We'll do the blog on Google/Wikipedia in class on Wednesday. This post is due before class on Wednesday.
What would you say to Tufte if you had the chance to meet him? What questions would you have for him? What would the two of you argue about? What common ground would you find?
If I were to meet Tufte, I would tell him that I could not agree more about his opinions on PowerPoint. I have grown to hate PowerPoint presentations during my years at college. There are few professors who use PowerPoints who avoid my anti-PowerPoint wrath during course evaluations. I believe it reduces lectures to NOTHING and students pay absolutely no attention to what the professor is saying because they are too busy writing down what is on the slides. It’s miserable. I would tell Tufte that he should try to make the pamphlet he wrote about PowerPoint required for all people who are becoming professors. Students would rejoice! Or maybe it would just be me.
ReplyDeleteI also think that PowerPoints make an argument weak. It seems rare that I have seen a presentation that is supposed to be convincing me of something, that is convincing. Usually there are a lot of confusing facts that are not explained well and then the argument flops. The viewer of the argument gets so caught up in trying to make sense of the graphics and all of the facts on the slide that they do not internalize anything.
I do not think Tufte and I would argue about anything! I do think that some professors use PowerPoints well and I believe Tufte could disagree with me. One of my history professors this quarter puts a picture of the person or event he is talking about and then puts a title on a slide. I appreciate this usage because I know how to spell things for my notes and I know what is important to have in my notes. Anything more than that and I would get annoyed with the presentation. Overall, Tufte and I would agree on everything when it comes to PowerPoints. It was nice to know that I am not the only person out there who detests PowerPoints. It was even better to know that the person who agrees with me is a professional. I just might start leaving this pamphlet in some of my professor’s offices…
The first thing I ask Tufte if we ever crossed paths would have to be how many horrible PowerPoint presentations has he seen over the years. I know I have seen a lot and I have to admit, if I’d had this pamphlet with me at the time I’d render the presenters filled with paper cuts just trying to get them to read this. PowerPoints are largely abused, like Tufte states and I can only help but agree with a lot of the things he has to say. Most people see PowerPoints as giant note cards – nothing is more dull than reading along on a giant screen in front of a group of people. It is insulting to viewers because they think the presenter doesn’t think they can read. I do admit that for the nervous speaker, PowerPoints can be a blessing IF DONE CORRECTLY! They can organize a presentation, force speakers to stay on topic, and highlight the main points that they want viewers to take away. But the problem is – most PowerPoint users have no clue how to do this effectively.
ReplyDeleteTufte says that there is an element of teaching involved in giving PowerPoint presentations. You have to have that technique that calls for useful preparation and a need to project credibility into your presentation. If PowerPoints are used as Tufte claims they should be used (with appropriate slide arrangement, content, and placement) then they should not be the main focus of the presentation. When teaching, educators focus on content – they don’t fall back on props, they use them to enhance what they are saying. The focus stays on getting the content out there and everything else (including the speaker) are just the tools to get it done. People should be focused on what they are hearing and the implications behind it rather than how cool the background is on a PowerPoint. Anything on a PowerPoint should be what you, as the speaker, cannot accomplish on your own. This means pictures and visual aids to show what you are talking about – NOT four paragraphs of text that a speaker is going to read out loud anyway. If done correctly, PowerPoints can be invaluable. But the fact of the matter is, very few people know how to sue PowerPoints effectively (like some professors here-especially in the big lecture halls).
If I ever met Tufte he would probably not hang around too long. He would probably find me unsophisticated and dumb. I would try to have a conversation with him but I don’t know if that would be possible. We would discuss how bad Power Point presentations are. They always put me to sleep. When someone puts three paragraphs on a slide and then just reads them, I want to just get up and leave. We would obviously agree about this and I would ask him to show me a sample presentation of his without using Power Point. I don’t know how well a Word Processor presentation would keep my attention. I would have to see if his theories on Power Point alternatives kept my interest. We would probably do an experiment and use Power Point and an alternative method to see how well people absorb the information. I would have to agree the Power Point can help someone like me who is not a great speaker. As the class saw with my presentation, without my Power Point I rode the FAILboat all the way to the bottom of the ocean. He is correct, it is presenter oriented because I think Power Point is all about making the presenter more comfortable. I also don’t think most presenters think about their audience which is one major problem with Power Point. As Tufte says the layout overshadows the actual information.
ReplyDeleteWere Tufte and I to ever cross paths, we probably wouldn't have a lot to talk about. Sure, I agree with the basis of his argument: that Powerpoint has been done to death and is no longer an effective way to lead a discussion as it dumbs down the argument to much. That really can't be refuted, especially coming from somebody with ADD. Powerpoints are particularly hard for me to pay attention to, so I appreciate what he's saying.
ReplyDeleteHOWEVER, I don't think that there's really an alternative way to teach a large group of people. Maybe it depends on how big the group is; if there are, like, ten to fifteen people gathered around a speaker, then it probably makes sense to have a more open-ended forum, one in which people actually talk. Anything more than that, though, and I think Powerpoint still reigns as the most logical way to address people, even with the flaws. I've always thought that it's up to the speaker to hash out Powerpoint presentations for the audience; the soft wear is clearly a bit limited. It can still be used effectively to display facts and numbers for people, while the speaker communicates these numbers in a pleasing way.
Tufte clearly knows what he's talking about, and he makes good points. I'd like him to discuss some reasonable alternatives before I pledge my undying allegiance to him, though.
If I ran into Edward Tufte, I would have to give him a nice pat on the back. He opened my eyes. I never could grip as to why some of the classes I've taken were so dull when in reality they were quite interesting classes. Using PowerPoint does make life easier for the presenter but it also puts the audience into a slumber. While I meticulously write down bullet points from the slide show, I miss all of the key information and what actually is being said in the presentation. Simply put, PowerPoint dries out the material and puts your audience to sleep. I can see me and old Eddy getting along famously, I'd be his protégé, he my teacher. We'd take long walks on the beach discussing the evil of PowerPoint and how it’s ruining the ability for everyone to learn. We’d talk about how PowerPoint hinders the information presented in the worst ways possible over a glass of single malt scotch. Tufte makes a lot of sense in his arguments and presents the clearly in this chapter. I think the one I enjoy the most is why presenters of PowerPoint feel the need to read every slide aloud. Of course the audience you are presenting to is literate, and if they are not why would one find the need to make a PowerPoint in the first place?! It’s just dumb! I could not agree more with this man and his views on presentations.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Tufte that power points are terrible. There are many slides with words that a lecturer read word for word what was on the slide an then move on. People need to learn how to present power points and use them as a summary. Very few power points actually maintain my interest and it is only by a few professors and lectures do I actually learn the material. I find power points are a way out of being a decent public speaker since most peoples attention are directed to the power point presentation.
ReplyDeleteI do not think Tufte and I would argue about anything.
If I had the opportunity to meet Tufte, I would tell him that his work on PowerPoint presentations was an argument that I have heard before but it was elaborated and made clear through this book. But it seems that I would have more questions for him than anything else. I would ask him what made him want to publish his argument. How long did it take him to develop this argument? What kind of information did he have to gather? What sources did he use? What contacts did he make to gain access to this information? What was the purpose of publishing this argument? Was it to inform or to persuade? These are questions that I would ask any other person who published a profound argument such as this.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think that he and I would argue as much but I would aim to learn as much about his point as possible. I like to learn from people’s arguments rather than argue their point so that maybe I can apply what I learned to create a better understanding of an argument. I also tend to take what people have argued and use it in future endeavors such as projects and understanding the concept of presentations.