Comments on: PowerPoint Design in 2009: Does Design Matter?

By: What I’d like to see in PowerPoint design in 2009 « PowerPoint Tips Blog

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 16:44:07 +0000

[...] Olivia received 40 contributions to her request to write about design in 2009. Read the responses. January 6th, 2009 | Tags: Design, Olivia Mitchell | Category: Design principles, [...]

By: Ranelle Maltas

Ranelle Maltas — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 15:21:28 +0000

Thanks for the summary. I like to see the short version without sorting thru all the talk. My favorite bit of advice I ever got when creating a presentation was to look at each slide as a blank canvas and design each one to fit the point of that particular slide and not the presentation as a whole. Great way to avoid the overall design template.

By: PowerPoint wishlist for 2009 - Update | Craigstrachan.com - Keep talking!

PowerPoint wishlist for 2009 - Update | Craigstrachan.com - Keep talking! — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 13:57:59 +0000

[...] recently blogged about my wishlist for how PowerPoint is used for presentations in 2009. Olivia Mitchell has created a great summary on her website of the viewpoints of the different public speaking [...]

By: Six Minutes

Six Minutes — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 07:11:49 +0000

Best Public Speaking Articles: Weekly Review [2009-01-17]…

On Saturdays, we survey the best public speaking articles from throughout the public speaking blogosphere.
This week’s review features topics including:

a plethora of PowerPoint opinions;
10 Commandments of Storytelling;
Will joining Toastmaster…

By: Olivia Mitchell

Olivia Mitchell — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 20:58:09 +0000

Another option is not to show the bullet-heavy slides at all. Simply have them on your laptop in front of you to cue you – after all that’s what they were designed for.

By: Olivia Mitchell

Olivia Mitchell — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 20:54:18 +0000

Garr Reynolds (PresentationZen), Nancy Duarte (Slideology) and many of the other contributors also emphasis “Content first”. I’ll explore that more in the third post in this series. Olivia

By: Olivia Mitchell

Olivia Mitchell — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 20:48:15 +0000

Hi Robert, yes the paucity of research directly on PowerPoint is amazing given the prevalence of PowerPoint presentations in the business world. Olivia

By: Olivia Mitchell

Olivia Mitchell — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 20:46:19 +0000

Hi Alessandra – yes there’s still a long way to go. But we can change the presentation world – one presentation at a time! Olivia

By: Olivia Mitchell

Olivia Mitchell — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 20:45:22 +0000

Great point Travis. A number of the contributors to this project also emphasise the importance of the message. Your analogy to commercials is particularly apt. Olivia

By: Olivia Mitchell

Olivia Mitchell — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 20:43:08 +0000

George, thank you for your thought-provoking questions. Your statement “the best design always follows function” is interesting. Bullet-point slides are an example of that – the function they are fulfilling is speaker notes – and they’re good for that. The problem is that people who create bullet-point slides have forgotten that the function should be to provide a visual channel to the audience. If they realised that was the function, their slides would improve. Olivia