The Clarion, October 2012

How to Avoid Death by PowerPoint: Steve Jobs Secret Weapon

Philip Yaffe, Claddagh Toastmasters in Brussels, Belgium I have recently been reading and hearing comments that bullet points for slide presentations are dead, as evidenced by the legendary presentations of Steve Jobs, co-founder and iconic president of Apple Inc. There are three things wrong with this notion: Bullet points, an extremely useful communication tool, are moribund largely due to the unthinking, mind-deadening way they are too often used. Steve Jobs did use bullet points, but in the way they were intended with spectacular results. There is no such thing as a slide presentation at least not in the sense that too many people seem to think. But first things first. Just what are these things called bullet points? And why are they causing so much polemic? Bullet points are nothing but terse, telegraphic phrases that encapsulate an idea, usually without trying to explain it. By analogy, they are like chapter headings in a book. They give a glimpse of what the chapter is all about without trying to substitute for it. The chapter is still there to be read; the heading only whets your appetite. On presentation slides, bullet points do the same thing. They give the audience a glimpse of what the speaker is going to talk about in order to pique their interest. Often they also serve as a reminder of what the speaker has said in order the better to fix the idea in their minds. How could such an outstandingly useful tool be considered dead or deserving to be so? Quite simply, because many presenters seem to have forgotten or never knew their true purpose. How often have you seen so-called bullet points written out in long, convoluted sentences rather than in terse, pithy phrases? How often have you seen 4-6 bullet points, even well-written, splattered on the screen all at once like a plate of spaghetti thrown against a wall? If their purpose is to whet the audiences appetite for what the speaker is about to say, they should be introduced one at a time, i.e. bullet point 1, followed by the presenters comments about the point; bullet point 2, followed by the presenters comments about it, and so on. This is only common sense, which in recent years seems to have become decidedly uncommon. In the Dark Ages when people still used 35 mm slides, doing this was difficult and expensive; nevertheless, accomplished presenters managed it. Today, with PowerPoint and other computer-generated slide programs, this is exceedingly easy and implies no extra cost, yet many presenters fail to make the effort. Putting the full list of bullet points on the screen in one fell swoop is like publishing a book with only a table of contents but failing to put headings on each individual chapter. It makes no sense. But Steve Jobs didnt introduce bullet points one by one, did he? Well, yes and no. First of all, people who claim that Mr Jobs didnt use bullet points at all are off-target. He used them all the time. However, there is no requirement that a bullet point look like a point, i.e. with a symbol (point, star, arrowhead, etc.) followed by text. Mr. Jobs frequently showed only a single phrase on the screen with nothing else there, or a single phrase associated with a relevant image. When he did show a list, he introduced the points sequentially, commenting on each one before revealing the next one. The process was so smooth that people didn't even realize that they were looking at bullet points. Whether recognized or not, the important thing is that they had the desired effect. If all this sounds somewhat theoretical, lets make it more practical. Example A below is typical of slides seen in all too many presentations. It commits both cardinal sins. It uses full sentences rather than terse phrases, and it shows all the bullet points at the same time. Example B does the job correctly.
Style of Text

The style of the text should be telegraphic. This is in order to: minimize how much text the audience must read on the screen; then re-focus the audiences attention on the speaker so that he can elaborate what is on the screen.
Example A

Because the text in Example A is painfully long, the astute speaker has no option but to remain silent while the audience is reading it. Numerous surveys have shown that the speaker reading a long text aloud sends the audiences annoyance level right off the scale.

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The Clarion, October 2012

Style of Text
Telegraphic Minimize text audience must read

Build-up - 1
Build-ups work like this:

Build-up - 2

Re-focus attention on speaker for elaboration

Build-ups work like this: Show bullet 1

Build-up - 3
Example B

Because the text in Example B is admirably short, the speaker can read or paraphrase it along with the audience. For example, he could say: You should use telegraphic style to minimize how much text the audience must read and to re-focus the attention on you, the speaker, for elaboration. By emphasizing the key aspects of the text through tone, vocal variety, and perhaps even body language, the speaker is unlikely to provoke the same degree of annoyance as with the long text. On the contrary, the audience is likely to appreciate the effort rather than reprove it. However, we are only halfway there. For best benefit, the text should be introduced sequentially, not all at once. As previously noted, with 35 mm slides this was quite difficult. It was achieved by using build-up slides.

Build-ups work like this: Show bullet 1 Show bullet 2

Build-up - 4
Build-ups work like this: Show bullet 1 Show bullet 2 Show bullet 3

For example, instead of showing several bullet points on a single slide, the speaker prepared six slides. The first slide Remember: The words are on the screen to support the showed only the title; the rest of the screen was left blank. speaker, not to replace him. Speaking each line as it The next one showed the title plus bullet point 1; the rest of appears and giving it appropriate vocal and body language the screen was left blank. The next slide showed the title emphasis ensures that the words on the screen plus bullet points 1 and 2; the rest of the support the speakers presentation in two crucial screen was left blank. The same was done for At no time is the ways: each succeeding slide. It was only on the last slide that the full text (general statement + audiences attention Firstly, the attention of the audience is totally bullet points) became visible. split between reading focused on the bullet point (the chapter heading). Producing six slides was of course and listening. Next, it is totally focused on the speaker for considerably more expensive than producing elaboration (the chapter). only one. But it was also considerably more effective. The result looked something like this. At no time is the audiences attention split between reading and listening. Moreover, at no time is the speaker standing mute while the audience is reading, as if his presence didnt matter. Lets look at a real example of this approach and technique. Here is a build-up slide I use in my writing and public speaking workshops, with the commentary I use as each bit of the slide appears on the screen.

