Posted on Mar 14, 2014
What would happen if there was no PowerPoint?
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Have we become overly reliant on technology to do our jobs as leaders? As leaders we spend a lot of time putting presentations together to brief our superiors. Bullet points and quad-charts are endless. How would our military function if we couldn't organize briefings and presentations with PowerPoint? Would our verbal briefing skills improve? Would our map reading skills improve? Would leaders at higher levels loose the ability to micromanage? Would junior officers and NCOs be more empowered to take initiative and act on their own judgement? Sadly, a world without PowerPoint may only be a dream, but I have a suspicion it may be wonderfully freeing and empowering.
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Technology
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Technology PowerPoint
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 84
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We would have to stop the war.... But seriously, we would have to go back to "old school" Transparencies, hip pocket training etc. A great test for a staff doing a staffex is in the middle of the excersize, pull the power. You will find either mass chaos, or leaders who can think out of the box to work through this difficult issue. Try it some time!
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LTC Paul Labrador
Yup, transparencies with dry-erase or wax pens.....because without briefings, the Army would grind to a halt....
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SGM Mikel Dawson
This was something I tried to express when I was the V Corps Rear G3 SGM. I'd tell people they needed to know how to do things by hand because sometime power might go out. Back then we did train some that way, I have no idea now, but I am a firm believer we need to know how face a problem, overcome and adapt to complete the mission.
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MSG (Join to see)
That is so true. We have gotten away with rehearsals. Soldiers should not rely on PowerPoint. They need to use battle drill experience to train and advise
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1SG (Join to see)
When I was in ABIC, we split the class up to get through the student presentations quicker. The laptop I was using in my group ran out of battery and no charger, right in the middle of my presentation.
I am glad I was old school enough to roll with it and use the white board and training aids. The course instructor used the event as a teaching point and how we should not become reliant on PowerPoint. A prepared briefer or instructor should design the presentation with the ability to deliver without technology and then use technology only as a tool to augment.
Too many times at weekend drill, I witness classes reliant on PowerPoint. Then they can't get on the network and the class either gets watered down to a few minutes of bs, or gets postponed. It's tragic
I am glad I was old school enough to roll with it and use the white board and training aids. The course instructor used the event as a teaching point and how we should not become reliant on PowerPoint. A prepared briefer or instructor should design the presentation with the ability to deliver without technology and then use technology only as a tool to augment.
Too many times at weekend drill, I witness classes reliant on PowerPoint. Then they can't get on the network and the class either gets watered down to a few minutes of bs, or gets postponed. It's tragic
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SGT Bryon Sergent
Well, CPT Johnson, we actually had to do the runners in the late 80's and early 90's when commo went down. Was a pain in the arse sir!
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SSG Jason Deters
No Powerpoint? How in the world would they be able to emphasize a particular portion of their briefing without the sound of a .50 cal firing as the words spiraled into position?
As a former 42A in the S1, without PowerPoint, I would never have earned my "PowerPoint Ranger" tab and would have had much more time that I could have spent on real missions like processing promotion packets for squared away troops or other personnel actions. Why do you think it takes SOOOOO LOONNNGGGG for the S1 shop to do ANYTHING? They are all tied up reading e-mails and publishing PowerPoint slides for the Staff officers.
As a former 42A in the S1, without PowerPoint, I would never have earned my "PowerPoint Ranger" tab and would have had much more time that I could have spent on real missions like processing promotion packets for squared away troops or other personnel actions. Why do you think it takes SOOOOO LOONNNGGGG for the S1 shop to do ANYTHING? They are all tied up reading e-mails and publishing PowerPoint slides for the Staff officers.
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SGM Mikel Dawson
You might have to talk to the person at the next desk, or get up and walk across the room
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CPT Johnson,
I have had this discussion more than a couple of times. The problem is not PowerPoint but leaders who don't trust their people to accomplish their mission. To supplement this they want briefing after briefing. I remember a little bit about acetate and projectors which is how you would be giving briefings without PowerPoint. Don't blame the program for bad leadership.
