Today, unfortunately, someone found my blog by searching “public speaking clip art.”
My thoughts on clip art are very similar to my thoughts on using the “flames” transition in Keynote. When I see clip art, my mind starts screaming, “NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”
Externally, of course, I’m respectful, and I’ll still continue nodding at the presenter. However, please make no mistake: I’ve definitely stopped paying attention to your presentation. I am, at that very moment, thinking of ways to phrase the email I plan to send you, you Clip Art-using speaker you, at the end of your presentation. The email would go a little something like this: “Did you seriously just use a clip art image of two hands shaking in front of a globe? You should never deliver a presentation again. Ever.”
Nancy Duarte is a little more delicate. Read her blog post about clip art here. It’s appropriately titled “Cliche of the Week: Clip Art.”
“Remember how stores used to sell CDs full of ’15,000 pieces of clip art’? Well, there was a reason it only cost you twenty bucks” ~ Duarte (Source).
“Clip art achieved cliché status during the Clinton Administration. And most of your colleagues gave it up years ago” ~ Duarte (Source).