Producing build-up slides with computer-generated slide programs is exceedingly easy and there is no additional cost. But these are not the best reasons for doing so. Introducing text sequentially rather than splattering it on the screen like spaghetti makes reading or paraphrasing the slide to the audience even easier and increases the effect.

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The Clarion, October 2012

Interest depends on Clarity
De-emphasize information of secondary importance. You dont want your key ideas getting lost in the details, so you have to make certain that details are clearly identified as such. There are various ways of doing this. We will look them at in a moment. But before we do, can anyone guess what the third thing is we need to do to be clear? Allow a few moments for audience participation.

Interest depends on Clarity

Virtually everyone agrees that interest depends on clarity. For a text to be interesting, it must be clear. In other words, people must understand what you are talking about. The problem is, the word clear has no practical definition. What is clear to one person may not be clear to another. What we need is a functional definition, like a recipe, to be sure that our text is clear that virtually everyone will understand it.

For clarity, you must do 3 things:

1. Emphasize info of key importance
2. De-emphasize info of secondary importance 3. Eliminate info of no importance

Interest depends on Clarity

For clarity, you must do 3 things:
Thats right. Eliminate information of no importance. Remember: Nothing in a text is neutral. Whatever doesnt add, subtracts. It doesnt matter how interesting or amusing a piece of information may be. If it isnt relevant, it doesnt belong. If arguing that the speaker should read or paraphrase slide text aloud sounds heretical, it is probably because you have never seen it done properly. However, when it is done properly, it is an extremely valuable tool. You don't have to take my word for it. Watch Steve Jobs. In his highly lauded presentations, virtually every time text appeared on the screen, he read it aloud, using both his voice and body language to give it full meaning. And most of the time, the text appeared on a blank screen without a visual. Why? Because an irrelevant visual is just that irrelevant. And therefore distracting. No wonder Mr Jobs was such a popular presenter. He gave the audience precisely what they wanted full information precisely the way they wanted it in carefully crafted, easily digestible nuggets. You can find an excellent example of Mr Jobs in action at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZBffb1HkfM&feature=related As all good presenters have always known, the term slide presentation as too commonly interpreted is a pernicious misnomer. There is no such thing as a slide presentation, meaning a presentation where the slides are dominant and the speaker an accessory. Quite the reverse. The presenter is the star; the slides are supporting players. Supporting players can make a significant contribution to the total performance, but they should never take over. In the parlance of show business, never let what is going on behind you, upstage you. As demonstrated by Steve Jobs, the presenter and the slides should share the stage, with each player doing his utmost to support the other.

To ensure clarity, you must do three things.

Interest depends on Clarity

For clarity, you must do 3 things:
1. Emphasize info of key importance

Emphasize information of key importance. This means that before you start writing, you must first identify the key ideas you want your readers to take away with them. This is not always easy, but unless you do this first, there is no sense even sitting down at the keyboard.

Interest depends on Clarity

For clarity, you must do 3 things:
1. Emphasize info of key importance
2. De-emphasize info of secondary importance

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The Clarion, October 2012

So the next time you decide to do a slide presentation, stop and think. If you ever feel that what you are showing is becoming more important than what you are saying, you are heading down the wrong track. Delete the slides, tear up your speech, and start over again. This takes courage. But both you and your audience will be better off for it.

Philip Yaffe, ATM-B, a member of the Claddagh Toastmasters in Brussels, Belgium, is a former reporter with The Wall Street Journal who teaches persuasive communication techniques. This article is based on his 2010 book The Gettysburg Approach to Writing & Speaking like a Professional. Other books by Philip Yaffe are: The Gettysburg Collection A comprehensive companion to The Gettysburg Approach to Writing & Speaking like a Professional Actual English: English Grammar as Native Speakers Really Use It Gentle French: French Grammar as Native Speakers Really Use It Whatd You Say? / Que Dites-Vous? Fun with homophones, proverbs, expressions, false friends, and other linguistic oddities in English and French Science for the Concerned Citizen: What You Dont Know CAN Hurt You The Little Book of BIG Mistakes The Eighth Decade: Reflections of a Lifetime College-level Writing: The Essential Ten Percent Logical Thinking: The Essential Ten Percent Public Speaking: The Essential Ten Percent Wise Humor: The Essential Ten Percent The Human Body: The Essential Ten Percent Word for Windows: The Essential Ten Percent Reach him at phil.yaffe@yahoo.com

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