I remember full well when Microsoft PowerPoint was released. And everyone loved it as it removed the drudgery of handmaking presentation cards or alternatively, using the expensive method of copious quantities of colour slides with a projector.
I became very au fait with the program for two reasons; one was that the company I worked for at the time had a contract to create video training tapes for Microsoft Windows, and Office that of course included PowerPoint.
Secondly, I worked out using PowerPoint to make imagery for those training videos was faster, more flexible and efficient than the current way it was being done with a bespoke graphics package.
Over the years, my own use of the program has faded to – let’s see – oh nil. For the stuff I do, either I use the native capabilities of DaVinci Resolve, Techsmith’s excellent Snagit or when needed for higher end stuff, the venerable Adobe Photoshop.
If anything, I have a disdain these days for PowerPoint. Not that it isn’t a capable program because of course it is, but more that it has ended up in the hands of people who have absolutely no idea of what the best way to use it.
As we all know, ehttps://www.techsmith.com/specially since the COVID thing, a lot of PowerPoint presentations these days are shown via Zoom, Teams or other teleconferencing systems. And used very, very badly I have to say.
In the early days of the web, many early developers considered a company’s website should mimic previously paper based marketing paraphernalia, and so the term “brochure-ware” became popular.
These days I have lost track of the number or presentations I have attended electronically where the specifications of a camera or other device is shown in a PowerPoint slide, as if it was a brochure. Brochure-ware is alive and well, just in a different electronic format.
There is no way you can do this effectively, and nothing is guaranteed to lose my interest faster.
Along with horrible colour schemes and badly designed templates, way too much text on screen along with a multitude of typefaces and sizes actually drags your presentation down – it doesn’t enhance it, trust me.
I do not pretend to be an expert graphic designer by any stretch, but I do know less is more when it comes to this stuff.
And while on this note.
In this sphere especially of video, photography and creativity, nothing but nothing will replace a hands-on demonstration of a device. Kick the doors and slam the tyres if you will.
Being told a lens has such and such a focal length, and that the ISO of a camera goes up to this maximum value or that it weighs 10% less than its predecessor model via a PowerPoint slide is just no substitute.
Here’s a tip: I know it ain’t ever going to happen, but for the PR companies reading this, when it comes to a product launch I’d like to know if you have any benchmarks as to whether a hands on launch where attendees get to play with cameras say, talk to product managers face-to-face and evaluate side-by-side, as compared to a Zoom or Teams launch?
I am sure every reviewer would agree that we better serve the interests of our readers by the former, and by trickle down, give the vendors a better coverage. Up front your costs may be higher, but the results I’d suggest will be much greater.
