Q. What about presentations?
A. I use a little saying, which is, “Be brief, be bright and be gone.” It’s also not uncommon for me to say, “Why don’t we put the PowerPoint aside for a minute and why don’t you just talk to me?”
Q. What’s the maximum number of PowerPoint slides you want to see?
A. Six. But I actually prefer no PowerPoint. To be honest, I’d rather just talk. A really great meeting, to me, is someone who is just talking to me and might give me a piece of paper or two to support something, but that’s it.
via nytimes.com
From an interview with Qwest COO Teresa Taylor in today's Corner Office column in the New York Times. I'm used to "stand up. speak up, shut up." Here's a refreshing variation and some advice on using slides, too.