The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint

I disagree with some of the points made by Tufte. He makes an argument that the introduction of PowerPoint into schools is “disturbing.” From my experience, I’ve had to write a report almost every time I made a PowerPoint. The point of PowerPoint was to help the students organize and gather their thoughts during the presentation of their report/research. I think the PowerPoint exercises that “typically show 5 to 20 words and a piece of clipart on eat slide in a presentation consisting 3 to 6 slides” are good guides that help students practice their speaking skills during presentations. After all, we learn PowerPoint because we use it many times in our lives.

I’m still not sure what to think about using PowerPoint for business purposes. It seemed like it was unprofessional and inexcusable to be brief, according to Tufte. As long as the presenter knows what he’s talking about, isn’t it better to have a brief outline rather than a long report?

Also, I find it very funny that Tufte said, “By using PP to report technical work, presenters quickly damage their credibility—as was the case for NASA administrators engineers pitching their usual PP decks to these 2 very serious review boards.” It sounds true, and as long as they get all their information across, does it matter what format they use for their work?