Let me give you my definition of “PowerPointing”: To provide a presentation of slides so crammed with text that the background no longer shows, and that are read aloud, line by line, by someone staring at a screen rather than the audience. Many of you have experienced this; often the presenter will try to outdo his previous performance by adding yet more slides to read aloud.

If I was working with a dangerous piece of equipment, I’d like to think I would be taught the hazards associated with it. Why haven’t we shared with fellow business professionals the hazards associated with PowerPoint?

PowerPoint is an interesting product; it’s one of the few examples I can think of where an item’s brand name has become synonymous with the act of using it. For example, in Great Britain, the act of vacuuming is often called “hoovering,” although personally I prefer the term “vacuuming.” Why? Because it sounds like I’m undertaking an action-hero type activity, as in, “I am about to create a vacuum in the man cave!” Besides, as an action hero like Spiderman, I could give needlessly boring presenters the death-ray stare, turning them to dust for abusing the power of PowerPoint.

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