PowerPoint Do’s & Don’ts
“DO” keep your PowerPoint presentations short, because:
As a passive delivery mechanism, PowerPoint is a training tool 
that entrances viewers, just as television and
movies do. TV has been proven
to slow down human brain waves
and thus our abilities to process,
think and learn. Long, and/or uninterrupted PowerPoint presentations will not only slow
down your trainees responsive-
ness, they might even put them
to sleep!
“DON’T” use PowerPoint for groups of less than 25 people, because:
- It’s impersonal
- It’s not tactile
- It overpowers the room, the trainees and the trainer
“DO” create PowerPoint slides that have more “white space” than content, because
- Having less than 9 words on each slide will keep the trainee’s attention on what you are saying vs. on what they are reading
- Written and visual cues are powerful mnemonics devices
- A picture truly can be worth 1,000 words
“DON’T” use PowerPoint if you want your trainees to really focus on the learning, because:
- You will end up supporting the PowerPoint when the PowerPoint should be supporting the training
- It’s easy to get tangled up stepping around the PowerPoint projector while juggling your notes, remote conttrol and pointer.
- If you get in between the projector and the screen, the people being trained will get irritated. You’ll see the same sort of response that you’d get it you blocke a 6 year old’s view of their favorite TV show.
“DO” ensure that Your PowerPoint presentations are well designed, because:
- If your trainees can’t read the slides, due to small or complex fonts, animation that’s too fast or poor contrast choices, such as yellow type on a green background, the value of the presentation gets lost.
- Overusing animation, clip art or word art distracts trainees from the message you are trying to convey
- Constantly changing or poorly themed backgrounds diminish the value of your training.
“DON’T” use PowerPoint in interactive training situations, because:
- Overhead slides and flip charts do a better job of maintaining a trainee’s attention. You can cover a portion of an overhead slide, or flip or fold a flip chart page to direct your trainees attention to a key piece of material.
- Using Powerpoint in this way is challenging. It requires a trainer to create many extra slides and know their layout well enough to be able to navigate flawlessly to whichever slide contains the few words that their trainees need to see in any given moment. Is it worth the time it takes to do this? And even if it takes the time, will this approach meet your training objectives? We discuss this topic in greater depth in other articles.
And now that we’ve shared some of our
“dos” and “don’ts” that relate to PowerPoint
presentations, please add to this list by
sharing your thoughts. We welcome your
comments!
Flip, Write or Slide?
As promised, we’re going to take a look at the best and worst applications of three popular training tools: Flip charts, White Boards, Overhead and PowerPoint Slides. Because all of these training aids are used in similar ways, I will speak of them collectively.
The First “Worst:” Flip Charts, White Boards and Slides that have too many words on each page
When there are too many words on a page, the trainees will read them rather than listening to what their trainer is saying
The Best Flip Charts, White Boards and Slides have 5 words or less on each page.
Each page presented should have enough words on it to trigger the dialog associated with it, and no more. Why?
- The trainees cannot make any useful preconclusions from such a limited amount of information, so their focus will be on the training and the trainer, where it belongs.
- Information Processing Theories* have found that the capacity of human thinking is limited. Short-term memory can only hold 5 to 9 meaningful units of information, (that’s seven plus or minus two). “Information units” can be numbers, words, symbols, or pictures. Human memory relies on one thing linking to another, such as mnemonics, which we discuss in greater depth in The Best & Worst Training Tools. Story telling also supports memory, as do visual and tactile links. For example, sharing recollections or looking at photographs, videos, postcards or souvenirs from a family holiday often brings back memories we had forgotten.
The Best Uses of Flip Chart, White Board and Slide Presentations
Effective trainers do not read what’s writtten on their slides/pages to their trainees. Instead, they deliver material related to the “cue” words, which act as memory aids. Likewise their presentation handouts contain only the few words displayed on each flip chart, white board or slide page, along with a space where trainees can write their own notes.
When the trainer has finished presenting a segment of information, they should summarize by saying, “The material we’ve just covered has five key points. Who got all five?” If no one can aswer correctly, the trainer should go on to quiz the trainees, and question them until all five points have been identified. This approach results in the trainees benefitting from a faster embedding of (and deepening of) the learning.
They may not find it as comfortable as a typical training where they are asked to absorb material without thinking or questioning. But those who really want to learn the material being presented will greatly appreciate what feels like an instant uptake of knowledge.
