That's a phrase I heard many, many, many times in the professional world. PowerPoint is easily one of the most popular programs in the business world. Take a look at some of these articles on About.com. (I know, I know - it's almost as authoritative as Wikipedia, but it's an interesting place to start.) What differences do you see between the article about PowerPoint for students and the one on PowerPoint for business?
For another perspective, take a look at this post on Buzz Machine (a marketing blog). It sounds like Jeff Jarvis' book, What Would Google Do?, apart from having a pretty awesome title, takes a pretty interesting look at some of Google's best pratices. In the business world, that's similar to saying, "Hey, those Coca-Cola guys seem to sell a lot of soda. What can we do that's like them?" Of course, Google doesn't just sell advertising; they help define how web advertising happens, how it works, and how websites ultimately get constructed. That's the power of language for you.
Anyway, on Jarvis' blog, the author is giving out free copies of a PowerPoint slide-deck (the buzz-phrase for a collection of slides) that encapsulates at least part of his book. Based on his own mention of the deck and the other media versions he jokes about creating, AND on the comments on his post, what sense do you get for the business world's attitude about PowerPoint?
I feel he made that comment because Google has become a huge company that has enabled people to search anything imaginable and provides adequate service to millions.
ReplyDeleteOK, but he's already got the book, webinar, etc. Why create a PowerPoint version of the info? More importantly, why treat the creation of that PowerPoint as kind of a funny thing? Sort of like, "Ha, ha, here's a PowerPoint slide show of my information, and I think that's funny." Why'd he do that?
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I really don't know...maybe he was just poking fun at how much people in the office use Powerpoint for every task.
ReplyDeleteFrom Marion:
ReplyDeletePower Point: Both, business and school have very similar descriptions. Frankly, all the points given are just common sense but not necessary, common practice. I think power point should be an aid for the audience not the presented. In other words, the presented should be able to make his/her presentation without the power point and for the first requirement is to know your stuff.
Book: to sale any service I think is important to present a little bit of the product. The power point at the web site gives a little bit of information but I am sure the book and the other products have a lot more. As far as being funny, I am guessing that the target market are Americans, because I could not understand any of the jokes at all.
From Reshard:
ReplyDeleteIn the words of one of the commentators-
Mike Mudd says:
February 11, 2009 at 2:50 pm
This looks like someone coded up a random slogan generator, cranked the BS parameter up to max and pushed "Run"..
I think this guy(Jarvis) worships the wisdom of the almighty Google, evangelizing in every form of media possible. All he is doing is perpetuating his Google beliefs. He put this on his website to peddle more of his 'ware'. The things he says in his book makes no sense to me. The only thing I get from him is a bunch of mindless fluff...
I believe he made the power point to cover all possible media outlets and capitalize on all sales. Business professionals, who read the book, would probably create a power point presentation about the information in his book and he just beat them to the punch.
ReplyDeleteI just think he wanted to reach the masses by shorting the information for the people who dont have the time to read the whole book. He just highlighted the important facts and placed them in powerpoint form because he knows that many people in business are known to make a sale in this format.
ReplyDeleteI think that a powerpoint was created because he wanted to get his information out. Most people don't write books for the money (because honestly, if you did, you'd have to be a best seller in order to see any of it.) And a passionate writer is more worried about someone appreciating his or her work rather that getting paid for what they are doing (that's a bonus!) So, like I said, I think he was just interested in getting his information out quickly and effectively rather it be in a full, detailed book or in a quick, abbreviated powerpoint. Also, by using a shortened version of the text he has written, he is abbreviating everything himself instead of leaving it to others to do that, thus increasing his own profit. I think that because of his powerpoint, more people would be enticed to purchase the book for clarity of the material.
ReplyDeleteFrom Greg:
ReplyDeleteMyself personally, I think the What Would Google Do punch line was great. We all heard the real meaning of it before so it was really catchy to here it stand for something else. Jarvis did a good job by catching the reader’s eyes with the WWGD slogan as he give you the ends and outs of the Google Company. I also like the slide show as well because of how he gets your attention by the slogan but the power point itself is simple to read and well organized.
The fact that Google is dominating all the other online websites and is changing the way that we use the internet makes this punch-line sound good. I honestly believe that without Google a lot of the leading industries in America would have trouble. The powerpoint was designed perfectly because it was very easy to read and it displayed all of the most important information. It also made me want to go back to the actual website.
ReplyDeletePowerPoint is an exceptional presentation program that can easily be used for business and personal use. It is so simple that a presentation can be designed in a short period of time.
ReplyDelete