PowerPoint: Why I disagree with Jeff Bezos

By John Thangaraj
In April this year, Jeff Bezos banned PowerPoint at Amazon, instead implementing ‘narratively structured six-page memos’ as a more viable option for corporate communication. The world cheered. I cringed.

In a seminal Wired magazine article entitled ‘PowerPoint is Evil’, Yale professor Edward Tufte memorably opined that, “Power corrupts. PowerPoint corrupts absolutely”.

The fact is, everyone hates PowerPoint. But I don’t. And I’d like to explain why.

Let’s begin with a quick examination of PowerPoint’s many perceived faults — it’s boring, it’s ugly, it encourages data dumping, it’s superficial, it’s too detailed, it’s a boardroom killer. Hence, the charmingly evocative ‘Death by PowerPoint’ cliché. But here’s the thing. Blaming PowerPoint for a coma-inducing meeting is akin to blaming a hand saw for a particularly uncomfortable chair. Because ultimately, PowerPoint is just a tool, nothing more, nothing less. It’s what you do with it that makes all the difference.

Lest you get the wrong idea, allow me to clarify. I dislike many things about PowerPoint, primary among which are its truly ugly design templates. But what I dislike most of all about it is the way it’s used — often as a shield, an impenetrable barrier of bullet points and data behind which you, the presenter, can safely hide.

The irony, of course, is that PowerPoint was never designed to be a shield. It was designed to be a weapon. This promise is implicit in its very name – it helps you make your point with power. In the right hands, PowerPoint is a formidable weapon, one that can transform the mundane into the magical.

Unlocking the true potential of PowerPoint begins with a simple yet crucial realisation — you are the hero of your presentation, not your slides. The most important part of the word ‘presentation’ are its first seven letters; you aren’t just ‘writing slides’, you’re giving your audience a gift, of your words, of your thoughts, of yourself.

Writing a great presentation requires the same level of thought and consideration you would put into selecting a great gift. Who are you writing it for? What are their interests and passions? Their likes and dislikes? How formal or informal is your relationship with them? How do you plan on packaging it? Does it look amazing? And finally, timing — when you give it matters almost as much as what you give.

Perhaps the biggest misconception about PowerPoint is that it is a tool for information dissemination. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

At its core, PowerPoint is a visual tool, not a verbal one. Which is why it’s widescreen, and features ‘design ideas’ rather than ‘phrasing suggestions’ as an in-built prompt. It’s designed for big, high-resolution pictures and small, pithy yet powerful words. It’s designed for enhancement, not explanation. To give your words and your thoughts added weight, impact and context. Not to replicate the words coming out of your mouth and in doing so, compete with you for the attention of your audience.

Most importantly, PowerPoint is designed to move your story ahead at the right pace, with the right pauses and with the right emphasis. This is key because it sums up the most fundamental truth about making a presentation: storytelling is everything. Every great presentation, like every great story, has a plot. It has a build-up, a second act, and a dynamic and interesting climax. PowerPoint gives you all the tools you need to tell your story, your way. To bring theatricality and drama to your presentation. To ensure your audience sees what you want them to see, when you want them to see it. A PowerPoint slide is, quite literally, limited only by your imagination.

Seeing a great presenter taking his audience through a masterfully written PowerPoint presentation can be a mesmerising, game-changing experience. Presenter and presentation combine to deliver a seamlessly unified story. The audience hangs on to every word, eager to discover what’s next. And you finally begin to see the infinite, transcendental power of PowerPoint.

(The author is the national planning director, FCB Ulka)