Richer Features: Poorer Presentations?

Posted by Laura Bergells

November 8, 2006

What if less is more?

Maxwell Cooter suggests that this is so in his article at Techworld, where he proclaims that the MS people seem v. proud of all the richer features in PowerPoint 2007. But Mr. Cooter worries that more whiz-bang PowerPoint features could lead to poorer presentations.

More features and a more complex interface might encourage yet more sloppy thinking — which goes to the heart of many poor presentations. More design and animation features can take the focus off content. And more technical features might mean more time spent trying to WOW an audience by making an animal leap across the screen, instead of using personal communication skills to emotional or intellectually connect with the audience.

What improvements / disasters will MS Office 2007 really yield?