Onto my Facebook page this morning floated a pronouncement from the US Army

There was a time when essayists like  Johnson and Emerson would influence our thinking through the power of an intelligently turned phrase.

Somewhere along the line came the phrase “every picture tells a story”.

The business community woke up to the power of slides initially on acetate, latterly on Powerpoint.

Those on the “buy-side” of pensions may not be aware of the scale of the Powerpoint production industry.

I have come to dread business pitches not because of the pitches themselves but for the agony of creating and “compliance approving” a set of slides which  typically detracts rather than adds to what I am trying to say.

Accepted wisdom within the compliance community is that those presenting ideas cannot be trusted to do so without a “true and accurate record” of the conversation.

That record has become a set of slides that becomes so cluttered with detail that those trying to gauge the probity, intelligence and diligence of the organisation they are assessing, have little or no chance.

I have heard it said by trustees who have spent days conducting a beauty parade that they would have much preferred  banning slides and relying on the interraction between the people in the room.

Is there a case for demanding “no slides” from presenters?

Surely a much better test for those of us involved in the business of communicating complex ideas is to request slides be provided but only after the presentation!