Editing Microsoft PowerPoint (section)

====Use it differently====
{{See also|Richard E. Mayer |Stevenote |label 2=Steve Jobs Keynotes}}
A second reaction to PowerPoint use was to say that PowerPoint can be used well, but only by substantially changing its style of use. This reaction is exemplified by [[Richard E. Mayer]], a professor of psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who has studied cognition and learning, particularly the design of educational multimedia, and who has published more than 500 publications, including over 30 books.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.psych.ucsb.edu/people/faculty/mayer |title=Richard Mayer |date=2017 |website=Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of California at Santa Barbara, faculty directory |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170617030504/https://www.psych.ucsb.edu/people/faculty/mayer |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 17, 2017 |access-date=September 23, 2017 |quote=Dr. Mayer is concerned with how to present information in ways that help people understand, including how to use words and pictures to explain scientific and mathematical concepts.}}</ref> Mayer's theme has been that "In light of the science, it is up to us to make a fundamental shift in our thinking—we can no longer expect people to struggle to try to adapt to our PowerPoint habits. Instead, we have to change our PowerPoint habits to align with the way people learn."<ref name="Mayer-Atkinson-2004" />

Tufte had argued his judgment that the information density of text on PowerPoint slides was too low, perhaps only 40 words on a slide, leading to over-simplified messages;<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tufte |first=Edward |author-link=Edward Tufte |year=2006 |orig-year=1st ed. 2003, 24 pg. |title=The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint: Pitching Out Corrupts Within |edition=2nd |location=Cheshire, Connecticut |publisher=Graphics Press LLC |isbn=978-0-9613921-6-1 |pages=4, 15 |quote=very little information per slide ... the text is grossly impoverished .. the PowerPoint slide typically shows 40 words ... .}}</ref> Mayer responded that his empirical research showed exactly the opposite, that the amount of text on PowerPoint slides was usually too high, and that even fewer than 40 words on a slide resulted in "PowerPoint overload" that impeded understanding during presentations.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228893840 |title=Five ways to reduce PowerPoint overload |last1=Atkinson |first1=Cliff |last2=Mayer |first2=Richard E. |author-link2=Richard E. Mayer |date=April 23, 2004 |version=Revision 1.1 |website=ResearchGate |format=PDF |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6ZMK2qMHz?url=https://filetea.me/t1sWlhUAjlwTqxmEj6Ds9ZT4Q |url-status=live |archive-date=June 17, 2015 |access-date=September 23, 2017 |quote=... it is conventional wisdom to put no more than six lines of text on a PowerPoint slide, six words per line. But that convention is no longer wise in the light of research that shows that even that amount of text on a slide can be a recipe for information overload.}}</ref>

Mayer suggested a few major changes from traditional PowerPoint formats:<ref name="Mayer-Atkinson-2004" />

* replacing brief slide titles with longer "headlines" expressing complete ideas;
* showing more slides but simpler ones;
* removing almost all text including nearly all bullet lists (reserving the text for the spoken narration);
* using larger, higher-quality, and more important graphics and photographs;
* removing all extraneous decoration, backgrounds, logos and identifications, everything but the essential message.

Mayer's ideas are claimed by [[Carmine Gallo]] to have been reflected in Steve Jobs's presentations: "Mayer outlined fundamental principles of multimedia design based on what scientists know about cognitive functioning. Steve Jobs's slides adhere to each of Mayer's principles ... ."<ref name="Gallo-2009">{{Cite book |last=Gallo |first=Carmine |author-link=Carmine Gallo |year=2009 |title=The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs |publisher=McGraw-Hill |isbn=978-0-07-163608-7}}</ref>{{Rp|page=92}} Though not unique to Jobs, many people saw the style for the first time in Jobs's famous product introductions.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gallo |first=Carmine |author-link=Carmine Gallo |date=September 7, 2012 |title=Jeff Bezos and The End of PowerPoint As We Know It |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2012/09/07/jeff-bezos-and-the-end-of-powerpoint-as-we-know-it/ |newspaper=Forbes |issn=0015-6914 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150325150413/http://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2012/09/07/jeff-bezos-and-the-end-of-powerpoint-as-we-know-it/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 25, 2015 |access-date=September 24, 2017 |quote=And no, Steve Jobs did not invent the style. He just happened to use it very effectively.}}</ref> Steve Jobs would have been using Apple's [[Keynote (presentation software)|Keynote]], which was designed for Jobs's own slide shows beginning in 2003, but Gallo says that "speaking like Jobs has little to do with the type of presentation software you use (PowerPoint, Keynote, etc.) ... all the techniques apply equally to PowerPoint and Keynote."<ref name="Gallo-2009" />{{Rp|pages=14,46}} Gallo adds that "Microsoft's PowerPoint has one big advantage over Apple's Keynote presentation software—it's everywhere ... it's safe to say that the number of Keynote presentations is minuscule in comparison with PowerPoint. Although most presentation designers who are familiar with both formats prefer to work in the more elegant Keynote system, those same designers will tell you that the majority of their client work is done in PowerPoint."<ref name="Gallo-2009" />{{Rp|page=44}}

Consistent with its association with Steve Jobs's keynotes, a response to this style has been that it is particularly effective for "ballroom-style presentations" (as often given in conference center ballrooms) where a celebrated and practiced speaker addresses a large passive audience, but less appropriate for "conference room-style presentations" which are often recurring internal business meetings for in-depth discussion with motivated counterparts.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gabrielle |first=Bruce R. |year=2010 |title=Speaking PowerPoint: The New Language of Business |publisher=Insights Publishing |isbn=978-0-9842360-4-6 |pages=16–17}}</ref>