It’s simple. As a rule, they don't work.
Presumably the intended purpose of power point presentations is to convey information to the audience. This presumption is based on several assumptions
a. the audience can clearly see the presentation;
b. the audience can clearly hear the comments of the presenter;
c. the audience can easily comprehend the presentation;
d. the audiences does not need to make notes on the presentation.
Guess what? Rarely are these assumptions satisfied.
Many power point presentations were made to the Shreveport City Council and the Caddo Commission last year. Most were a waste of time in the sense of a meaningful exchange of information. The reasons are simple.
Those sitting in the chambers at Shreveport's government plaza--elected officials and staff--encountered the same challenges as those sitting in the chamber. The presentation was not clearly visible on the 2 screens, the presenter was standing too close or too far away from the podium microphone while talking, the subject matter was complex and/or those listening had difficulty in taking notes for reasons a., b., and c. above.
Here are some recent examples of ineffective power point presentations.
On Nov. 25 the developers of the proposed Cross Bayou Point project briefed a Shreveport city council committee. A 30 plus slide presentation was presented by several speakers.
The entire presentation was over 2 hours, and no copies of the power point presentation were made available prior to the meeting--to anyone. None were handed out at the meeting.
On Dec. 19, the city's consent decree manger Burns & McDonnell provided an update on the consent decree program. A 25 page detailed power presentation was narrated by 2 speakers.
These documents were not provided to the council at the meeting--or to anyone else in attendance. The briefing with questions lasted approximately 45 minutes.
Both of these presentations offered more questions than answers to those at the horseshoe and in the council chambers. The failure to provide copies of the presentations to be followed during the meeting was a major factor contributed substantially to the ineffectiveness of both efforts.
Other organizations have briefed the Council and the Commission recently--the North Louisiana Economic Partnership and the Shreveport Bossier Tourist and Convention Bureau. Written materials were distributed to those at the horseshoe just before the power point presentations started. None were provided to audience members. The impact of both efforts was thus limited.
There are ways to improve the effectiveness of presentations to these bodies, especially those that feature power point presentations. The remedies are not rocket science.
One option is to ban--yes stop--power point presentations to the Council and the Commission.
A second option is to require that printed copies of the presentation be provided to all at the horseshoe, the media, and the audience (require a minimum number to be available) BEFORE the presentation.
A third option is to require that any power presentation be provided to the clerk of the Council and the Commission at the deadline for setting the agenda for the meetings. This would allow the posting of the presentation online several days before the actual meeting in which it was presented.
A fourth option is to program the electronic system in the chambers so that the power point presentation screens automatically are posted on the website at the same time it is flashed up on the screen.
It would probably be best to implement options b, c and/or d (above) if the primary goal of any power point presentation is to be satisfied--that being to effectively communicate information to the government body, citizens watching in person, by live stream or by recorded session, and to the media.
Both the Council and the Commission should amend their rules of procedure as they pertain to power point presentations. The sooner, the better.