Communicating knowledge is power

- Chris Witt [1]

What good is having a lot of knowledge if you can’t communicate it effectively to others?

Sitting through PowerPoint presentations is often painful. On two occasions this past week, presenters spent much of their time reading their slides – not particularly enlightening nor building my confidence that the presenters knew their subject matter very well. In both cases, however, I knew the presenters to be bright, educated and knowledgeable about their subjects – you just couldn’t tell it from their presentations!

On a third occasion, I asked the presenter to skip the slides and talk to me about the subject at hand which resulted in a much more productive interaction. (As a senior executive, I often required presenters to send me their slides in advance. At the meeting, I would then skip the presentation in favor of a discussion about the matter at hand.)

PowerPoint has its (limited) place:

• Conveying specific, controlled information such as in investor presentations
• Documenting matters covered
• Providing handouts for participants to take away

But only you can communicate the passion and knowledge that you bring to a subject. Don’t let the PowerPoint slides get in your way!

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[1] Chris Witt’s new book is Real Leaders Don't Do PowerPoint: How to Sell Yourself and Your Ideas

Comments

[Chris Witt]

Wayne,

I think most people are like you. (I am.) We just want presenters to talk to us or with us, certainly not at us.

The problem with most slides -- why they're so painful -- is not just that they're confusing, ugly, and boring. It's that they're irrelevant: not relevant to the audience. I can't tell you how many times I've sat through a presentation without ever figuring out how it applies to me or what I care about.

I love your idea of getting the slides in advance and then asking the person to engage you in a conversation.

[Wayne Wilson]

Chris,

Thanks for the feedback. What I find amazing is how few people are prepared to engage in that conversation.

The conversation clearly separates those who are in command of their subject, business or department from those who are not.