PowerPoint is secondary to the spoken word, but secondary thing matter. The icing is not as important at the cake, but who really likes a cake without icing? The atmosphere is not as important as the meal, but I like a nice restaurant to have both. Good PowerPoint can really enhance the spoken Word. Bad PowerPoint is a huge distraction.
This last weekend I spoke on jealousy. I threw this pic up on the screen.
It talked about how there is good jealousy and bad jealousy. Suppose the boy in this picture is the boyfriend of the girl on the right. Isn’t she right to be jealous? Good jealousy is if my wife wanted to go out with another guy it would make me mad. God is jealous that way. Bad jealousy is when my wife gets a promotion or receives some positive attention and it makes me mad. We are to rejoice with those who rejoice. If she is blessed, I should be happy for her, not jealous of her.
I think this PowerPoint slide helped to make that point. It captured people’s attention. It made them smile. It made the sermon a little more interesting. Good PowerPoint does that.
Bad PowerPoint, on the other hand, is just a huge distraction. It gets in the way. Better to have no PowerPoint than to have bad PowerPoint.
We live in a visual age. TV has spoiled us. We are used to high-quality graphics enhancing the message. Your audience expects it. If it is not there it feels like popcorn with no salt.
I’d like to write a series of articles on how to use PowerPoint in preaching. I’d like to ask you to help me. I’d be interested in your comments below. Tell how you like to see PowerPoint used and how you hate to see it used.
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I agree with you 100%, but I love to teach my class using power point. I like to use it because I can talk about what is on the screen rather than rely on my notes. Like you said we live in a visual age and the younger generation really like the show much better. God bless you for your wonderful lessons.
For my sermon, I only use the Scripture reference, not the verse itself on the PowerPoint slide. That way the congregation gets used to opening their Bibles! And, I love to hear the sound of Bible pages pages flipping.
(I have spoken in several churches where I will say, turn in your Bible to today’s passage and all I get are blank stares.)
Here’s a side-bar I wrote to accompany an article on communication:
Five Ways to Improve Your Powerpoint
1. Add 100% Black Slides
Any time you want people look at you instead of the screen.
2. Keep to Six Words or Less
Per slide, unless it’s a quote.
3. Use Huge Fonts
The bigger the better. Never smaller than 30pt.
4. Use Huge Pictures
The bigger the better. Full screen is best.
5. Use Pictures with No Words at all
Only use words when necessary.
Great comments, Ken!
Another rule: Never use motion or animation
Exception: Use it if you want the audience to look at the screen instead of you, otherwise they’ll be looking at the screen every single time it moves.
More preferences:
Black or very dark backgrounds with white or very light fonts
Maximize contrast
When laying text over pics, use font shadows to help the text stand out
Always use a sans-serif font such as Verdana
Never let your ppt get ahead of you (i.e. don’t put up the whole sermon outline at the beginning, else people will read ahead and tune out).