Topic: public speaking - PowerPoint in training - When a good thing is not a good thing Posted By : Andrew Wood

I thought I'd write a few words about a topic that often comes up in discussions about training, and that is the use of PowerPoint slides. As a trainer and training designer, I get very frustrated by people who equate a good training course with how many slides are included. I have even recently read a training design company's view that a days training should include between 60 - 100 slides. This point brings me to the key element of importance regarding PowerPoint during training and that is the statement, 'PowerPoint should support the message, not the trainer supporting PowerPoint'. Some argue that they use PowerPoint as a method of 'sorting their thoughts' and although their training course has 2698 slides with it, 'I won't be showing most of those'. The fact is, our training content is based in the Trainers Notes, where it should be, and the participants that attend one of our courses will gain knowledge through the information provided by the trainer, the activities they explore, the exercises they carry out, the discussions they take part in and then finally the supporting materials they see and receive.

Tags: public speaking, public speaking, fear speaking in public, public speaking opportunities, slides, public speaking techniques