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By Thursday I will have run a session of each of the three Mastermind-style groups I host in just two weeks. Only one of them involves a Powerpoint presentation as that was the sponsoring client’s wish; they accepted the discussion stage as an optional extra which cheered my heart. One hour Powerpoint in 9 hours of learning – I can live with that ratio.

Why the negativity? Because Powerpoint kills discussion. You know the scenario: you fumble over opening your slides, mumbling about “just getting the technology to behave” and then stand up and tell the audience about yourself over a title slide. The audience meantime has crossed their arms, head slightly cocked, with a look of “go on, impress me, expert” on their faces.

How often do you take something you’ve seen in a Powerpoint presentation and run with it? I rarely do. I prefer reading a book or listening to a podcast interview. Slides just slide out of my brain.

There’s psychology behind this; you are far more likely to implement an idea if it’s “your’s” and not “their’s”. So the 8/9 non-Powerpoint hours, I have people talking to each other peer-to-peer while I record the generic points. I have a number of tricks to make sure the discussion covers all the bases and everybody says what they really think rather than falling into line with the majority, but fundamentally it is a conversation. And it works.

If you would like to give it a go and have a free morning this Thursday (ie the 18th October), then register for the Sustainability Roundtable Open Session – we’ve got some excellent people signed up, but under the rules, I can’t say who! And there won’t be any Powerpoint at all!