Powerpoint Alert

School is the first institution to tap on the student’s communication skills. It asks students a lot – from attention, to verbal participation. In fact, interaction is the core key of getting an education. Students are taught; in turn, students have to exhibit whatever they learn through speaking up, or simply, participating.
There are several activities aimed for effectively developing the students’ communicative skills; from the most common activity of participating in a class discussion to the much audience-oriented tasks of declamation, oration, debates, and many more.

Voice is the sole instrument in such tasks. However, technology has gifted students and instructors alike with important tools of which serve as mediums. These presentation tools have achieved its great leap – from the primitive chalk, board, and stick, to the modern power point presentations, pens, and projectors. These inventions helped students not just in capturing the attention of the target audience, but in accurately relaying the heart of the presentation.
However, several issues had plagued the use of such modern instruments, particularly, powerpoint. Here are some notable challenges presented by the Microsoft presentation tool:

1. Too much drama, less on content
Instructors have been noticing the inverse behaviour students depict in making
presentations using the powerpoint. They become too engrossed in the artsy part of the
task, adding irrelevant figures, and even putting moving or animated images. They, then,
neglect putting the appropriate texts . Students seem not to realise that while it
impresses their colleagues, it distracts audience. Consequently, attention is snatched
away from the presenter and the eyes are glued in the projected report.

2. Lack of cohesion
While it helps to make the presentation an eye-beauty worth staring to add backgrounds, a lot of others fall into the similar trap of the preceding issue. In other words, a student manages to keep away from unnecessary images, effects, or animated stuff; and keep their texts proper, but has a very inappropriate background behind all those slides. Or jumbling all other elements, the texts were the only ones improper. These inconsistencies are common among student presenters of which gives sufficient basis to snatch a point or two in evaluation.

3. Overwhelming use of texts
Some students make use of their powerpoint as a book of which every audience had to refer and read in the process. Sometimes presenter do not present or report anymore; they just read whatever is projected. Other times, it would be the presentation recipient who would read and jot notes and invariably get irritated with the presenter (who becomes the nuisance amidst the reading and note-taking).
Glancing back at these issues, it is worth observing how the tool’s user, the presenting students, distort or abuse the use of the presentation medium.

Unquestionably, all of this cannot be blamed on the medium. Though it is the medium that steals the audience’ focus, ultimately, it is the presenter who facilitated such robbery. Perhaps, more education and assistance in making report presentations and conducting it will remedy some of these issues.