PowerPoint Pet Peeve: The Passive Voice

Which sentence do you like better?

• A PowerPoint presentation was given by the CEO.
• The CEO gave a PowerPoint presentation.

Both sentences relay the same information. So why do you like the second one better?

• The first sentence is longer. It uses the passive voice.
• The second sentence is shorter. It uses the active voice.
  

When I listen to speakers who almost exclusively rely upon the passive voice, I go a little bonkers. Why?


The passive voice is mushy and weaselly. It signals that the speaker is trying to hide something. When someone says, "Mistakes were made ," I instantly want to spring up and scream, "By whom?"

If one more benefit shakes out of using Twitter, let it be a giant reduction in people using the passive voice. Active voice is shorter, swifter, and more powerful. It takes responsibility. It's the stronger, nobler choice.

I have no idea why so many presenters use the passive voice. Do you?

And what are your grammatical presentation pet peeves?

(Of course, it might be a fun exercise to write your blog comments, exclusively using the passive voice. That might help me exorcise my peevishness!)

Labels: PowerPoint, Presentation, Twitter

¶ 3/30/2009 01:23:00 PM