If you are like me, you dread sitting through the same old PowerPoint presentation. It is not that it is a bad tool, it is an overused tool. Quite possibly, it is also a misunderstood tool because at times it would seem that reading a book would be more useful than trying to read 10 pt. type on a screen.

Many presenters seem to try to stuff as much information as they can into as little screen space as possible. This leads to spontaneous yawning and falling asleep which ultimately kills all their hard work.

Fear not, there may be a cure. Being touted as The Kawasaki Method, venture capitalist Guy Kawasaki proposes the 10/20/30 rule of powerpoint. The rule simply states:

A PowerPoint presentation should have ten slides, last no more than twenty minutes, and contain no font smaller than thirty points. - Guy Kawasaki

I think that Kawasaki makes an excellent point in laying out his method. More often than not, presentations tend to be one sided with the speaker giving out tons of information with little or no input from the audience. This lack of interaction causes boredom and hardly reinforces any of the learning that should be taking place. By focusing more on interacting with the audience rather than reading slides to them, the presenter will engage their audience in an effective manner.

Learn more about what Guy has to say by visiting The 10/20/30 Rule.