Call number
Collection
Publication
Graphics Press (2006), Edition: 2, Paperback, 32 pages
Pages
32
Description
Using specific examples, Tufte explains how PowerPoint's templates "usually weaken verbal and spatial reasoning and almost always corrupt statistical analysis," and describes concrete ways to improve content of presentations.
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
32 p.; 10.24 inches
ISBN
0961392169 / 9780961392161
Similar in this library
User reviews
LibraryThing member PointedPundit
An Audience Advocate
Finally, an advocate for the audience. In this 28-page essay Edward R. Tufte concludes the convenience of PowerPoint comes at a cost to content and the audience.
Presentations succeed or fail based on their quality relevance and integrity of their content. At a minimum, the
For serious presentations, he says, it is useful to replace PowerPoint sides with paper handouts showing words, numbers, data, graphics and images. Presentations should reflect good teaching. Communicate core ideas with explanation, content and credible authority.
There is no question that PowerPoint is an aide to those presenters who are inept or extremely disorganized. These people should learn that if they cannot summarize their point in a single sentence. If not, they should do themselves and their audiences a favor by declining the invitation to speak.
For the rest, reliance on this software crutch gives the speaker a false sense of doing well and for audiences to pretend they are listening.
As Tufte concludes, this little dance punctuates the question, “Why are we having this meeting?”
Finally, an advocate for the audience. In this 28-page essay Edward R. Tufte concludes the convenience of PowerPoint comes at a cost to content and the audience.
Presentations succeed or fail based on their quality relevance and integrity of their content. At a minimum, the
Show More
presentation format should not harm the content. Yet Tufte, a retired professor of design at Yale University, notes audiences absorb information at higher rates than those presented in the typical PowerPoint Presentation.For serious presentations, he says, it is useful to replace PowerPoint sides with paper handouts showing words, numbers, data, graphics and images. Presentations should reflect good teaching. Communicate core ideas with explanation, content and credible authority.
There is no question that PowerPoint is an aide to those presenters who are inept or extremely disorganized. These people should learn that if they cannot summarize their point in a single sentence. If not, they should do themselves and their audiences a favor by declining the invitation to speak.
For the rest, reliance on this software crutch gives the speaker a false sense of doing well and for audiences to pretend they are listening.
As Tufte concludes, this little dance punctuates the question, “Why are we having this meeting?”
Show Less
LibraryThing member jcopenha
Wow, Tufte is really pissed off at PowerPoint. I agree with his assessment that powerpoint is the wrong tool for conveying technical analysis. And I can see where PowerPoint leads you into traps, but I still think PowerPoint can be utilized by a competent speaker, and those are all the points he
aside: I like how when he is talking about the average powerpoint slide only having 12 numbers per table, he lists a table comparing powerpoint to other mediums, and the table only has 12 numbers.
Show More
didn't try to make. aside: I like how when he is talking about the average powerpoint slide only having 12 numbers per table, he lists a table comparing powerpoint to other mediums, and the table only has 12 numbers.
Show Less
LibraryThing member chrisimweb
With all respect to other works of Tufte, this booklet is not convincing. Blaming the tool for its misuse is like saying that hammers are in general weapons...
LibraryThing member hcubic
Very very funny
LibraryThing member haraldgroven
If you are ever going to hold a presentation with slideshow software (like PP or Keynote), you must read this essay!
Its the best analysis of what this kind of software acutally do with the massage ever written.
Its the best analysis of what this kind of software acutally do with the massage ever written.