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CPT (Join to see)
MAJ Telesco,
You make an excellent point about trust or lack there of. I feel that PowerPoint sometimes empowers leaders to micromanage a bit too much. I have seen leaders completely shoot down a briefer and ignore what they are trying to say because something on their PowerPoint slide wasn't formatted properly. I worry that the content of the message sometimes gets lost in the graphics, and layout of a PowerPoint presentation.
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MAJ (Join to see)
CPT Johnson,
Exactly where I was going. I have noticed it is extremely easy to begin to micromanage. I have been around for so long and seen how things can go wrong that it is easy to step down and try and manage from my level as a BN S3. There is a very fine line between proper planning and micromanaging. This is why I love have my SGM who can pull me in if I am jumping the tracks a little too much.
Your second point about the graphics I have seen too many times. Fully understanding that GOs and major decision makers see thousands of slides a week and have to base many of their choices on that information. My opinion is that I like very basic slides with the Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF) and leave the fancy transitions and colors off.
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Wellllll, this is going to date me a bit but when I came in the Army PowerPoint didn't even exist, heck we were still using typewriters.
This is a question I am hit with all the time along with " what did you guys do before cellphones" my common answer is "We actually had face to face meetings, we drew our plans on butcher blocks, or chalk boards. We made sand tables, huge freakin sand tables."
And you know what ? We still got the job done.
This is a question I am hit with all the time along with " what did you guys do before cellphones" my common answer is "We actually had face to face meetings, we drew our plans on butcher blocks, or chalk boards. We made sand tables, huge freakin sand tables."
And you know what ? We still got the job done.
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Though I despise, PPT, it is a tool, and one needs to have their tool bag full of USEFUL tools. The problem is people get too comfortable (dependent) with some tools and either do not know how or choose not to use other tools. Like using a hammer on a screw, yes it will work, but is it the correct tool for the job. Diversify yourselves, and learn alternative methods to demonstrate the point you are trying to make. You may surprise yourself when you think outside the box and show your other talents (besides making pretty slides).
Just my two cents...
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CPT (Join to see)
CW4 Kinslow, your point on diversity of presentation tools is excellent. I think we have gotten too dependent on using that one tool to convey info. The ability to present info in several different ways is a skill I think a lot of us could use work on, but it seems to me that a lot of commanders only want the briefing presented in one manner (PowerPoint). I appreciate the feedback!
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I might be biased as an intelligence professional, but I honestly see nothing wrong with PowerPoint/Prezi/Keynote. Do some instructors/presenters use it as a crutch? Yes. I usually turn off the slides several times in a presentation to better depict an idea on the whiteboard. But whether someone is a great briefer or not, many of us are visual learners and can't commit something to memory or lecture it from memory without visual cues or graphical representations.
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CPT (Join to see)
SFC Watkins, PPT is a definitely a great way to visually depict ideas. I know that I personally can read an OPORD and get a general sense of what it is describing, but I definitely understand things better with a sand table and rock drill. I think PPT is definitely a great tool that we use, but sometimes I worry we rely too heavily on it. Your point about instructors using it as a crutch is exactly what I am getting at. I wonder what our schools would look like if PPT was banned...
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1SG(P) (Join to see)
That's not the problem w/ PPT. The issue is that we've restricted ourselves operationally with it:
Hilarious video showing what it takes to get outside the wire. Sad but true.
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We'd be back to using butcher block or overhead transparencies. As much as people hate PPT, it has made presentations easier to do. And much more legible. It's really more about knowing HOW to do a briefing and keeping the information you present relative and to the point. There is a reason why it's called a BRIEFing......
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Why would you want get rid from such great work. As you can tell Power Point made these complex situations into a simply single slide that anyone can understand.
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CPT (Join to see)
I had this tacked to the wall behind my desk in Afghanistan. I was a counter-insurgency instructor, and it demonstrated just how convoluted we knew the situation on the ground really was.
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MAJ (Join to see)
Technically that graphic wasn't done in PPT but in Vensim...which, if you know that system, tells you right away how inappropriate and misleading that picture is. A system-of-systems construct super-imposed onto a complex adaptive system...terrible way to make sense of things. They'd get better results from a whiteboard and a few minutes of drawing stick figures. But A+ for the detailed staff work it took to put the abomination together. :)
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