I have a new product coming up and I’m fighting the language police e.g. They say “Redundant, fault-tolerant systems” vs. I say “$14 reliablity”. Usually we talk to a handful of people, but you never really know. So many materials will carry these messages far and wide and if they are wrong at launch, they will always be wrong.

How could I put something on the web, drive clicks and get measurements on key messages without pre-announcing my products to my competitors or customers?

Need a marketing plan; use powerpoint. Market research or capture financials; use powerpoint. Need a presentation for people? Use any of the above. Yikes.

In the end, the stench of our own internal language seeps through the walls to our customers and ends up exactly like the presentation you describe.

With so many bad examples around, most people just fall in line and imitate the irritating. With so many people speaking and presenting this way, most think it must be “how it’s done”.

How many times a day do a I get this request, “Can you send me some slides on X”. I ask, “Context? Audience? Relevance?” They usually say, “By end of day is fine.”

I hate to think what summer interns learn about corporate communications here.

The most remarkable thing is how easy it is to stand out when you only use small words and short sentences. BTW – standing out is rarely good inside the walls.

Enough of my ranting. I can hear the whispers in the cube farm now.

The kicker with this approach is that the presentation evaluation forms only get filled out by the folks who stay through the end.

For those who don’t know Tufte, take a look at his site:
http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/powerpoint

Be sure to scroll down and see the poster!