Even a Nerd Can Be Heard

Corporations create standard PowerPoint templates that are applied to every presentation. Templates help these
corporations convey a consistent brand image. I understand the concept. I'm all for consistency.

Trouble is - I like to do things differently.

Sometimes, I like to create all black and white slides with pictures and very few words. I think they have more impact. If you have ever seen the Brand Gap  slides you can see how powerful black and white can be.

I like quotes, white space, and impact. It's hard to do on that with templates. And I hate templates that have so much going on you can't read the words. You've seen them. The top image goes half way down the slide and there is a graphic on the bottom too. You're left with one centimeter of space for your valuable content.

And sometimes I just use a big picture on a page. I try to do this often. But those blasted template backgrounds get in the way - so I have to suppress the background.

And I don't like agendas and objectives listed on my intro slides. These seem to be standard fare. I don't want to be a standard presenter.

And don't even get me started on "housekeeping".  I hate it when someone gets up to the podium and mentions that word. I did not come to your conference/session/event to do housekeeping. And I am not going to use part of my valuable presentation time to talk about your housekeeping issues (and I beg you not to look in my messy hall closet, while we're on the housekeeping subject.)

I guess you'd call me a slideshow maverick.

I think I would rather be the presenter of change who hopes to get around those boring template requirements.