Nothing new under the sun
From Army magazine, published about six years ago, an article on mastering powerpoint:
http://www3.ausa.org/webint/DeptArmy...id/CCRN-6CCS9J
In Re to Bill and Schmedlap
Bill first... I agree that an elegant powerpoint slide can in fact paint a 1000 words and when it does it should be employed that way... which is why I added the caveat that its OK to deviate from the guidelines but it should be done with eyes wide open and it should be the exception rather than the rule... I think we are in violent agreement
Schmedlap... I should have been clearer in my word usage... when I say junior leader I'm referring to a leader/commander briefing his superior... that extends all the way from SL to Div CDR... I also found the desire for WoW factor to go up as the responsibility for building the slide themselves went down... so again we are in violent agreement...
My experience is that when the senior leader sets the precedent that slides are...
1. Black and White
2. Max of 5 bullets per slide
3. No extraneous pictures/clip art
It may take some time but it allows folks to focus on content, and when they do "break the rules" its for a very good reason (e.g. painting a 1000 words)
Live well and row
Recently discovered, previously mentioned gem, ...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Hacksaw
the best use of powerpoint IMHO was the brief assembled by the young MI CPT (later died in combat) "How to Win in Anbar" or something close... simple and elegant... words amplified the pictures
How to win in Anbar by Cpt Travis Patriquin and the article Anbar Awakens: The Tipping Point in Military Review (April 2008 in Archives; link appears to be snooty) that places it in context.
bad links or outside access denied?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Tukhachevskii
the links don't work for me...is that because I'm outside?
Here is a link to "Anbar Awakens..."
LINK(.pdf).
Should work okay for both of you.
NY Times Article on Powerpoint
NY Times Article on Powerpoint
Some great quotes in here...and so true. I pull "storyboards" from nearly every event our Squadron does from IED hits to micro grants. The PLs and Troop Commanders sit there every day and build these slides so we can pass them on up.
In there defense, however, these storyboards may be the only slice of reality a staff officer at division or higher gets to see of operations on the ground. It also tells the story of what that platoon/troop is doing on a daily basis in a format that is quick and easy to read.
But they also are the bane of my existence. As the Operations Officer, I spend hours reviews, correcting and "tweaking" storyboards prior to release higher. This article really hits home.
Now back to making slides.
I may be going against the grain...
...but I don't think powerpoint, if used correctly, is such a bad thing. As a dyslexic I am primarily a visual learner and retain images in my memory (and the text/presentation that goes with them) much better than I could through purely sitting down and listening to a presentation (and yes, I like books with pictures in them!:wry:). Given that most segments of the population can be divided into aural and visual learners you really need to hit the right balance. Even I cannot function if hit by too many slides in a ppt presentation. Its like most things, you need a balance.
The problem is a focus on briefings instead of discussion and direction
Many on this forum have correctly identified that it is lazy thinking, not PowerPoint, that is the problem. PowerPoint is the symptom. The underlying problem is the way we train commanders to sit back and listen to watered down, consensus staff input then adjudicate between two relatively equal options (with a third, throw-away option included to be an easy kill). This gets great reviews at Staff College and our Training Centers, but does not comport with what works in the field, as we have seen for now almost 9 years.
What works there is commanders, who are out seeing the battlefield, who, frankly, know more about the enemy and friendly situation than most of the the staff in the TOC and are the most experienced Soldiers in their unit, developing the plans ICW the staff -- the staff can work through the details to make the plan work, but the successful Commanders have their fingerprints on the plan from the beginning. Not in a dictatorial way that stifles good ideas, but in a positive, focused way that puts the onus on the commander to lead.
Somehow we have come to a process that rewards commanders who sit back waiting to be "fed." Let the staff churn, burn long hours, then hang it out there for the commander to chop off when the commander should have had an idea of what he was looking for before the staff began.
We teach a process tailor-made for PowerPoint and all the attendant problems. The more time the staff puts into fancy builds, transition effects and extraneous sounds, the more some recipients like it -- despite the debilitating effect of those non-value-added features have on the other things that the staff should be doing -- which includes sleeping.
Scapegoating PowerPoint misses the real problem. The problems are our planning and thinking processes that stifle discussion and thought.