Here’s a comparison. If you think of a hotel swimming pool, the participants in an ineffective training session would be represented by the people sitting with their legs in the water or lying on lounge chairs at the side of the pool. They have gone to the pool but they’re not actually swimming. Every hotel pool also has a few people playing around in the shallow end. In the training room, these are the people who participate nominally, and tell others afterward that the training gave them a good break from their regular business duties. The approach we advocate, where each piece of learning is embedded and deepened immediately, represents the hotel guests who use the diving board to plunge into the deep end of the pool, before beginning their laps.
The Second “Worst:” Trainers who READ what’s written on their flip charts, white boards or slides to their trainees. This could be because:
- They do have not have a training manual that gives them the short cues to display that relate to the learning they they are delivering.
- The trainer lacks the training requited to use or develop a training manual.
- The trainer regularly puts too many words on their slides and they know from experience that the trainees will read them and ignore anything they say that is not on the slide/page.
- The trainer doesn’t want to take the time to learn how to use an existing training manual or develop a new one.
Clearly, flip charts, white boards and slides are useful training tools that can be used to create the mnemonics, or memory links, that support effective learning. They can do this using just words, just pictures, or both. But they should not become is the centerpiece of the training, because their role is to support the training process, not take it over.
If you are a frequent user of PowerPoint Slides, read “PowerPoint Do’s & Dont’s” to see how your presenation style measures up. If we’ve missed anything that you know helps or diminishes effective PowerPoint presentations, be sure to tell us by commenting.
* George A Miller, 1956
The Best & Worst Training Tools
Does it matter whether the trainer you choose prefers to use:
- Overhead or PowerPoint Slides?
- Flip-Charts or Whiteboards?
- Mind Maps or Flow Diagrams?
- Charts or Graphs?
- Video or Music Clips?
- Role Plays or Games?
- Quizzes or Puzzles?
- Flash Cards?
The types of training tools that your trainer selects is unimportant What matters is how skillfully they use the tools they choose.
If you come out of your training program feeling invigorated and eager to apply what you’ve leaned, chances are you’ve been treated to a savvy trainer. One who knew how to use training tools to educe learning.
Educe is one of my favourite words, but as it isn’t used in general conversation, people often ask me what it means. Educe is the root of the word educate. Educe means, “to draw forth or bring out, as something potential or latent; elicit; develop.” (If you like this word as much as I do and want to start using it, it’s pronounced “i-dyoos.”)
In this series of articles on training tools, we’re going to look at how each tool is commonly used, then contrast that with how each tool can be used most effectively. When training tools are used well, they enable the trainer to enter the mind of the trainee and ensure that the desired learning takes place.
We’ll begin by looking at flipcharts, whiteboards, overhead and PowerPoint slides. These training tools are the devices trainers use to create the mnemonics that support specific learning. Now THERE’S a funky word, mnemonics. (It’s pronounced “ni-mon-iks.”) Mnemonics is “the process or technique of improving or developing the memory.” While mnemonics are often verbal, they can also be visual, kinesthetic or auditory. Verbal mnemonics can be short poems, special words or phrases that help a person remember something. here are some examples that you will recognize instantly.
Young children learn the alphabet with the use of the “ABC” song - it’s a mnemonics device. Older children learn grammar with the help of this mnemonics phrase, “I before E except after C.” And the following mnemonics aids in remembering the order in which you will find the planets in our solar system, when you start at the Sun and work your way out. “My Very Easy Method Just Set Up Nine Planets” (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto.)
Short stories and corny jokes can also act as memory aids. Rather than offer you a corny joke example that you’d rather NOT have lodged in your memory. Here’s a short story example instead.
Because people often have trouble pronouncing my company name, I tell them what MIBOSO means in order to help them remember how to say and spell it. Quite simply, it’s the first two letters of “mind.” body” and “soul” fused together to form an acronym that represents our holistic approach to personal branding. It’s important for our clients to remember our name, because the website that they need to log into is www.miboso.com. It’s also important for us, because when it is easy for our clients to remember our name, it’s easier for them to refer other people to us.
Read Flip, Write or Slide? to learn the best and worst applications of Flipcharts, Whiteboards and Overhead or PowerPoint Slides. PowerPoint Do’s & Don’ts covers the best and wost uses of that popular training tool. Go on to Map, Flow, Chart or Graph to find out about the do’s and don’ts of using mind maps, flow diagrams, charts and graphs in a training. These articles will be followed with others that focus on the use and misuse of Video or Music Clips, Role Plays or Games, Quizzes or Puzzles and Flash Cards
Good Averages vs. Top Players
In the sports world, it is generally assumed that the more hits, strikes or goals a player scores, the better that player is. A baseball player with a batting average of 300 would be considered better than a player with a 250 average.
