Military 'Death By PowerPoint'

June 2010

The New York Times ran an interesting article on April 26 about the use of PowerPoint by our country's military, and apparently how it's driving more than a few of them crazy.

Part of the reason, according to the article, is a creeping tendency on the part of briefers to design slides that look like this:


From The New York Times

"When we understand that slide, we'll have won the war," General Stanley McChrystal is quoted as saying, followed a bit later by Gen. David Petraeus describing PowerPoint briefings as "agony."


Of course, you don't need to be a member of the military in order to experience an insomnia-curing PowerPoint presentation; from practically any boardroom in America you can hear the gentle 'thump' of sleepy heads hitting the table midway through yet another epic slideshow.

Microsoft has a Website that breaks down 12 tips for creating better presentations. "Stay in control," it advises. "Start by outlining your presentation in Office Word." But if the Times article is any indication, creating a PowerPoint presentation that's effective may require only a few steps: keep your presentation simple and your diagrams uncluttered; and realize that some real-world situations don't necessarily squeeze well onto a slide.