It’s time to blow out the birthday candles. Happy 25th Birthday PowerPoint! Since it was created in August 1984, the ubiquitous software has come to dominate business presentations around the world. Microsoft estimates that 30 million PowerPoint presentations are given every day.

Some of them will be great – but even after a quarter century many presenters struggle to master PowerPoint. When we work with clients on their presentations we point out an old principle that predates any software. It’s best summed up in the words of early 20th century author F. Scott Fitzgerald: “You don’t write because you want to say something; you write because you’ve got something to say.”

His rule is as applicable to slides in a pitch to investors today as it was for the pages of a novel 80 years ago.

They say that bad workmen blame their tools and PowerPoint is no exception. But in the right hands it can add impact to any presentation. Comedians, in particular, are increasingly using PowerPoint in their stand up acts: http://www.powerpointcomedian.com

Who says PowerPoint presentations need to be boring?

A list of the most common pitfalls of using PowerPoint is available on the BBC News website:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8207849.stm

(pgallagher@ecdinsight.com)