What about handouts? At a recent lecture to medical students, I announced that there would be no handouts. It was official university policy that students were expected to listen and take notes. Shock, horror! One student stood up and announced: "On behalf of the class, we demand handouts". Handouts are part of what is now known as "triple delivery". The material is on the screen, in the handout, and read out word for word. Mind-numbingly boring. These days it is also expected to be on the web. Quadruple delivery; no need to attend the lecture at all.

Further, is it really a good idea to share your notes with the audience? Those not too distracted to continue following your words are more than likely to break the code and see every point before you get to it. Either way, no one's still listening to what you're saying. And then give them a copy to take home? The sin of triple delivery—repetition gone mad.

Tad Simons, the editor of the magazine Presentations (whose second-grade son used PowerPoint for show-and-tell), is familiar with the sin of triple delivery, where precisely the same text is seen on the screen, spoken aloud, and printed on the handout in front of you (the "leave-behind," as it is known in some circles).