This headline was in the Evening Standard today, “Lumley set to win Gurkha campaign”.  The way she did this, with charm and passion, was  the subject of recent post, Easy Opening , on May 7th.

And she won without using PowerPoint!

Of course it has its uses.  For some theatre style presentations, for much repeated product demonstration, but too often because it is easy to create and cheap.

For most  pitches, however, when a small team of four, or so, is presenting to a similiar number, beware!  It inhibits story telling and  dilutes personal impact as the screen takes over. 

As Malcolm Gladwell, of Blink and Tipping Point fame, said recently….” he was a firm believer in the axiom Power corrupts.  PowerPoint corrupts absolutely.  PowerPoint has destroyed storytelling”.

Take a look at this amusing demonstration of how Lincoln might have used PowerPoint  for his Gettysburg address:

        http://norvig.com/Gettysburg/