really, really love Powerpoint. (I think I might have left out a “really” in that last sentence, but let’s forge ahead instead of looking backwards and dwelling on it.)
It’s a detrimental and dangerous love.
How many of us have sat through a 90 minute class where the instructor threw up a set of Powerpoint slides and then droned and droned, reading right off of the slides for the entire class? *raises hand* How many of us in our various office environments have had Powerpoint presentations inflicted upon us, during which the presenter just read through a bunch of slides, punctuated every so often by a chart that is only mildly interesting (or comprehensible) to those of us who have taken an accounting or finance class or two, but a complete and utter bore to everyone else? *raises other hand*
This is a stick up! Hand over those slides!
Powerpoint is simply a tool to enhance the actual presentation. When there’s a presentation going on, we’re interested in the presenter and what the presenter has to say, and not in the slides. If it’s actually the slides that are important, just send them out and let us read them on our own time rather than requiring us to sit through yet another Powerpoint Storytime that is nowhere near as fun or interesting as storytime at the local library. Green Eggs and Ham is way cooler, and probably more valuable anyway.
If you must use Powerpoint, use the slides to creatively enhance the presentation instead of them being the main focus of the presentation. Use only one point per slide at maximum and don’t give everything away at once. Don’t allow Powerpoint to become your master as you cannot serve both God and Powerpoint.
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