Post #132,572
12/29/03 4:14:09 AM
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Powerpoint is very useful, actually.
It's just that too many people who try to use it have actually have no idea what works and what doesn't (and why) though they think they do. But Microsoft threw out the tutorial that came with an older version.
Wade.
Is it enough to love
Is it enough to breathe
Somebody rip my heart out
And leave me here to bleed
| |
Is it enough to die
Somebody save my life
I'd rather be Anything but Ordinary
Please
| -- "Anything but Ordinary" by Avril Lavigne. |
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Post #132,573
12/29/03 4:40:53 AM
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You've been assimilated.
Resistance is futile.
<clippy>
I see you're making a vacuous presentation!
Would you like help with this feature?
</clippy>
Powerpoint has precisely NO features that anyone actually *needs*. It's a completely superfluous piece of software.
In fact, it's worse than that; it's actively harmful. In order to squeeze information onto Powerpoint slides, people reduce complex technical issues down to pureed baby-food bulletpoints, and bad decisions get made as a result.
If I could submit but one code patch to Powerpoint it'd do this: you'd be able to place ONE word or graphic per slide. Let's get back to PEOPLE actually PRESENTING instead of just reading out their slides.
Oh, and it'd kill off that damn paperclip.
Peter
[link|http://www.debian.org|Shill For Hire]
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Post #132,579
12/29/03 5:18:42 AM
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Re: You've been assimilated.
PowerPoint is nice for making documents with randomly placed text and graphics of random size and color and orientation. This is the content of a typical math or physics lecture. Word is far too picky about document structure to be good at that. Try changing the slide layout to portrait, and your perspective will also change.
-drl
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Post #132,612
12/29/03 10:53:36 AM
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I killed Clippy long ago
PowerPoint is an exceptional presentation manager. Best on the market (ouch...thats painful to say).
The >real< problem with PP is that it makes people with NO PRESENTATION SKILLS thnik that they can make a presentation. A point you alluded to with your "patch".
I've frequently included complex information in a powerpoint presentation. If it was necessary to include it, it would be included. The correct decisions were made (of course...thats an "imo" statement if ever there was one).
To give an effective presentation you must understand flow, understand the content and its likely effect on the audience, time of day, proximity to other events that may take mindeshare. Presenting is only about 65% content.
If you push something hard enough, it will fall over. Fudd's First Law of Opposition
It goes in, it must come out.Teslacle's Deviant to Fudd's Law
[link|mailto:bepatient@aol.com|BePatient]
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Post #132,650
12/29/03 2:00:40 PM
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ICLRPD (new thread)
Created as new thread #132649 titled [link|/forums/render/content/show?contentid=132649|ICLRPD]
jb4
shrub\ufffdbish (Am., from shrub + rubbish, after the derisive name for America's 43 president; 2003) n. 1. a form of nonsensical political doubletalk wherein the speaker attempts to defend the indefensible by lying, obfuscation, or otherwise misstating that facts; GIBBERISH. 2. any of a collection of utterances from America's putative 43rd president. cf. BULLSHIT
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Post #132,702
12/29/03 10:44:39 PM
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Your attitude is blocking your vision.
We use PowerPoint at church for - guess what - presentation graphics. Predominantly song words, but there are other things, too. For the relatively minimalist stuff we throw up on the data projector, PowerPoint is almost perfect. It's general purpose and gets out of the way when you need to (yes, we've turned the office annoyance off). If we never referred to it by its name, nobody would know we were using it! Yes, that's how atypical our presentation graphics are. We so very rarely use bulleted lists.
And if I could find the colour palette feature in OpenOffice, I would recommend the switch, primarily because it will save money.
Wade.
Is it enough to love
Is it enough to breathe
Somebody rip my heart out
And leave me here to bleed
| |
Is it enough to die
Somebody save my life
I'd rather be Anything but Ordinary
Please
| -- "Anything but Ordinary" by Avril Lavigne. |
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Post #132,704
12/29/03 11:00:13 PM
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Re: Your attitude is blocking your vision.
The real problem is giving bad talks based on prepared visual material. I literally could not sit through a class that was conducted by overhead slides. The problem is, the speaker simply mouths the summary without having a coherent presentation in mind. In the days of chalkboards and tear-off markerpads, you used doodles and nostrums to punctuate what you were saying, but the talks could have stood alone without the visuals. Now people just stand there and drone on while pointing out bullets.
-drl
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Post #132,707
12/29/03 11:07:29 PM
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Yes: but We Don't Have That Problem.
Also, I've been working with PowerPoint for years and know why bad presentations are bad. That's why I've put my hand up to offer technical expertise on how to use it.
Wade.
Is it enough to love
Is it enough to breathe
Somebody rip my heart out
And leave me here to bleed
| |
Is it enough to die
Somebody save my life
I'd rather be Anything but Ordinary
Please
| -- "Anything but Ordinary" by Avril Lavigne. |
|
Post #132,578
12/29/03 5:12:31 AM
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I use it..
..as a math scratchpad, where each slide is like a whiteboard - hold my tongue! - chalkboard.
I find it more or less useless in its common form. You aren't forced to use stupid bulleted lists.
Lately I use Lyx the way I once used PowerPoint.
-drl
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