I’m working on a presentation I’ll be giving to an ASIS group in a week or so—which led me to a search through the blogosphere for the latest “tips” on creating killer presentations. As disillusionment with Powerpoint’s bulleted view of the world increases, the number of sites devoted to presentation improvement seems to grow (which is a good thing). I found a really entertaining post by Garr Reynolds (from October 2005) that contrasts the “Presentation Zen” of Bill Gates (Microsoft) and Steve Jobs (Apple). I hope I’m not spoiling anything to point out that any critique of their respective styles that also includes the word “Zen” in the title is probably going to tilt toward Jobs…but still it is an interesting (and illuminating) read.
The Zen aesthetic embraces simplicity, subtlety, and tranquility—which begs the question: where exactly on the path toward Zen Masterhood do you suppose this fellow might be? Can you guess what point this slide is trying to make? I wonder what sort of weather comes out of the Ad Network cloud?
