If you have worked in an office, attended a seminar or training session over the last quarter century, chances are you have sat through a PowerPoint presentation. Some 20 years ago, over half of my life’s time was dedicated to traveling in the US, Europe and Canada doing sales meetings, presentations and other events. With over 500 million users today, PowerPoint is still my favorite presentation software. What I’ve learned over the years: PowerPoint is the tool – great content & delivery is the rule!
Not only is PowerPoint a healthier program today, but the internet has increased its worth many times over. Here are some facts that you may find interesting:
Original brainchild of Robert Gaskins and Dennis Austin of US company Forethough
- Its original name was “Presentation” created in 1984. Renamed to PowerPoint in 1987.
- PowerPoint was originally developed just for the Apple Macintosh.
- There are more than 500 million users of PowerPoint worldwide.
- More than 30 million presentation are created daily.
- Over 6 million teachers around the world use PowerPoint for classroom lectures.
- More than 120 Million people use PowerPoint to create business presentations.
- Average PowerPoint runs for 250 minutes start up to shutdown.
- The average PowerPoint slide includes 40 words.
- Microsoft PowerPoint has estimated 95% share of presentation software market.
(source: Robert Gaskins)
These facts were amazing – 500 million users and 30 millions presentations created daily! Another one that jumped out was the average of 40 words per slide. This is excessive and keeping your audience focused is next to impossible – let alone retaining your message. Understanding your objectives, key content, and audience is what will make PowerPoint a great presentation tool for you!
