PowerPoint on the web a bad idea

[Dcrux]

An article on Contentious is basically a rant against ever putting Powerpoint presentations on the web (http://blog.contentious.com/archives/2003/11/18/powerpoint-presentations-online-no-stop-dont). PowerPoint on the web is probably better than powerpoint in person, as it is easier to ignore.

The reason against PowerPoint on the web is that it doesn't adequately embody the presentation. Often the sketchy half-thoughts expressed in slides merely support the main points of a presentation. Fragments without context, bullet points very often don't persuade or inform nearly as well when disconnected from the full presentation.

The better idea would be to gather several sets of notes to atendees of the physical presentation, perhaps interspersed with a screen shot of a key slide or two. A full article, as if written by a reporter of the event is even better. This way, key ideas can be fully explored, and context can be provided.

PowerPoint on the web is usually not going to convey what the presentation did. There are a variety of ways to add this missing content; some as simple as acking for attendees to send you their notes and impressions.

[greeneagle]

Every "Power Point Presentation" we convert and place on the Web are some of the most highly trafficked pages on every Site we place them on:

http://www.calvinresources.com/Presentations/Presentations.htm

http://www.precisioncompletion.com/presentations/presentations.htm

Following my client's lead after watching the effect for many months, I recently decided to start adding presentations to my Site:

http://www.mountaineagleweb.com/Presentations/Presentations.htm

Visitors want information fast - They like it "stuffed wide open" and that's just what presentations do.

They aren't so dumb that they can't get a good synopsis of ideas presented from bullet points, at least that's not what our stats say!

Sure the automated conversion comes over "half-baked" in frames, but that doesn't even matter.

Now that, that "cat is out of the bag", let's don't even hint at what it can do for "page count" per visitor, or time logged into a link, if in fact the SEs are looking at those points, as threatened by certain patents!

LOL

Ken

[Dcrux]

I'll have to take your word for how well those are working for you. Thanks for the examples though -- couldn't select more effective ones myself.

And it makes an 'interesting' argument re: computer generated statistics versus user testing.

In any event, for those who want an alternative, there is Meyer's standards based slide show format (http://www.meyerweb.com/eric/tools/s5/).

[sharling]

I can see Amy's point that for people who were not at the conference the slides would be a very spotty representation of the talk, but we often get requests for the slides to be posted.

Adding a full article of the talk would be very helpful though.

Sally Falkow
http://www.expansionplus.com

[nashville]

I use a tool called Pointecast and create little seminars like this one.

www.pilotjourney.com/fly they have a table of contents and audio and come out as flash. This one is 30 minutes long, so when you get bored just close the window :-)

If anyone wants me to convert a small presentation just let me know.

[Faglork]

In any event, for those who want an alternative, there is Meyer's standards based slide show format (http://www.meyerweb.com/eric/tools/s5/).

Thanks a million for that link!

You sure made my day.

cheers,
faglork

[DrTandem1]

I try to avoid corporate and staff meetings for a variety of reasons. Top among those reasons is PowerPoint. If I am forced to sit in on a meeting, I pray that there isn't a PowerPoint presentation. Most of the time, my prayers are not answered.

I hate them in person, I hate them in my email and I hate them on the internet. At least with email and the internet I don't have to sit through them. However, I usually tell my boss I didn't receive that email. Which isn't exactly a lie. If I see the attachment with pps I don't open it and I delete it. Okay, I received the email, but I didn't watch the PowerPoint.

I thought about why I hate PowerPoint presentations. It was the same reason I hated traditional slide shows...they are boring. At least with a traditional slide show, you could look at the carousel and have an idea when the merciful end would come.

You have to trudge through slide after slide to get to the point, which there rarely is. Usually, it is just someone trying to justify their department's existence. If I were to compare their production skills to the internet, I would say they are on a par with FrontPage. At least with FrontPage you have a hope of navigating yourself to where you want. With PowerPoint you're just looking for the end.

[Tim]

Every "Power Point Presentation" we convert and place on the Web are some of the most highly trafficked pages on every Site we place them on:
That might be so Ken but if the visitor uses FF and doesn't have MS Office, like me, they get this warning;

'This presentation contains content that your browser may not be able to show properly. This presentation was optimized for more recent versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer.

If you would like to proceed anyway, click here.'

I clicked but I don't think the presentation works/looks as you intended.

S5 looks v.interesting, thanks Dcrux.

[maniactive]

I'm with Green Eagle. I save PowerPoint presentations on my sites, because people actively look for PowerPoint files. They are among the most popular downloads on several sites I manage.

And provided with alternatives to PowerPoint presentations (podcasts, video casts, pdf files with show notes, etc.) -- most people still prefer downloading the original PowerPoint presentation!

I think people are looking for different things when they download PowerPoint presentations. Some want the content. Some are looking for design, template, and background ideas. Some are looking for animation and programming effects within the presentation itself.

I often find myself looking for thoughtfully packaged content online, so I'll go to Google and type in a topic of interest and then type in "filetype:ppt" -- just so that I can find complete PowerPoint presentations on a topic of interest.

I even got into the habit of creating links within my own PowerPoint presentations that lead to a multimedia file of me talking through the slide for audio reinforcement. With the advent of podcasting, multimedia, and high speed connects, these little audio presentations are gaining in popularity.

Hey, why download a white paper when you can download a multimedia white paper?

And if you don't like quality PowerPoint presentations, that's OK. Just be aware that many of your customers do.

[Dcrux]

Many powerpoints could be summarized with a choice couple of paragraphs -- the takeaway. As for the whitepaper post, that's just for content. I'm not thrilled with the PDF format, and neither is Nielsen (http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20030714.html).

PDFs get abused about as much as PPT. Both formats are a relic of the dialup connection. For the time it takes to download, many users could be well into an online version or completely done with a short summary.

I would be amazed if people actually observed the user from download to action. Most sales people learned long ago when customers where simply "collecting brochures," only to shove them into a drawer to collect dust. Yes the customer asked for a brochure. The "give the customer what they ask for ...good and hard" provides cover for a lot of sins.

Modest Suggestion: Check out Green Eagle's "computer statistic proven" PowerPoints, and understand why Tim isn't seeing the same thing. Tim isn't the only one.

If this were an inaccesible web page, the tune would be quite different.

It used to be a bad habit to hide behind the podium when giving a presentation. Many presenters hide behind PowerPoint.