This was an interesting article in the WSJ: “Nine Easy Steps to A Better Day at Work”….the one I really liked was the last one: “Replace presenting with reading.” Apparently, at Amazon, there are no dog and pony shows via Powerpoint. You get a discussion document which is read by the group in silence. Then it’s open for discussion.

I am old enough that I remember working BEFORE Powerpoint existed. And yes, we had to write memos. The beauty of that discipline is that you have to be clear, concise, detailed, and you could essentially make your entire argument in 2 pages.  Memos felt very natural to me, having graduated from school as a history major. Essentially a memo is a short paper. When you’re done reading a paper, every question you had should have been answered. Then Powerpoint became the way we did everything….and we lost the memo.

With a Powerpoint deck, I find that sometimes it only scrapes the surface. Also, think about the photo here. The person presenting is the controlling the information…for better or for worse. People might be listening, they might be checking their phone…they might not pay attention. But if you’re given a document to read…you can’t not participate. You have to read the document. You have to pay attention.  And then everyone participates.

There are times when Powerpoint is a better vehicle. The problem is that it’s become the only vehicle. Sometimes, a well written memo or email is all that’s needed to get the job done.