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Get the A1. It’s Time To Kill Some Sacred Cows!

Lately, I've been having a blast reading Death To All Sacred Cows, by David Bernstein, Beau Fraser, and Bill Schwab. In it, the authors make the point in a very humorous way, to resist blindly doing certain things because over time, that's the way it's been done. We all encounter these bovines on a daily basis. We most likely even have some of our own.  When it comes to presenting, we've got ourselves a whole herd.

Well, it's time to get the steak sauce out and have ourselves a feast, because we're taking the cows to the slaughter house.  It's kind of a gruesome way to put it, but it has to be done.  This is going to be the first of many sacred cows that we will send to their timely demise.  First up:

Presentations Need PowerPoint Slides

How many times have you been told by a superior, "Put together a PowerPoint presentation for that meeting next week!"  What was the reason for the requirement for PowerPoint slides?  Chances are, that boss of yours is riding a sacred cow.  You don't have the heart to tell him it's not that Harley he's been fantasizing about, but someone's got to take Bessie from him and put her out of her (and our) misery.

When presenting, your slides aren't your presentation.  It's you and what you've got to say.  Your audience is there to listen to you (You hope.  We'll get to that at a later date.), not watch a bunch of slides.  If all they wanted or needed were the slides, then there's no need for the meeting.  So, where does that leave your slides?  They're visual aides; not for you, but for them.  If simple visual aids won't help you convey your message, or if your message doesn't translate well to simple visuals, then don't use slides at all!  Your business isn't going to fall apart just because you didn't use slides.  Heck, you just might yourself more effective delivering your message and/or call to action.

What if it does make sense to use slides?  Well, another way to approach this sacred cow (and peacefully end its existence) is this:  Why use PowerPoint?  If you have control over the technology, use what makes sense.  That could mean Keynote, SlideRocket, 280 Slides, OpenOffice, or Google Docs.  There is no holy scripture that commands use of Microsoft's slideware.

One Down...

Well, that's one sacred cow.  I've got a bunch more lined up ready to be carted off and turned into juicy steaks, one at a time.

Image credit:  Jennifer Buehrer, used under a Creative Commons license.