Presentations, especially those utilizing PowerPoint, are used thousands, if not millions, of times each day in corporations and schools around the world. We present ourselves every day, in a million different ways. Present well, sell your product. Present well, get hired. Present well, win an election. Present well, win over that girl you just met at the bar.
I've come to the troubling conclusion that while presenting plays such a HUGE role in our lives, I've never seen a course offered in any manner that teach the art and skill of presenting. Not to mention, I've never seen a class that teaches effective presentation design. This is obvious, since the state of presentations today is dismal to say the least. How many C-level executives do you know that have trouble changing the font size in PowerPoint? I could name a few...
Graduates are being pumped out of colleges every year. They are expected to just know how to present. Actually, once they got into college they were already expected to know, since many professors require a "final presentation" worth upwards of 50% of your grade. Students must stand in front of a classroom of their peers, hearts pounding, palms sweating, and present their conclusions. Good luck buddy, you're going to need it.
Don't blame it on the kids though. They learned it from their professors! Many teachers today are just as clueless about effective presentation design as their students are. Same goes for upper management. After sitting through a semester of terrible slide design, I asked my professor why he chose to use a mustard yellow background for every single bullet-point ridden slide. (I asked it nicely) His reply, "The yellow background is unexpected and startling, thus, it keeps my students' attention." I was dying to know where he learned that gem. I refrained.
So I'll ask the obvious question...
Why isn't anyone teaching our youth how to present effectively?
The skill of presenting effectively can be an incredible weapon. Without it, you're being dropped in the warzone with just your bare hands. I tell people all the time that with just a little bit of training in effective presenting, you'll be the one with the gun while everyone else is just using their hands. I like your odds in that battle.
But alas, our schools have failed to embrace the necessity for teaching effective presentations. Our youth are destined to fill their slides with bullet points, fail to create a story around their message, rehearse once (an hour before the presentation), and bore their audience to sleep as they read verbatim while staring at the screen. Maybe their low price will be enough to convince their audience to buy. Maybe their connections will be enough to get them hired. Maybe their blue eyes will woo that girl in the bar. Don't bet on it though.
Do you agree? Disagree? I mean, I can't be the only one who has noticed this. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
