"I have a love/hate relationship with PowerPoint. In the right hands, it's a great presentation tool. In the wrong hands (and unfortunately, most usage falls into this category) we are cloning generations of boring slide shows narrated by speakers we barely notice." - Debbie Bailey

Ah, the good old days. For me, those were the days before\rPowerPoint slide shows became the norm for virtually every\rbusiness presentation given in corporate America. I fondly\rremember the days when presenters spoke passionately about\ra subject near and dear to their heart without having to\rdisplay every single thought on a slide. I often reminisce \rback to the time when 80 slides for a 20 minute\rpresentation was NOT the standard, when presenters weren't \rjust slide narrators, when preparing for a presentation \rmeant more than putting together your slide show.

Now don't get me wrong, I know the advantages of using\ra few good slides, however, I also know that too much of a \rgood thing is, well, BAD. I subscribe to Bill Wheless' \rphilosophy about PowerPoint "It's like alcohol in the hands \rof a drunk. What we need is moderation." Somehow, we must \rlearn to use, but not abuse, slides. If we don't, we risk \rlooking and sounding like every other boring business \rpresenter. Worst of all, we become forgettable.

Think about the last presenter who strongly affected you. \rMore than likely that presenter used very few, if any,\rslides. The most memorable presenters rely on their\rdelivery style to make their point, rather than a well\rdesigned slide deck.

When I first began teaching presentation skills more than\r20 years ago, I struggled to convince presenters to\rincorporate the use of visual aids. My how the world has \rchanged.

Today, convincing presenters to rely less on their slides \rand more on their dynamic communication skills is even \rharder. It's almost as if presenters believe that all it \rtakes to deliver a successful presentation is a good slide \rdeck. Unfortunately, when asked to prepare a presentation, \rpresenters spend the vast majority of their time working \ron their slides, rather than on perfecting their delivery \rstyle.

Consider for a moment why political candidates and\rpresidents DON'T use slides. My guess is, they don't want\rto divert any attention away from themselves. They \runderstand what Roger Ailes, author of the famous book "You \rAre the Message" has known for quite some time. "For those \rwho want to succeed, there is only one secret. YOU ARE \rTHE MESSAGE."

Generally, here's what happens when you overuse slides:

1. Your slides lose their ability to make an impact-\rEssentially, slides become the white noise in the\rpresentation, so constant that they are no longer\rnoticeable.

2. The audience focuses on your slides, rather than on\ryou. If 55% of your communication power comes from your\rbody and face (based on the universally accepted research\rby Albert Mehrabian), than NOT having the audience focused\ron you diminishes about half of your POWER as a presenter. \rCan you really afford to cut your personal power in half?

3. You are demoted to the position of slide narrator. The\rslides take center stage and like the narrator of a play,\ryou are the anonymous voice coming from somewhere in the \rbackground.

Just as too many slides can detract from your success as\ra presenter, having a few well designed slides can\rstrengthen your impact. Consider these quick tips designed\rto help improve your use of slides:

1. Develop your presentation first, then determine where a\rvisual might help the audience better understand your\rmessage. This is a much safer approach than developing\ryour slides first.

2. Try to boil your presentation down to six or fewer \rimportant slides that speak to the heart of your message. \rMake sure that each slide you chose complies with the \r6 x 6 rule-no more than six lines of text with six words \ron each line.

3. Better yet, make the impact of your slides visual,\rrather than verbal (words written on slides). The best\rslides arouse the audience visually so take a creative\rapproach to translating words into meaningful pictures.

Rest assured that it's not that I am anti slides-I am\rpro YOU! While slides do serve an important function, even\rthe best designed slide can't compete with the power of\rYOU. YOU are the greatest visual aid of all! Take the\rfocus OFF the slides and put it back where it belongs-\rsquarely on YOU! Invest the time you might have spent on \ryour slides on your delivery practice and rather than fading\rinto sameness, you will STAND APART from the rest!

(c) Debbie Bailey, 2004

Debbie Bailey is a well-regarded Presentation Skills \rTraining Consultant and founder of Trainer2go Inc. \rFor more information about Debbie go to\rhttp://trainer2go.com.