In the past few months, I have read several articles about the increasing use of PowerPoint by lawyers and other computer users. PowerPoint, for those few who haven’t sat through a presentation, is used to make computer-based slide shows. It is sold as part of the Microsoft Office suite, which often is included on new computers. As a result, it has ended up in the hands of many computer users.

Like any tool, there are good uses and bad uses. Having observed technology for nearly two decades, what is happening with PowerPoint reminds me of the first documents created using Bitstream fonts. The early days of word processing limited people to Courier 10 font, which produced a traditional typewriter appearance. When WordPerfect, then the market leader in word processing, began including a copy of Bitstream fonts, document appearance changed dramatically. No longer did letters and memos appear in Courier 10. Suddenly, options like Times New Roman, Charter, Univers and other font styles were available. Documents began to be a hodge-podge of fonts. People, in their excitement to use these new tools, used too many fonts. Suddenly, too much effort went into making documents look attractive while less effort was expended on the substance.

With the introduction of desktop publishing programs, people who had no background in graphic design began publishing newsletters, brochures and other design-intensive tomes. Unfortunately, they looked home-grown. They lacked a consistent look, and some important concepts of good design were missing. They used too many fonts and the layouts often distracted from the author’s message.

Numerous articles have been written urging nearly everyone with a computer to learn to use presentation programs like Microsoft’s PowerPoint and Corel’s Presentations. The premise behind that advice is that when making a speech, a picture is often worth a thousand words. Showing something often is more easily understood than describing it. This can be especially true when describing numbers. Imagine handling a case where you’re trying to explain the rise and fall of stock prices. Wouldn’t a chart that has lines depicting the ups and downs of the stock be easier to understand than merely saying, “on June 5, ABC’s stock was 30.12, then went up to 60.62 on June 15 based on projected quarterly earnings, but on July 5, it was trading at 10.12.”

Psychologists who have studied personality types find many more lawyers tend to be more auditory and verbal learners while the general population tends to be more visually oriented. We tend to learn better by reading and speaking while our clients prefer to see things. Most prospective jurors grew up watching television and the younger ones were weaned on MTV and its ilk, certainly more visual than the radio. Given this, it’s tempting to think that presentations would be the right way to communicate with jurors.

Creating a basic PowerPoint presentation is fairly easy. The program includes a wizard, which is an automatic assistant, to guide you through choosing a background, colors, whether you want bullets, text, lists, organizational charts, boxes or other styles, etc. The newer versions have an AutoContent Wizard comprised of templates for certain types of presentations and not only can be used to create the presentation, but to help plan the message as well. Some of the canned presentations using the AutoContent Wizard include “Motivating a Team,” “Managing Organizational Change,” and “Communicating Bad News.” These tools take you to the extreme and do all the work — you may want to add your firm name or logo to customize it for your own presentation.

Individualization

If you plan to or already do a lot of presentations as part of your firm’s marketing, you would be well-served to learn how to tweak your presentation so your slides don’t look like everyone else’s. There are certain elements within PowerPoint toward which people tend to gravitate when first learning to make a slide show. Overusing transitions is a common mistake. A transition is a special effect used to segue from one slide to the next. You can have it appear like curtains opening from the middle, right or left side, scrolling down or up or starting from the middle to the outside, etc. Done well, you won’t notice transitions. Overdone or poorly done, they distract from the message and can undermine the substance of your speech. Using the common color schemes or layouts without any edits can make your presentation look like every other PowerPoint slide show out there.

Imagine you’re a reporter covering a political campaign and heard the same stump speech at every campaign stop. You would be bored to tears and stop giving favorable coverage to the candidate. Variety and creativity are important when giving speeches, even if they require more time to prepare. Take the time to learn enough about using PowerPoint to avoid having your slide show look like everyone else’s.

When designing the slides, remember “less is better.” Focus on the key points you want to make and try to have no more than three or four bulleted items on a single slide. Consider the person in the rear who won’t be able to read your items if there are too many or they’re too small. When designing slides, consider contrasting colors and, if possible, test the slides from the back of the hall before giving your presentation.

Technology can be chancy. During a presentation several years ago, I brought several copies of my slides just in case my laptop didn’t function. Everything worked — except the bulb in the overhead projector blew at the last minute. Unfortunately, that’s not a bulb carried by hardware stores. Before using technology as part of your presentation, make sure you’re prepared with spares, extension cords and a backup copy of your slide show that can be put onto someone else’s computer in a crunch.

