Articles

  |  Thor Galle

Dear Professor,

Published on February 23rd, 2018

Like most students, I made a resolution this semester to have a fresh start, to attend all classes and make sure I understand the main points in the lectures. I've been able to live up to that promise these two weeks, but I'm afraid you just made me break it.

The reason? It's not your stuttering, I can live with that. Your verbal skills and physical presence are decent too. The problem is, there is almost zero added value in coming to your class.

Almost every single word you say is projected black-white next to you.

Then, what do you expect me to do when sitting there? Should I listen to you, or read the PowerPoint content? When I try to listen, the slides distract me. When I try to read, your talking distracts me. The people around me checking their 9GAG feeds on Facebook don't help either. I'd rather just browse the slides at home.

This is the prime example of PowerPoint illiteracy. Slides are meant to support your message, they should not overwhelm everyone with an exhaustive summary of the course content. Do you want to distribute your course notes? Awesome, just publish them online, thank you. They would form a terrific summary for later reference.

But please, do not project these slides. They're the reason I won't be in your class today.

With kind regards,

Thor Galle

PS: check out this TED talk. It might help you.


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