Why PowerPoint Presentations are becoming the Premier Tool for Group Education

20 years ago every university lecture theatre in the country would have been run entirely as a “chalk and talk” affair. Being intellectuals, university professors have seen the proven benefits of well designed power-point presentations and so these presentations have become the norm. Even the printouts given to students are often identical copies of the power-point slides. If your wondering why this simple tool is becoming a global phenomenon the read on.

Easier to Digest: When your average Joe is presented with alot of written information at once they can’t help but skim read it, absorbing very little of the information. Similarly, it is hard to concentrate whilst receiving constant verbal information.  Slow, step by step release of information can be used to stop skim reading and maximise information absorption.

Easy to Emphasise: Highlighting a single word or a sentence simply by altering the font (size, colour, or boldness) is an effective and quick way of showing a points importance and thus increase how memorable the information is.

Maintaining Concentration: Although the animation option may seem like a childish distraction it can markedly improve your presentations – for example, using the fade-in animation means that you can only having the information you are focussing on present, this forces people to maintain their concentration. Other tools like simple sound effects and moving animation can also improve audience awareness, as well as further emphasising importance.

Easy and Cheap: PowerPoint presentations are easy to design and easy to present. The simpler slides act as an anchor for the memory – prompting you to remember your lines. Furthermore, all that is required for an effective presentation, is a well designed selection of slides, a willing audience, a laptop and a projection device. The lack of printouts required means than money is saved on paper and ink and less planning is needed before your presentation. In addition to this, you can dive straight into the presentation, without having to worry about giving out handouts – this is both professional and time effective.

Transferable: A good PowerPoint presentation will speak for its self, so anyone can do it with a little forethought. This is excellent if you have someone in a different location who needs to impart the same information, if you change role or if you are unable to do the presentation for whatever reason.

Changeable: The PowerPoint software is extraordinarily easy to use and so if some information becomes outdated or if a new development needs to be discussed, additional slides can be added in minutes.

This article was written by Jacob Catt on behalf of Computer Training Solutions – who offer PowerPoint training programmes that are perfect for improving the quality of your presentations.