I don’t like PowerPoint. At least, I don’t like the way it’s almost always used for presentations. Too many bullet points. Too much text. Too many speakers focused on their slides and not on what they have to say. This makes some people—especially those who never present without PowerPoint—really uncomfortable. They think the slides are important to stay on message and to keep both the speaker and the audience focused. They argue that slides are crucial to sharing their information. So here’s an idea:
Why not skip the presentation and just email the slides?
If your slides convey your message for you, why show up to give a presentation? People don’t need you to read to them. Just email the slides and save everybody a trip.
If your first reaction was that you absolutely have to give your presentation live, that you have things to say and a way to say them that slides can't convey, that part—not the slides—is what you should focus on in your presentation.
If you spend more time preparing your slides than you do preparing your message, I think you’re focusing on the wrong thing. Focus your presentation on what slides can’t do—the emotion and the personal connection you have to the material. Those are the reasons they asked for you and not a simple handout. Once you’ve got that part down, you probably won’t need PowerPoint at all.
Here’s a popular Seth Godin post on this topic.