PowerPoint as a tool has been used in business for decades. It’s unique ability to distill important information and present it in a way that is understandable and eye-catching has made it a mainstay of the business world. Having skills with PowerPoint is essential to success in many work environments with companies making proficiency in it a requirement when looking for applicants.

It is established that PowerPoint has several benefits as a multimedia tool — there is no denying that the format is flexible and allows an easy progression and changes in content as and when required. It is presenter-friendly and describes the topic in an abridged manner, but a deep insight into it reveal that a few things need to be kept in mind when using it. 

Things to be kept in mind are:

• Significant features of a business are distilled in shortened sentences and in highlighted mode. Briefness is the approach and there are chances that some detailed and necessary information regarding your business that needs to be elaborated is missed.
  
  
• Since the presenter of a PPT follows its slides and goes through their sequence in a steadfast manner, you seldom have this opportunity to get the discussion beyond these slides. Matters in slides are read and discussed and before a question springs up in your mind, you are moving on to the next slide. Such rapidity leads to an overlooking of things that could also be important.
  
  
• Presenters, more often than not, read the textual content straight from the slides and finish their presentations in a mechanised manner. Just as it takes skill to make a PowerPoint, it takes a certain skill to make the most of the overall presentation. Going through the motions doesn’t do justice to the subject matter.
  
  
• Audiences have a tough time oscillating their attention between the presenter and the slides. Shifting attention repeatedly can affect their concentration levels a lot, making the whole exercise futile in terms of comprehension.
  
  
• A PPT is normally a dry piece of information where you cannot afford to insert creativity up to a point. Normally, a collection of facts wrapped in a story can attract the attention of the audiences more than a PPT.

Therefore, while being an impactful media format undoubtedly, a PPT has some limitations. It is good to keep in mind these limitations when remembering that it is a tool, just like any other, whose use may affect your business outcomes. Ideally, it should be used for specific situations where its use is warranted and should not be a go-to tool in which faith is placed blindly.

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