More Bullets to Dodge in Communication

After getting a comment from bullets-in-writing advocate BL Ochman about my entry that derided bullets in blog copy, I found a marketing maven who wants to see the bullets disappear like I do. He'd like to see them erased from PowerPoint presentations, too. I'd said that PowerPoint isn't a writing tool, but it's being used like one. Cliff Atkinson, who wrote "Beyond Bullet Points," says over on the MarketingProfs.com site that bullets are the bane of business communication.

On May 12 Atkinson leads a free online seminar at MProfs: "Transform Your PowerPoint Beyond Bullet Points!" In the interview he says film is the medium to mimic if you want to make PowerPoint communicate:

"People have been communicating complex information using projected images and spoken words for more than a century without bullet points — in the form of films. We have a thing or two to learn from filmmakers about how they do that."

Film is a great teacher for writing skills. Ron Shelton, the director and screenwriter who gave us "Bull Durham," has a sign next to his keyboard that says "Don't think. Just write." You can make writing simple without biting those bullets.