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1. Please respond to the discussion with a value added comment and…
1. Please respond to the discussion with a value added comment and contribution
In relation to Bailey’s six principles, why would Bezos ban PowerPoints? What’s wrong with PowerPoints in his mind?
Bezos would ban Power points because power points do not give detailed instruction based on how the format of a PowerPoint compared to business writing is. For example, in a memo you can format detailed instructions on a page without the use of illustration this makes the information not clear and concise . Whereas in PowerPoint, you can only put so much information on one page without the reader getting distracted by the extra features of a PowerPoint.
2. Bezos prefers a carefully written six-page narrative (kind of a brief report) read silently for 30 minutes at the beginning of a meeting instead of a PowerPoint presentation. What advantage might such a memo have over a PowerPoint presentation?
Doing this focuses solely on the readers individuals attention reading a memo compared to reading a power point. A PowerPoint can often break the readers attention between slides, in a business memo you can have headers and outlines that flow with the rest of the memo that usually does not sway the readers attention. Business memos are easier to read rather than a power point due to the limitations that are brought up with between each slide. Furthermore, memos are formatted in a way that can follow all of Aristotle’s Rhetorical Elements without breaking the readers attention. This causes for the reader to feel more engaged with the task at hand and can provide a better outcome when it comes to the work that needs to be completed.
2. Please respond to the discussion with a value added comment and contribution
1. Bezos dislikes the use of PowerPoint because the information he wants presented must be structured, straightforward, and of high quality. PowerPoint, from his perspective, isn’t as well thought out as a great memo and doesn’t set the tone for a high-quality discussion like a well-written memo would. A memo that is being revised and edited for a couple weeks versus a PowerPoint that can be put together in a couple days is beyond mediocre by Bezos’s standard of quality writing. In relation to Bailey’s six principles, Bezos is looking for a specific expectation, clarity, and credibility in the six-page memos that are presented before meetings.
2. The advantages of everyone reading a memo silently versus doing a PowerPoint are that people can sit down, focus, and read the memo in a way that they are soaking up what they interpret and receive from it. Compared to a PowerPoint, where you are being served information by someone else and how they present the presentation can influence your thinking about what is presented. For instance, a person’s tone and how he or she talks can potentially affect how one absorbs the information compared to if they read something for themselves.
