Presentation software can be a wonderful tool if used correctly. It can also be a dangerous distraction that interferes with communication rather than facilitating it. The line between the two is thin.

Over the course of my career, I have sat through hundreds of presentations. Most of them were done with PowerPoint. Most of them are done poorly.

The TED Conference is one of the most prestigious in the world. In case you haven’t heard of it, TED stands for “Technology, Entertainment, Design.” It started out in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds.

Since then its scope has become ever broader. The annual conference now brings together the world’s most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged by TED to give “the talk of their lives.” Each speaker is given just 18 minutes to do so. Talk about pressure!

I usually make three to four major presentations a month. In January, for example, I made presentations at our Quarterly Business Review Meeting, our All Employee Meeting, and The Thomas Nelson Way session. In February, I will make four presentations.

Today, I was reviewing a colleague’s PowerPoint presentation. The first thing I noticed was his company’s logo was on every single slide. After a few slides, I found myself getting annoyed.

I know it is standard practice to put a logo on every page, especially in the corporate world. However, I would suggest that you avoid this practice. Here’s why:

I don’t know about you, but our business runs on PowerPoint, and, to a lesser extent, Keynote presentation software.