[Closi]

While this criticises PowerPoint - I don't think it sufficiently outlines an alternative.

As someone that has tried to write a decision paper before rather than a PowerPoint deck, I found the main challenge was engagement (i.e. encouraging people to read it is a challenge, while a powerpoint can be walked through together).

I could present a spreadsheet, but that only addresses the financials or numbers and won't address the business context.

And if you go into a board meeting empty handed to talk about a large investment - good luck!

I think it's probably a case of horses-for-courses: Sometimes PowerPoint is a great format, other times it might not be, and like any format it can either be used well or poorly. The issue in the Columbia example wasn't PowerPoint per-se, it was that the managers weren't clear in their communication.

And while bullet points are poor in some ways - they are great in others. Distilling ideas down and making sure your list is MECE is part of clear communication and thinking.

[nwhatt]

I once had a great presentation about this very topic!

The presenter gave us both the Tufte book and a detailed handout.

The idea is that you use the PowerPoint like you would an overhead projector, details that would otherwise be on slides are better as a handout that people can read/annotate as they want.

This was part of a summer REU and focused on academic talks, and this all falls apart in a remote setting - but I think there are ways to capture the essence of this style on Zoom.

[ghaff]

I pretty much agree with all that.

I'd add that you tend to need a presentation and a leave-behind format. And, in the real world, it's mostly not realistic to expect people to create both formats. Mostly. I've actually given a presentation and wrote a book on the topic. But I'm not going to do that routinely.

[ssivark]

How about Amazon style meetings with 4-6 page memos?