In the Introduction to Communication course I teach I divide my students into groups early in the semester. One of their major assignments is to develop a presentation that creatively describes the cultural background of everyone in the group. After explaining the assignment in detail to the students I’m always asked the following question:

“Mr. Quinn can we use PowerPoint?”

My response, “No.”

No PowerPoint.

No Prezi.

No Keynote.

Nothing.

Even though I’m a fan of all those things (and use them in my teaching and preaching) I am continuously appalled by the gross misuse of computer generated media. This crime has been committed by both students and teachers alike. As a result most us have to sit through presentations that look like this:

I couldn’t take it anymore. So I banned computer generated visual aids. Here’s why:

#1 PowerPoint can destroy creativity.

Somewhere along the way we were taught that cutting paragraphs from Word documents and pasting them into PowerPoint was acceptable. Some of us even have the audacity to feel a sense of accomplishment after doing so. Those of us who are forced to watch the screen on which the “masterpiece” is displayed writhe in agony until the presentation is over. In the intro course my students must use hand crafted visuals and bring in props. This takes a bit more time but the students are more engaged in the development process.

#2 Most of us treat PowerPoint like a bad bedtime story.

Most us approach out PowerPoint presentations like bad bedtime stories. We read every line, word for word, without emotion or imagination. My daughters are unable to read yet. So when we sit down to read the bedtime story I read every word for them. In most cases your audience has outgrown the bedtime story phase. Stop treating them like kids who can’t read for themselves.

#3 The PowerPoint file is not your presentation, only part of it. 

Often a speaker that uses PowerPoint is so engaged in reading his or her slides that they totally forget to engage the audience. There’s a lack of eye contact, a lack of intentionality, a lack of connection. The audience came to hear you as a presenter. If all you were going to do was read to them then you could’ve just emailed the presentation and saved yourself the trip.

So that’s it. As a result of banning computer generated media in my intro class I’ve had some pretty amazing presentations over the years. My students may have hated the idea in the beginning but they appreciated the process in the end.