Last week I posted some thoughts about what we need to do about bad PowerPoint presentations in response to a posting by Mickie Rops at her Association Knowledge and Credentialing blog. For those involved in education or conference-related activities at their association the problem is particularly acute. We have conferences, congresses, symposiums, seminars, and countless other opportunities where there are individuals in front of a crowd of people tasked with sharing their knowledge, experience and expertise. And while every association has their own nuances and intricacies that make them unique, the one thing that is pretty common throughout is the fact that most, if not all, provide their presenters with a computer, projector and PowerPoint to make their presentations.

Mickie being a well known innovator and educator in the association community obviously decided that the feedback she received was loud and clear. Today she did a follow-up posting: Powerpointless that consisted of a summary of the comments she recieved and a pretty cool call to action. She suggested that we not only needed to share good practices and ideas for coaching and preparing presenters from associations that were doing a good job of it, but also that perhaps we needed to educate ourselves as well. The suggested medium: a virtual book club where we could pick a few relevant titles and share our combined learning. Now this isn’t a new concept by any stretch, but it is a great approach to solving a common problem many of us are facing.

This is one of the reasons I am so passionate about blogging, and the whole social media phenomena in the first place. It not only allows you the opportunity to share thoughts and ideas very easily and also connect with people you wouldn’t have the opportunity to normally, but it also, if done properly, allows you to connect with these same people to solve problems that you would have otherwise faced alone. This is an example of social media done right, and while this also happens pretty often, it’s one of the benefits that can be easily lost in the hype.

As an adjunct to the discussion I wanted to say thanks to Lisa Junker for suggesting the resources that she did. One piece in particular: Really Bad Powerpoint by Seth Godin, proved to be a quick and enlightening read. It just so happens that Seth just updated it at the beginning of the year in response to the abundance of bad presentations, presentation templates and presentation practices still floating around. If you have a few minutes, follow the link above, it really is a worthwhile read.