Instead of PowerPoint… dance?

If you’ve read my blog posts for a while, you know I have some strong opinions about PowerPoint. In short, I think it’s a powerful tool that is all too often poorly used in presentations, wasting people’s time and turning them more cynical to training and presentations in general.

A while back, I proposed 10 alternatives to PowerPoint. But I never thought of dance as an alternative to PowerPoint until this past weekend when I watched this TED Talk.

If you have 11 minutes, I encourage you to give it a view. If you only have 5 minutes, then fast forward to the 6:00 mark, where he offers his proposal on an alternative to PowerPoint.

I’m not sure I’m sold on dance as a visual alternative to PowerPoint. Honestly, I felt the dancers were more distracting to me than anything during his first five minutes. But I like his thinking in terms of the need for more effective ways to visually represent information.

What do you think? Is dance something you’d ever consider as an alternative to PowerPoint? Let’s hear your thoughts in the comments section below.

Brian Washburn

Brian has over 25 years of experience in Learning & Development including the last 7 as CEO of Endurance Learning.

Brian is always available to chat about learning & development and to talk about whether Endurance Learning can be your training team’s “extra set of hands”.

See author's posts

Instructor-Led Training Resources

These are some of our favorite resources to support everyone involved with instructor-led training.

Training Delivery and Facilitation Competency Rubric

A rubric is a way to assess performance with a standard set of evaluation criteria. The next time you need to assess the performance of someone delivering training (even if that someone is you), you may find this rubric helpful.

263 Training Activities to Boost Your Workshop

Get quick access to the training activities and workshop activities that help you generate ideas for your next training session.

The Role of Co-facilitators

Co-facilitators play an important role in a training workshop. The most obvious benefit is that when you co-facilitate, you get a break from leading the

18 Instructor-led Training Activities

Engaging, intentional, face-to-face and virtual instructor-led training activities can make the difference between a session that helps learners to apply new skills or knowledge and one that falls flat.

Articles Similar to Instead of PowerPoint… dance?

ILT & VILT

Accessibility and Inclusion in Instructor-Led Training (ILT)

Is your ILT designed with accessibility and inclusion in mind? Gwen Navarrete Klapperich wants to make sure you consider accessibility and inclusion in your ILT design, and offers some suggestions on how to do just that.

ILT & VILT

Training Delivery and Facilitation Competency Rubric

instructor becomes the pupil with kassy laborie and zovig garboushian

ILT & VILT

Turning the Tables: From Trainer to Student

As people who have designed and delivered effective training, Kassy Laborie and Zovig Garboushian know a thing or two about good learning experiences. So what nuggets have they gleaned from a 9-month course that they’re both attending, and that all of us should consider when designing our own programs? Today’s podcast answers that question.

ILT & VILT

Is this the world’s most effective role play?

When it comes to your training participants, two of the dirtiest, or perhaps scariest, words you can say during a session may be: role play. In today’s podcast, John Crook, Head of Learning at Intersol Global, offers some thoughts on how to make role plays more authentic and robust.

Jessica Kriegel on keynote presentations

ILT & VILT

What can training designers learn from a popular keynote speaker?

What can anyone who designs training learn from the way a keynote speaker designs and refines their presentation? Renowned keynote speaker, Jessica Kriegel, answers that question and more in today’s podcast.

using a whiteboard in a virtual classroom

ILT & VILT

Using a Whiteboard in a Virtual Classroom

Do you remember the time way back before COVID when we all gathered in classrooms for training? We have seen some Instructor-Led Training (ILT) return,