We've all heard the phrase 'Death by PowerPoint'. This is the second in a series designed to reduce the PowerPoint mortality rate. And this tip could hardly be simpler. Don't (visually) SHOUT!

You're shouting when you over-use PowerPoint's visual effects

When PowerPoint first arrived, many presenters thought, Now I too can look great. It offered them wizardry, enabling them to use whizz-bang effects until audience eyeballs rolled in their sockets.

Sorry, but if your unstated message is please admire my great audio-visual effects, then your stated message is likely to be overwhelmed.

Your audiences will leave, thinking, what was that about? and sympathising with the angry Pentagon general who issued orders to all armed services data-show users: "Keep it simple. Get to the point."

Emphasise everything and your audience will tune out

Each electronic visual effect is like finding a word written in caps in an email or text (also known as shouting). So here's the point. By all means shout occasionally, but constant visual shouting causes audiences to tune your message out.

And as time goes by, the dislike of visual shouting is growing stronger... perhaps because we are increasingly exposed to brutal visual shouting in advertisements.

PowerPoint must subtly enhance, not visually deafen.

Michael