Thanks again to Gene for finding a useful message in an otherwise largely forgotten medium.

Alas, many producers and consumers of PowerPoint presentations likely would not even understand this critique, feeling that a printed handout of the slides that does not stand on its own is somehow useless.

But my beef with the PowerPointing of the world goes even further-- I decry the incessant linearity that all presentation software forces on speakers and audiences. Where is the flexibility to jump back to an earlier image or to take diverging paths depending on the audience? Instead in my own presentations I prefer to emphasize non-text visuals (photographs, maps, charts, etc) for which I use a variety of different viewing programs. For example on OS X the shareware application PhotoStickies can be used to superimpose two images and dynamically adjust the transparency of the top image --which can be extremely effective for map comparisons.

In instances where text-based information is required I generally use the outline mode of Inspiration, directly displaying a collapsed outline to the audience. I can then selectively un-hide details as I talk about them, giving the listeners a visual clue as to where they are in the talk. Inspiration also allows for embedded links (which can be clicked to bring up relevant illustrations) and is useful for creating handouts that show as much or as little of your notes as you want.

Recently I based a presentation around a 3D topo map manipulated in the open source application FlightTrack. I was talking about various points on the map so I periodically grabbed hold of it with the mouse and scrolled it around, then switching to photos and charts related to the area in question.

Pulling this off takes a certain presence of mind -- it's much more difficult than simply clicking the 'next slide' button -- but you can be guaranteed not to bore anyone. And perhaps your listeners might even remember better what you said.