Towards A Splacist Manifesto On The Use Of PowerPoint Presentations

Paul Conneally spoke briefly with psychologist and one of the original developers of the psychic profiling of perpetrators of crime, David Canter, after his talk in the quad at RADAR Loughborough last year.

David's talk given in an outdoor space rather than in a lecture theatre or hall was illustrated not with a PowerPoint but by a live string quartet playing sections from a piece composed by David himself that brought a different dimension to his words.

This led Conneally to think a little and make moves towards a splacist manifesto on the use of PowerPoint slide shows:

We encourage all university lecturers, school teachers, business people and others to consign the PowerPoint presentation as most commonly currently used to the trash bin.

The only times these p(e)rveyors of usually seconhand thought should use PowerPoint presentations are when they use a previously unseen randomly downloaded PowerPoint slide show to illustrate whatever it is that they wish to pontificate on to their captive audience.

Students and other audience members should boo any speaker using a PowerPoint made by the speaker themselves or one that though not made by the speaker has been obviously rehearsed to by the speaker before hand.

The use of dance, music, boxing or any other performative act is actively encouraged in place of PowerPoint presentations.

Paul Conneally
May 2010