10 unusual ways people use presentation slides

Slides are visual aids, but given the features in any common presentation software, it’s amazing how people end up using them. Here are 10 different ways people use slides, starting with the most unusual way

1.    Ultimate Animation Software
Many people complain that the animation available in presentation software is too basic. If they were to see the PowerPoint® animation competitions that occur online, they would be stunned by the result. Dedicated contestants use presentation software to create mind blowing animation that could put Flash® to shame. Of course, each slide probably takes hours and a ton of expertise to make. 

2.    Moral Messenger
Every person with an email ID has been forwarded at least one of these - a self-running ppt that talks about importance of maintaining friendships or problems with environment or the ill-effects of smoking or why soft drinks are bad for teeth but good for toilet cleaning. The ppt is saturated with the sender’s concern for your moral and physical well-being.

3.    Gaming Development Tool
With appropriate coding, a simple presentation can turn into a gaming tool, useful for trainers in the classroom and managers who want to waste time.

4.    Brain Dump
Ever seen 467 slides on one topic with absolutely everything that the author knows about it dumped onto the slides? This is a sort of mind mapping exercise and the result is a reference Bible. A training held with a presentation like this is a good substitute for sleeping pills.

5.    Multimedia Self-Learning Tool
Given the features of presentation software, a good voiceover, interactivity with simple animations, videos, internal links and reams of text, slides turn into a complete training tool.  Whether this is a use or misuse, is up to you to decide.

6.    A Resume
The basic word document is almost outdated when it comes to making creative resumes. But does the person who reads the CV really want to see the picture of applicant’s office and read in painful detail about his/her life?

7.    Product/Service Brochure
Marketing teams make up a 5MB presentation with photos and detailed explanation to forward to their customers. They think that the customer actually opens and goes through it in detail. Presentation here substitutes publishing software like Photoshop®.

8.    Greeting Card
As New year or a birthday rolls in, the Presentation kings quickly put together slides with their best wishes. It is filled with more cheer, goodwill and animation than anything a card company rolls out.

9.    Reporting tool
This is one of the most common ways to misuse slides. This type of presentation contains embedded excel sheets, documents, charts, paragraphs of explanations all cramped together in the 7.5 X 10 space. Many college and office reports are submitted daily like this and the information remains incomplete and ineffective. 

10.    Teleprompter
Presenters note down all that they are going to say on their slides and read them out like a newsreader. The only difference is that a teleprompter is not visible to the audience, whereas the slides are obviously visible.