James E. Rogers of Duke Energy was asked, “What would you like business schools to teach more of, or less of?”

I believe there is such a thing as death by PowerPoint. Because I believe, and this is the storyteller in me and maybe the former newspaper reporter, that I’d much rather have someone write a two-page summary of what they’re thinking. When you’re forced to sit and write it, not only are you getting the subject, verb, predicates right, but you’re tying the sentences together and ideas together. PowerPoints are just bullets, bullets, bullets, and when you actually have to write something, you start to develop a more cohesive logic. I think words really make a difference—

what you say, how you say it. A lot of energy needs to go into how you present the idea. And I’m not talking about spin.

I’m really talking about making the idea come alive through a story.34 Based on these comments, respond to each of the following items:

A. What are some specific ways in which you think PowerPoint lowers the level of effective business thinking?

B. What are some specific ways that you can alter the design of electronic slide presentations to bring out good business thinking?

C. What do you think is the difference between spin and story in a business presentation?