But let’s stop for a minute an take a look at what those batting averages actually measure. A batting average of 300 means that the payer missed hitting seven out of every ten balls. That’s right, a player with a “good” batting average misses 70% of the balls that are pitched to him!
Understanding how averages work makes it clear that success in baseball cannot be measured by the number of balls a player hits (or misses). We’ll need to look at a broader scale of proficiencies when assessing how well a player is performing.
What other playing skills are baseball players expected to execute well? Obviously they need to be able to pitch and catch competently. They need to be able to collaborate with their team mates in order to execute planned plays. They also need to be able to capitalize on unexpected opportunities that arise during the play of the game.
But what are some of the less obvious skills that can transform an “average” player into a top draft pick?
They could have a convincing ability to “miss” enough pitches to:
- Fatigue the pitcher.
- Figure out the signals that the pitcher and catcher are using to communicate plays
- Create doubt in the pitcher’s and catcher’s minds regarding their pitching strategy and technique
Clearly none of these skills will help a ball player’s batting average. But they may well be the sorts of skills that lead a player to a long and lucrative athletic career. Or to a World Series winning team.
This example demonstrates the importance of selecting the trainer who delivers all of the individual elements that you need to weave together to form a well rounded proficiency. For even the baseball player with the most stellar batting and catching skills won’t be in the game for very long if he fails to pitch in as a team player.
Practice Makes Perfect
In Aids for Training, we established that the best trainers are those who are well trained and able to effectively use a variety of training tools. They don’t use them in order to make their training sessions more interesting (though they inevitably do). The best trainers select training aids that enable them to impart skills to their trainees. They focus on training aids that actually facilitate learning, so that by the end of the training session, the trainee is able to demonstrate that they have gained proficiency in the skill being taught.
On the other hand, rather than zeroing in on the most effective training tools, poor trainers default to picking the training aids that they like and know how to use.
We also disclosed that in the training world there is a prevalent false belief. It is, “If I tell you this, you’ll get it.” This untruth has a sister belief that is just as widespread and equally wrong. This second false belief is, “People don’t have to practice to gain competence.”
Unfortunately, when corporations and individuals go through the processes of choosing a training program, their decision making processes are all too often driven by the question, “How little can I get away with doing [to learn this skill].” This is why the “learn while you sleep” training programs of the 80’s sold so well. People want the results without doing the work.
Practice takes time, and most people (and the organizations that employ them) don’t want to spend the time practicing that’s required to truly build a skill. And so to contradict the old axiom “practice makes perfect” (which has long been supported by music, foreign language and athletics training programs, to name just a few) the false belief, “I don’t have to practice to gain competence” was born.
It’s an odd belief, because the male dominated business world is aware that sports teams spend about ten times as much time practicing as they do competing. Yet when it comes to personal or professional skills training, it’s expected that professionals pick up new skills without any practice at all.
I learned this myself, as a fledgling entrepreneur, straight out of the corporate nest, when I enrolled in a course to learn a web authoring software program called Dreamweaver. The training I chose was a three day trainer-led program conducted in a classroom setting at an IT training facility that cost $1,250. My assumption was that after the training was complete,I would know how to use the software.
Throughout the program I was a diligent trainee:
- Attentive in class
- Following the trainer’s every instruction
- Reading the training manual at breaks
- Completing all of my homework assignments.
During the training, I felt confident that the 
learning I had invested in was occurring. And yet on the fourth day, as I sat at my computer and looked at the the Dreamweaver toolbars and menus, I drew a total blank. Over the next few days, it became clear that I had developed no proficiency in the program whatsoever. In hindsight, it’s clear that because I merely followed directions in class, and was not given time to practice the skills being taught, the learning had not “taken.”
The instructor had told us to call him if we had questions after the program. I would have if I could have formulated one. Where I had expected to find proficiency was an echoing void. Without practice, none of the learning took root. Consequently, I was unable to develop my website, as planned.
Ineffective training costs—on two fronts. I needed to invest MORE time, energy and money into sourcing and paying a knowlegeable web developer. I also needed to invest additional training dollars in learning the fundamentals.
How I wish that training had been formatted differently! I would have beneffited so much more if it had been prepared by professional trainers with expertise in anchoring learning (as opposed to technicians with software knowledge). Knowledge dissemination is not training. Argh!
