Ryan MacMillan

At RMM we join Edward Tufte in believing that “power corrupts but PowerPoint corrupts absolutely.” Where possible, we’ve done away with it. We’ve managed to reduce our credentials presentation to a short, friendly conversation. Most of our presentations are done using little more than a speaker script, a little rehearsal, and some handouts. However, we also understand that there are times where some kind of overhead presentation is essential.

Over the years we’ve collected useful bits of advice and example presentations, and we’re finally developing something that looks like it works. I thought it might be friendly to share some of this material. This isn’t an exhaustive list, by any means. If you want to know more, you should really read the Presentation Zen blog.

1) 10 slides, 20 minutes, 30 point font.

First off, the Guy Kawasaki approach: do everything in a top ten format. That way, they’ll know how much longer they have to listen to you.

2) Russell Davies: 5 Things About PowerPoint

• Find key images
• Get away from the screen
• Don’t write in Note View
• Print it out and stick it on the wall
• Keep cutting it in half

3) Inspiration: Dick Hart

Dick Hardt’s brilliant Identity 2.0 presentation from OSCON 2005 is a combination of Pecha Kucha and the Takahashi method. Everything we know (and everything that everyone else says) goes out the window.

4) Clive Atkinson’s Presentation Script

We develop every presentation (whether we’re using slides or not) as a script skeleton - something we learned from Clive Atkinson, but that will be familiar to anyone who’s read Pyramid Principle.

The artificial structure really helps us condense and communicate complicated ideas. Here’s a link to RMM’s Script template.

5) The endearingly nutty “How to Use PowerPoint”
University of Wisconsin’s Nick Dvorak is worth a read for a better understanding of the readability consideration of on-screen presentations.