PPT, full name Power Point, is one of the three Microsoft office office suites, which is not only a daily skill that many workplace professionals must master, but also the focus of many knowledge payment programs training.
There is even a complete industry chain closed loop around PPT. Searching for the keywords “PPT training”, “PPT production” and “PPT material” respectively, we got more than 20 million search results.
However, a study by Harvard University shows that PPT is not only useless, but also a waste of Time and money. Are many people going to collapse? Or do many people feel the same way?
In 2007, John Sweller, the inventor of cognitive load theory, conducted a study by psychologist at the University of New South Wales. The central idea of the study was that when you make a point and then repeat it over and over again, your point is actually quickly forgotten. It’s not that your point is boring or anything, it’s that people can’t do both listening and reading at the same time.
Forbes cites a study by Harvard University that shows the whole concept of PPTs is “clearly wrong” and that “online audiences believe that PPTs are less effective than oral presentations without graphic support “.
In other words, if you don’t have a PPT, your audience will be better able to understand and be satisfied with your presentation, so isn’t that a waste of your time? Also PPT makes you and your team less intelligent, as those who think PPT makes you stupid point out, arguing that.
“PowerPoint is known for its ease of use and efficiency, but it actually masks a deeply disturbing but little-known shift in human communication. We take for granted that slides, bulleted items, and flashy diagrams have spawned a new way of communicating, and that these false cause-and-effect relationships, sloppy and loose logical theories, superficial data, and so-called presentation techniques have replaced traditional tools of persuasion and argument, leading to the degradation of language and the dumbing down of society.”
These PPTs can be mind-numbingly confusing, which aptly explains the confused thinking and sameness that pervades the business world today, according to the report. Especially when people are making and presenting 30 million PPTs every day, which is unimaginable.
This is the result of the study, and if you stop using PPTs and instead write a summary or outline as a memo at the end of your presentation when needed, you will find that you can communicate better with others and also save a lot of time.
Some readers have argued that the Harvard psychology department’s study is invalid because its research was funded by a competitor to PPT, but inc emphasizes that the results of the study are not swayed by the sponsor of the funding, which is what happened, and by the way, the results of the study were also unfavorable to the sponsor of the study.
It is no coincidence that Bezos, the founder of Amazon and the richest man in the world, thinks so too. Speaking at a 2018 leadership forum, Bezos said, “Many, many years ago, we banned PowerPoint presentations at Amazon, and it was probably the smartest thing we ever did.”
To replace PPTs, Amazon created a new way to conduct meetings: for about 30 minutes after the meeting begins, each attendee sits and reads a “six-page, narrative memo” in silence.
Participants were encouraged to take notes, and when the reading time was over, they began discussing the memo’s contents.
The reason for the group reading, Bezos said, is to prevent “executives from bluffing in meetings as if they’ve already read the memo, because we’re busy, so you have to actually take the time to read the memo.”
In his 2017 letter to shareholders, Bezos said, “Amazon’s tradition is that the author’s name never appears in the memo. Memos come from the entire team.” “These great memos are written and re-written, shared with colleagues who are asked to improve their work, set aside a few days, and then re-edited with new ideas.” “There’s no way they could have done it in a day or two.”
To make a good PPT, many people will spend longer than writing a word or memo, and some speakers will even revise the PPT a minute before the launch takes the stage. but what about what these PPTs actually bring to the table? What do you think of the PPTs that you can’t live without every day?
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