Those of you who follow Amazon/Bezos might be familiar with their 'No Powerpoint' rule. 

With that email (above), Jeff Bezos's obsession with memo writing became the law at Amazon on June 9, 2004, especially for staff meetings with leadership team.

“The reason writing a good 4 page memo is harder than 'writing' a 20 page powerpoint is because the narrative structure of a good memo forces better thought and better understanding of what's more important than what, and how things are related,” he writes, “Powerpoint-style presentations somehow give permission to gloss over ideas, flatten out any sense of relative importance, and ignore the interconnectedness of ideas.”

One beef with powerpoint presentations used to present during meetings was that it is easier for the presenter (to make and present) but difficult for the audience (to understand). 

I too like many others find it easier to make presentations and feel they get the job done but I can also share that writing a 10 page concept note or a strategy document requires more brain power that making a 20 page presentation. Also, unlike documents that can stand on their own, most presentations depend on someone to carry them which is where randomness (during meetings) can creep in. Discussions can meander to any slide/visual/sequence jumping, a good storyteller with a shallow thinking can appear great and such. 

It's important to note that his replacement to powerpoint wasn't just any doc but a 4-6 page Narrative Memo. Over time memos would evolve to have a structure and this Structured Narrative is the key

"Full sentences are harder to write. They have verbs. The paragraphs have topic sentences. There is no way to write a six-page, narratively structured memo and not have clear thinking." - Bezos

What do you think?