With Great PowerPoints Comes Great Responsibility
投影片在簡報中扮演的重要角色
An insightful perspective on the dependency, dangers, and traps of PowerPoint presentations.
一體兩面，投影片也可能成為簡報時的一大誤區
PowerPoint is unrivaled when it comes to presentation tools. It is critical in multiple scenarios ranging from classroom lectures to wedding slideshows. The word “PowerPoint” is practically synonymous to “presentation”, just like “Kleenex” is to “tissue”. An incredible amount of 35 million PowerPoints are globally shared daily. So, we can confidently establish` PowerPoint as the golden standard to delivering presentations.
投影片是很強大的簡報工具，不管是課堂講義還是婚禮影片等各種情境，投影片都十分重要，也已經成為簡報的代名詞，就相當於人們常用舒潔（知名衛生紙品牌）來代替衛生紙。全球每天會有大概 35,000,000 份簡報，所以毫無疑問投影片是簡報的黃金標準。
However, behind the slideshow, the presenter possesses the ability to influence an audience. If you are the presenter, it is highly important for you to carefully craft your content before jumping straight into PowerPoint. Whether it is in a class or meeting, mediocre presentations can cause a disconnect falsifying information. You, the presenter, are solely responsible to steer clear of various PowerPoint traps. This is a means to not only protect your reputation and integrity, but also provide the audience with an accurate and satisfying experience.
除了簡報頁面，一場分享背後考驗的是講者自身影響觀眾的能力。作為講者，相比直接製作投影片，先精心設計好內容更為重要。無論是課堂還是會議，平庸的分享總會造成訊息傳遞的不足，講者應該儘量避免掉進各種簡報的陷阱。這樣不僅可以保證自己的分享品質，還可以將內容準確地傳達給觀眾。
Trap #1: Reading a story, not telling a story…
Remember your middle school to high school days, when you basically wrote your speech on notecards and memorized your presentation? Did you read the notecards word-for-word, quickly making eye contact at the end of each sentence? Well, that method is not half bad as just reading directly off your slides, which is a common practice among all age groups and occupations.
陷阱一：照本宣科
回想國高中時期，基本上是把演講內容記在本子上然後背下來。是不是常對著本子逐字逐句地念，句尾地時候再迅速地看一眼觀眾？這個方法不算特別糟糕，是許多年齡段和不同職業人的常見方式。
Whether you are defending your thesis or pitching a new startup, it is never favorable to depend on your PowerPoint. If you are reading words verbatim, or closely paraphrasing text from your slides, this is known as the redundancy effect. Unless you are reading a story to kindergarteners, repeating text from your slides induces boredom and decreases engagement.
但無論是論文口試還是募資簡報，依賴投影片的做法都是不好的。一字不漏地復述投影片上的文字，都會產生冗雜效應。除非是給小朋友念故事書，不然重複投影片上的內容會讓觀眾無聊，降低他們的參與度。
Another shocking statistic is that each slide averages 40 words, which most likely means written sentences are utilized. There is nothing wrong using bullet points and stating key points, but it is excessive to write full-on grammatical sentences.
另一個統計是，每頁簡報大約有 40 個單字，意味著文件上用了書面句子。用要點和陳述點寫內容沒問題，但寫語法完整的句子就太超過了。
A good rule of thumb, is to avoid full text, and focus on exercising words with accompanying visuals. As a presenter, you are not a narrator, but rather a storyteller using slides as your supporting pictures.
一個好的做法是，避免完整的句子，著重於提煉單字，搭配好的視覺效果。講者不是敘述者，而是一位善用簡報頁面給自己提供視覺輔助的講故事的人。
Trap #2: Content overload, brain overload
In relation to the last point, piling 40 words into a slide does not leave much room for the eye to breathe. Therefore, the visual intake of clutter on top of auditory information can be too tiresome for the audience. If you use PowerPoint, content control is of utmost importance in delivering a digestible presentation.
