I’d like to thank Debbie Fried (@DebbieFried) for pointing me towards this video of Don McMillan’s “How Not to do PowerPowerpoint” stand-up routine. It was fun to watch and reminded me of the conversations I had with our own Scott Stiefvater as he was preparing for MB/I’s “Avoid Causing Death by PowerPoint” class.

If That’s Bad, What’s Good?

Well, whenever someone asks me what I think a PowerPoint presentation should look like, I can’t help but think of Winsor McCay’s 1914 “Gertie the Dinosaur” Vaudeville act (he may not have been using PowerPoint but several of the same principles apply):

During the original run, there were no title cards – just Winsor McCay, cracking a whip and speaking to the screen or the audience as appropriate.  Gertie, in turn, appeared to respond to McCay’s actions - crying when scolded, grabbing apples (or pumpkins in this version) out of mid-air, and picking up her animator when he conveniently stepped out of view of the audience.

Why was this a good presentation?

• McCay knew his act well enough that he did not need to watch the screen while performing.
• The cells are simple, making it easy to pick out what’s important.
• The visuals complemented McCay’s monologue.
• All the animation served a purpose.
• It is less than 6-minutes from beginning to end.

From Cell Animation to PowerPowerpoint

Not all of us have the time or budget to put together a 10,000+ cell animation in time for our next board meeting.  However, when working on PowerPoint presentations, there are a number of lessons we can take away from both Don McMillan and Winsor McCay.

• Keep it short
• Make sure that what you have to say goes beyond what’s on the screen.
• Don’t try to fit everything into the same chart, or slide, or medium.
• Make your performance part of the presentation
• Only emphasize what’s actually important

Remember, it’s fine to produce physical or digital collateral that gives additional information on the subject of your presentation.  That’s where the dry material and read-at-your-own-pace material should go.  Your presentation, that should be art.