All kinds of “YES” to this Seth Godin e-book we recently stumbled upon, “Really Bad PowerPoint (And How to Avoid It).” It’s available for download here:

http://www.sethgodin.com/freeprize/reallybad-1.pdf

We learned of the e-book through a SlideShare:

http://www.slideshare.net/slidecomet/fix-your-really-bad-powerpoint-slidecomet-based-on-an-ebook-by-sethgodin

… which is also fun, because you can see in action what to do and not do — via, what else, but slides.

One of the main gripes about PowerPoints is that they are boring, visually and otherwise, and contain too much text. Seth Godin says Microsoft is largely at fault — do not fall for their “wizard” suggestions of awful backgrounds, bullets, or God forbid, CLIP ART!

PowerPoint — or whatever other software you use for presentations, like Keynote or SlideShare — should not be thought of as a teleprompter, nor as a transcript to recount every idea that was shared. Godin says it should rather be used as a tool to foster true communication and ultimately, selling. He suggests that people want to use both sides of their brains in presentations, and in true Seth Godin-fashion, he provides concise and useful tips to accomplish that, such as never use more than six words per slide, and don’t use transitions like dissolves between slides.

Read more via our links above and enjoy!

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