Ditch PowerPoint for the User Generated Presentation?

May 11, 2007

Ditch PowerPoint for the User Generated Presentation?

Fellow Social Media Today member Maggie Fox recently delivered the first-ever User Generated Presentation at the CapCHI 2007 workshop “Web 2.0: The Human Web” in Ottawa, ON, Canada. She discusses some important points about building a user-generated presentation:

1. Don’t start with PowerPoint, because that will get the group into passive mode.
2. Use a collaborative tool to record the session.
3. Don’t forget to cover the basics. (actually, I used this as a backup, borrowing a list of questions Brian had posted on his blog in case the conversation stalled; we didn’t actually get to those).
(Source: Maggie Fox - The first-ever User Generated Presentation)

Nathan Gillatt discusses this further on his blog, and Garr Reynolds looks at this is a post aptly titled, “Is it finally time to ditch PowerPoint?”. Both conclude that it’s not time to ditch PowerPoint the tool, but “PowerPoint” the method. For far too long people have made presentations using PowerPoint that are poorly developed, essentially speaker’s notes on screen. My Zen Aesthetic presentation looks at the problem of underdeveloped presentations:

The misguided use of PowerPoint is a classic case of the scope and design of a project being dictated by the technology, when it should be the other way around. The User-generated presentation is an excellent idea because what’s covered by the presentation can be decided by the audience, making it much more relevant than the boring slide decks we’ve come to associate with a “PowerPoint” presentation. When you build a user-generated presentation, wiki can be an ideal tool for gathering input and collaborating on the content of your slides.

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6 Comments, Comment or Ping

maggie fox

Hi Stewart - I like the wiki idea, because as you know from the follow-up post, the tool we chose wasn’t quite up to the task.

May 11th, 2007
Stewart Mader

Hi Maggie - I’m thinking of trying it - getting a group or even an audience to collaborate on the content, then I’ll apply my design “secret sauce” to build something with visual impact. One of the great things about the concept of the User Generated Presentation is that it shows the distinction between developing the content of the presentation and designing the visual presentation slides so they illustrate the message instead of looking like speaker’s notes.
Stewart

May 11th, 2007
Charlie

As a matter or course now, whenever I have to sit through a powerpoint demonstration, I get the powerpoint slides afterwards and put them on our wiki.
Wrong way round I know but hopefully this will get people in the habit of using the wiki

May 11th, 2007
maggie fox

Stewart - I’d love to see what you come up with, as I’m still searching for the perfect combination of form and function!

May 14th, 2007

How to avoid Death by PowerPoint : teaching tools - May 12th, 2007
content to be different » Blog Archive » I told you it was evil - May 14th, 2007

Reply to “Ditch PowerPoint for the User Generated Presentation?”

Stewart Mader presenting at Northern Voice 2008

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Andrea Baker said: "Hi Dean, you are right, while we don't have the name cache of a big tech firm here in DC that stands out. Google does have a DC satellite office, so that's a start and all the big companies have HQs around here. Northrup Grumman, Massive (ahem) I mean General Dynamics, CACI, Mantech. All these" on Is Washington D.C. the Next Major Technology Mecca?
pfctdayelise said: "Good post. However I think it is difficult for the "mediumness" of wiki not to affect its use as a tool. It can be convenient even as a sole editor, to use a wiki as a tool to write an essay. You get lightweight markup and automatic revision control. But if there are other editors, I" on When is a Wiki a Tool, and When is it a Medium? Or Both?
Dean Thrasher said: "The are lots of techies in DC. Many of them work quietly for the government -- either directly in federal agencies or indirectly for one of the many consulting firms and systems integrators in the area. (Hi Nate! Hi Andrea!) What the capital area doesn't have is the high-profile tech start-up community of Silicon Valley, Seattle," on Is Washington D.C. the Next Major Technology Mecca?
Johan Jenefeldt said: "To be honest, I don't think todays teachers are able to teach students how to write blogs or other social media. Even if they understand the importance of doing so, I don't think they know how to. Maybe the other way around - Students teaching the teachers?" on When is a Wiki a Tool, and When is it a Medium? Or Both?
Mark said: "I think that this point needs to be significantly amplified. Wiki changes notions about participation and flips the action paradigm on end. With a wiki, your base level activity is action, you are assumed to edit anything you see fit. Action becomes naturally assumed, this means that you are constantly deciding not" on When is a Wiki a Tool, and When is it a Medium? Or Both?