Re: [Manycouches] ways to slow list traffic down --- Re: [Add] Slowing the list traffic down a bit: listening more and saying less

[Keith Moore <[e-mail]>]

On 8/29/19 10:57 AM, Wes Hardaker wrote:

>> Formalism isn’t the worst problem with PowerPoint.  The worst problem
>> with powers is that it often kills discussion - it encourages people
>> to think that their role is to be a passive audience rather than
>> active participants.
> I actually think the biggest problem with power point is that it gives
> too much power to the speaker.  In an organization that strives to
> produce documents from many voices, it always seems like the speaker
> with the slides gets the final vote.

I probably agree with that.   I do think that a speaker, or a document 
editor, does have a special (and necessary) role of creating a coherent 
and self-consistent view from many (often conflicting) opinions.   But 
at least in the context of a working group discussion, the speaker's 
role should usually be more one of eliciting opinions and feedback, than 
of telling people how things are.

>> It’s supposed to be a discussion, not a performance.
> Some people do a good job at presenting a problem in slides, and then
> starting a follow on discussion that typically works (IE, the point of
> the slides is to*end*  and then the discussion starts).
Occasionally I've seen speakers keep their slides to an absolute minimum 
so that there's plenty of time left for discussion.   This is difficult 
to do because PowerPoint imposes such severe limitations on what can 
effectively be shown on one slide (admittedly part of the problem is the 
limited resolution of computer screens).   But it's much appreciated 
when they do that. Something that can also be done is to have additional 
material (especially drawings) prepared and available for presentation 
(say after a blank slide) if it's useful in a discussion.

I also think it's possible to structure a deck in such a way as to 
facilitate discussion while the slides are being projected (as opposed 
to waiting until they're done), but the speaker still has to overcome 
viewers' habits of passively reading text from the screen (or reading 
email while the slides are up).

Keith