You wouldn't blame Word for a lousy article or a boring
letter. Why blame PowerPoint for a crummy presentation?
Let me get it right out there: Microsoft PowerPoint is an
excellent presentation support tool. PowerPoint's incredible
features and flexibility allow you to incorporate images, video,
and audio to enhance your presentation. It offers an enormous array
of design tools—from Smart Art shapes and graphics to
adaptable color palettes to endless picture treatments. While
designers may poo-poo it, the typical business person can't do
much better.
And yet, people complain constantly about PowerPoint. Why?
Because people—both presenter and audience—confuse the
PowerPoint slides with the presentation. The presentation is what
the presenter says. The slides or videos or music or whatever all
support (there's that word again) the presentation. When done
well (and darn few do this well), the slides use graphical images
to support what a presenter is saying or provide