陷阱二：資訊超載
結合上文提到的 40 個單字在一個頁面中會造成視覺疲勞。特別是觀眾要在一邊聽的同時接受視覺的輸入，是十分疲勞的。所以內容控制對於傳遞一個容易理解和消化的分享十分重要。
Content overload can cause audiences to diverge from the main story, as our brains are not wired to efficiently manage visual texts and auditory messages. The visual support with full text can cause the crowd to read and listen to text at the same time, consequently causing mental disturbance. This issue also stems from the redundancy effect, which puts new pieces of information into short-term memory.
內容超載會導致觀眾偏離故事主線，因為我們的大腦無法有效地同步處理視覺文字和聽覺訊息。全文字的視覺頁面導致觀眾必須一邊聽一邊閱讀，心智容易被分散。
Additionally, if the brain gets distracted, it will wander into the void of boredom. This notion is apparent, as 79% of most professionals confirm that most PowerPoints are boring. As previously mentioned, using little to no words and pure visuals (photos, charts, graphs, etc.) can help avoid overloading.
另外，如果大腦分心，會讓人陷入無聊的空洞中。這個觀點很顯見，因為有 79% 的專業人士覺得投影片很無聊。如前所述，用很少的字甚至不用字，用單純的視覺 (圖片、圖表等) 可以避免內容過載。
Furthermore, multiple tactics can help mitigate overload, such as limiting each slide to three key points or deploying the 10/20/30 rule. There is no exact formula or single solution, but there is always room for improvement to enhance your masterpiece.
像是限制每個頁面不超過三個重點或是遵循 10/20/30 原則，都是可以減輕過載的策略。沒有確切的公式或是單一的解法，但總有改進的空間可以加強我們的作品。
Trap #3: Beauty or the beast?
Your masterpiece does not only comprise of a great story, but a great painting. Once the story is crafted and outlined, then you focus on design aesthetics and plug-in content. However, I have seen too often, individuals either spend too little or too much time designing their deck. So, respectively, slideshows are either horrendous looking (beast) or incredibly eye-pleasing (beauty).
陷阱三：設計迷思？
我們的作品不僅包含一個動聽的故事，還應該是一幅好畫。故事內容經過編排和勾勒後，應該要雕琢頁面設計。在設計投影片上，每個人投入製作的心力不同，因此出來的效果有的慘不忍睹，有的卻賞心悅目。
As the author and artist of your story, you must find a balance between writing and painting your story. If you start in PowerPoint without planning, write content into text boxes and design each slide along the way… you may think you are killing two birds with one stone, but in reality, you are splitting and only using 50% of your creative energy per task. If you construct a linear process, segment content creation and slide design, you will most likely produce better results.
作為策劃這份簡報的製作者，需要在文字與畫面之間取得平衡。如果一開始沒有計畫，把內容編排和設計完全分開，往往達不到我們想要的一石二鳥的效果，反而是分散了創作的能量。但如果創建好線型流程，效果會更好。
A survey of professionals expressing the challenges of shaping a compelling storyline (46%) and creating a beautiful deck (45%) can be a telling point that simultaneously working on both may produce poor results.
根據統計，我們得到一個明顯的洞察：在製作簡報時，同時處理邏輯架構和視覺設計，會產生反效果。
Overall, as a presenter, you can imagine yourself as Steven Spielberg, as you need to first concoct an intriguing script before shooting your movie scenes. In my experience, spending more time in creating, condensing and controlling your content will output higher presentation performance. Moreover, immersing yourself in the process of story development, will strongly benefit your ability to convey your message with or without visual aid.
總的來說，作為一個講者，把自己當成 Steven Spielberg，在拍攝電影前先編排有趣的劇本。以個人經驗來說，花更多時間來創作、壓縮和控制內容將會產生更好的分享。此外，讓自己沉浸在故事發展中，無論有沒有視覺輔助，都會很大提高傳遞訊息的能力。
PowerPoints are PART of the presentation, they do not constitute the FULL presentation. Therefore, slides are meant to support your story content by providing visual support and reference points.
投影片是簡報的一部分，並不代表整個分享。投影片透過提供視覺支持和論點支持來完整的簡報內容。
本文作者：BFA 簡報
