TestDive Conference 2024 presentation: „Death by PowerPoint: the slide that killed 7 people in space .„

16th January 2003. NASA Mission STS-107 is underway. The Space Shuttle Columbia launches carrying its crew of seven to low orbit.  
 
Shortly after the takeover, a piece of spray foam fell and collided with one of the tiles on the outer edge of the shuttle’s left wing. NASA officials and Boeing Corporation engineers presented a report with a total of 28 slides.  
 
Based on the data, NASA decided to let the Columbia space shuttle re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere. Columbia was lost and with it her crew of seven. Edward Tufte, a Professor at Yale University and an expert in communication, reviewed the slideshow the Boeing engineers had given NASA. His findings were tragically profound.  
 
Death by PowerPoint is very much real. Sometimes literally.  
 
How to avoid it?  
 
During the speech, we will dig into the slide creation process and learn how to: – emphasize and present data – follow a storytelling structure – keep focus on your audience – design proper slides – not get entangled by the curse of knowledge. We will also undermine the myth of ‘multitasking’ and find out what is the most important part of the presentation. Test your presentation before releasing it. 
 
Why do you think Jeff Besos banned PowerPoint at Amazon?  
 
Don’t let death by Power Point eclipse your good ideas and don’t let somebody torture you by the presentation – and let me show you how to do this.