If I had not been an A student and also excelled in a number of professional skills training programs, it would have been easy to feel like a failure. Not the intent of training! And there’s an expensive, lingering cost to remotivating oneself or employees.
99.9% of what passes for training is someone “telling” someone something, not instructing them on anything. Be sure you source a trainer who is able to deliver the goods you’re paying for.
And now that we’ve established what separates excellent training skills from those that are merely average, stay with us to read and comment on our overviews of the typical versus optimal uses of training tools.
Aids for Training
Good listening skills are an important contributor to successful interpersonal relationships. But where should the ambitious corporate executive or independent professional turn, when they want to develop better listening skills?
Training Options Include:
- Book or audio book training
- On-line tutorials
- Trainer-led groups
- Personal Coaching
How can you identify which training option will be the most effective learning approach for you? Your decision will be driven by the amounts of time, effort and money that you are willing to invest. Other factors that influence your training choices are discussed in Is Video Training for You?
When you have identified your preferred training option, you’ll need to source a specific training format. If you choose a trainer-led group, you will have a few more options to consider. They include:
- Classroom Training
- Local or Destination Conferences
- Local or Destination Workshops or Seminars
When you choose to learn using books, audio books or on-line tutorials, the success of the training depends on you, the trainee. When working with a personal coach, the best outcomes are achieved by the coachees who devote the most effort and attention to the coaching process. But in trainer-led training formats, the success of the training depends on the trainer. Who’s Training You? talks about the sorts of training that trainers do and don’t receive. Clearly, the trainer you want at the front of your training room is someone who IS well trained. But not just in instructional design and presentation. The very best trainers also have training, and a high level of expertise, in the use of training tools. The majority of trainers do not.
Good Trainers:
- Spend more time asking questions than lecturing
- Know how to use training aids effectively
- Use training tools to build the interactivity that enables trainees to grasp and internalize learning
- Require trainees to demonstrate that the learning has “stuck”
Bad Trainers:
- Inundate their trainees with information
- Spend more time lecturing than asking questions
- Believe that all that’s required to transfer knowledge from Point A (their manuals) to Point B (their trainees) is simply presenting them with the material
- Hold an enduring false belief that says, “If I tell you this, you’ll get it”
Talking Is Not Training!
I think we’ve all endured more than enough training sessions where the knowledge presented does not stray from either the head of the instructor or the materials they present. We’ve been talked to but not trained.
One such instructor was my university Statistics Professor. He not only wrote the textbook we were assigned, but had the impressive ability to rapidly cover the three massive whiteboards at the front of the lecture hall with complex equations. And sometimes he covered all three with one incredibly long equation. Or at least that’s what I think he was doing. You see, I had no idea WHAT he was talking about. It was clear that HE knew. And it was equally clear that he was unable to impart his knowledge to his students. He told us. He showed us. But we still didn’t “get it.” From the outside, this professor looked like the ideal instructor. He knew his subject, inside and out. He wrote the textbook. But he was unable to effectively facilitate learning.
As Easy as Slicing Bread?
Effective learning and development requires far more than mere instruction. Imagine “telling” someone how to slice bread. You might direct them to “pick up a knife and cut the bread.” You may even take the time to tell them which knife to use, and describe it so they can find it easily. What you cannot “instruct” or “tell” is how they need to stand to put their shoulder into the cutting process. Or how it will feel in their body when they are doing it correctly versus incorrectly. The technique behind the skill needs to be experienced. It cannot be instructed in a way that connects the trainee with the experience.
Measuring Effectiveness
The effectiveness of any training can be measured. Simply observe a structured demonstration of the trainee effectively using their newly acquired skill. They must be able to demonstrate the skill. But they likely won’t be able to instruct another to do the same. In most cases, that’s alright, as instructing is the trainer’s skill. And if the trainee took the training to gain personal proficincy, their mission will be accomplished. But if the trainee took the training in order to train others, those “others” can expect to recieve more pain than gain.
Let’s look at another example that’s a little more complex than bread slicing. Our Personal Branding program combines instruction with interactive and experiential training. This approach enables our clients to develop the “technique” they need to successfully bring their personal brands to life. But we don’t only teach our clients how to build brands that will serve them today. They count on us to equip them with the “techniques” they need to grow and evolve their personal brands over time, so that they can achieve the success and fulfillment they desire. This is one of core reasons that our Personal Branding Clients choose to work with us.
To learn about another false belief that strikes out a lot of promising rookie trainees, read Practice Makes Perfect.