My theory of giving speeches is an assumption that each attendee has a question they want answered or some other reason for attending. I consider a successful speech one in which I am able to answer burning questions. When I use slide shows, I find it more difficult to adjust to accommodate the audience and mold the speech to address their questions.

Some rules

As a result of giving many speeches and presentations over the years, I have come up with certain rules that help me get good audience evaluations and comments. Use slide shows when they’re the right tool for the job. Don’t use them because the conference is evaluating speakers on use of audio-visual equipment. Don’t keep your audience in the dark (literally) for long periods. It’s better to be able to see their faces occasionally so you can get a sense of their reactions to your material, whether they understand it and whether you should change your approach or re-explain a critical point. If you’re giving a long speech, try to alternate between slides and speaking with the lights on. You can’t be as flexible in adapting to what your audience wants to hear if you’re tied to the order of your slides. Learn how to move around your slide show and consider ending it early when the audience is interested in other issues. Your audience will be grateful and will show it on your evaluations.

Presentations aren’t always for larger groups. Many years ago, I purchased an LCD pad and a portable overhead projector to connect to my laptop computer at a cost of more than $4,500. At the time, I was doing many classroom-style trainings at clients’ offices. One client had priced renting a similar unit and found it would be mutually beneficial for my company to purchase the equipment and charge a fee (less than the rental) for its use. For about a year, I used the equipment regularly. Then, alas, video technology changed from CGA to EGA to VGA in short order. Suddenly, this major investment was worthless because it would not work with the later monitors and did not show color. As a result, I was reluctant, to put it mildly, to purchase a newer projector.

New projectors

About a year ago, though, I met with a client who did a lot of marketing to church groups and residents of local nursing homes. To do this easily, he purchased a portable projector for about $2,000. I was at his office to give his staff an overview of their new case management program. Since it was his latest acquisition and we needed several people to see my laptop’s computer screen, he suggested I hook up to his projector. I was stunned at how easy it was to set up and how effective it was to share valuable information with his staff. Shortly after, I purchased an InFocus six-pound display projector. Unlike the old LCD pad, which required an overhead projector, the newer units are self-sufficient and can be used with only a laptop or desktop computer in which the slide show is stored.

I have begun to use the projector for consultations as well as training sessions. When I meet with attorneys and their staff, I often bring my projector and laptop to better illustrate the options they have when purchasing law office software. Even when I meet with only two other people, the difference between cramming the image on my laptop screen and enlarging it on a blank wall is more than appreciated by clients.

Just like attorneys who discover slide shows, however, I nearly got carried away thinking I should use my projector at every meeting. As with anything, knowing when to use a technology tool and when to do things the old-fashioned way still is important.

When making a presentation, you could print the slides as a handout. Slide programs include several options to make it easy to print professional looking materials from your presentation. You might even consider this tool without doing a presentation if you’re looking for a clear way to put your ideas on paper.

Overuse

As you learn about more technology tools, it’s tempting to see uses for them everywhere. A fascinating article, “Absolute PowerPoint: Can a software package edit our thoughts?” by Ian Parker in the May 28 issue of The New Yorker summarizes the development of PowerPoint and is full of examples of overuse. He notes how we’ve gone from having “conversations” to having “presentations.”

While some of Parker’s examples are extreme, they’re quite illustrative of the misuse and overuse of presentation software. He cites a woman who felt her two daughters weren’t listening to her, so she presented them a slide show titled, “Family Matters.” Her first of 18 slides stated:

• Lack of organization leads to confusion and frustration among all family members.
• Disorganization is detrimental to grades and to your social life.
• Disorganization leads to inefficiencies that impact the entire family.

Need he say more? While an extreme example, it is nevertheless plausible and an excellent specimen of when not to use technology. While I recommend reading the entire article, you may enjoy one of my favorite quotes: “… there are great tracts of corporate America where to appear at a meeting without PowerPoint would be unwelcome and vaguely pretentious, like wearing no shoes.” He quotes someone who found himself planning the slides he would need to explain to his wife why they couldn’t afford a vacation this year. Another example was a bride and groom’s slide show of their earlier years that was presented to their wedding guests.

According to Microsoft, at least 30 million PowerPoint presentations are made every day. Most, alas, look alike and many are the wrong tool for the job. Computer-based slide shows have a time and a place. Don’t use them where they don’t belong.