Politics in a PowerPoint Package

Agree or disagree with the politics of Republicans, you have to give them credit for tapping into the power of PowerPoint as a sophisticated media tool for packaging and spreading a message. According to a recent article, 

"GOP leaders are encouraging rank-and-file members to hold town-hall meetings in their home states and districts during this week's congressional recess, and are arming them with briefing books, PowerPoint presentations and a video of Bush making the case for major changes in Social Security."

Whether you're on the right, left, middle, or in your own place, how well are you doing at packaging your own message in a user-friendly medium that other people can use to spread your ideas?  If you're not doing it at all, you should be.  Here are three reasons why:

1. PowerPoint gathers people together. It provides a social context where people meet in person. Where people say that TV makes us isolated and fragmented, PowerPoint can be a tool that brings us together.
2. It facilitates conversation. Used evocatively, PowerPoint can help you engage your audience, open up conversation, and foster collaboration.
3. It provides a versatile media platform. PowerPoint can serve as the visual script for an integrated multimedia experience, providing the platform for video clips, visuals and paper handouts.

Using PowerPoint as a tool to facilitate discourse is far more than a trend; it is a sign of things to come. Whether politics is your passion or you have other cultural interests, the sooner you can package your ideas in a way that other people can talk about them, the faster those ideas will spread.

Tip: Have a favorite idea, cause or passion you would like to make available to others? Consider producing a PowerPoint presentation that other people could use. Keep the screen free of bullet points, and instead create an integrated media document that also serves as a handout people can take home. When you're done, post the PowerPoint file on your website so other people can download it, and write about it in your weblog or by email.  Post a comment here to share your thoughts on how things went.