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I’m somewhat of a Tufte fan, so it goes without saying that I’m not fond of PowerPoint. But when you work in Seattle, Microsoft is everywhere. Moreover, scientists are familiar with the software because they used it in colleges and biotechs for years now. It’s the preferred tool, but not because it’s exceptional. It’s ubiquitous. Even non-PowerPoint software is very PowerPoint-like.

There are inherent problems in PP, and also the record is not promising. Throughout many versions of PP, the intellectual level and analytical quality has rarely improved. New releases feature more elaborated PP Phluff and therapeutic measures for troubled presenters. These self-parodying elaborations make each new release different from the previous version – but not smarter. PP competes largely with itself: there are few incentives for meaningful change in a monopoly product with an 86% gross profit margin (as reported in antitrust proceedings). In a competetive market, producers improve and diversify products; monopolies have the luxury of blaming consumers for poor performances. It is scandalous that there is no coherent software for serious presentations. (Edward Tufte)

Meanwhile, PowerPoint has become something of a joke.

All true. I have watched – and helped to create – some amazing visual garbage. As the years pass, I strive to expunge all the worst stuff. When I have to use PowerPoint, the results appear quite minimalist and with little fanfare. Amazingly, you can understand what I’m talking about, unlike the following example.

The process

Most of my PowerPoint use has nothing to do with presentations. I’m more likely to encounter scientific figures that I need to convert into alternative file formats. Incidentally, PowerPoint’s exporting options still leave a lot to be desired. Here’s the process I follow when creating high-quality figures.

1. Open the figure(s) in PowerPoint
2. Clean up and tighten all the elements; ensure there’s a consistent look and feel
3. Export to PDF format
4. Open the PDF in Acrobat Standard (or better)
5. Save this as whatever particular file format (and resolution) required
6. Crop and adjust colorspace as needed

It’s convoluted, but it pointedly does not degrade the contents the way PowerPoint would if I simply did a “Save As.”

Another option

So far as actual presentations are concerned, I think some completely different software might be a good thing to try. When I get free time, I play with Prezi. It’s a radically different way to create presentations.

Learn more about this zooming presentation editor. It's browser-based and runs in Flash.

It’ll take some time to determine whether this is a more useful way to create presentations, but I’m intrigued so far. In the mean time, I’ll continue to use PowerPoint because I have to. You just have to avoid using all those goofy, fluffy option panels.