Does anyone still do this? Reminisce with me a little - I'm sure there are still a few Powerpoint Killers out there..
Imagine that PowerPoint presentation... a poor presenter points the barrel of his weapon right at your eyes while you painfully watch him torture you slowly until you feel yourself becoming numb from a compulsory habit which forces you to read the points of his bulleted presentation to yourself over and over again.
"..wait a minute here.. am I giving this presentation, or is he? Didn't I just say what he said? Only I said it in my head at an unbelievable rate.. much faster than he is saying it now -- Hold up.. he didn't bullet that word he just said! What did I miss?" -- This might be some of your self-talking rhetoric you are forced to cycle through while meaninglessly engrossed into his very boring slides.
Now what can we do ourselves? Read on.. What can we do for these pathetic presenters? Immediately give them a copy of the link to this post after the presentation I say! (if you have arrived here from such a demonstration, I'm sorry if I insulted you as pathetic -- but it wasn't your fault, really [make sure and read the Seth Gordon tips and you will understand why]!)
I've put together what I think is an excellent slide for my purpose here today. If I were to give a presentation on this, I would like to open my presentation with this slide. The words are meant to trigger the presentation.. certainly not enough to look like a script you'd read back to everyone like a cue card.
Positively speaking; retention rates in this paper show the transfer of information is increased by 79% while an additional 25% is gained in retention with bullet points removed. If you want to keep those nasty little buggers, you have the distinct chance of overloading the cognitive system.
This is a copy of one question in the Q&A from Cliff Atkinson with Richard E. Mayer about The Cognitive Load of PowerPoint
CA: The use of bullet points in PowerPoint presentations has been widely criticized. Based on your research, what effect does on-screen text have on learning?
RM: Bullets don't kill learning, but improper use of bullets kills learning. In order to create effective PowerPoint presentations, it is important to understand how people learn. In particular, cognitive scientists have discovered three important features of the human information processing system that are particularly relevant for PowerPoint users: dual-channels, that is, people have separate information processing channels for visual material and verbal material; limited capacity, that is, people can pay attention to only a few pieces of information in each channel at a time; and active processing, that is, people understand the presented material when they pay attention to the relevant material, organize it into a coherent mental structure, and integrate it with their prior knowledge.
The implications are that: 1) PowerPoint presentations should use both visual and verbal forms of presentation, 2) filling the slides with information will easily overload people's cognitive systems, and 3) the presentations should help learners to select, organize, and integrate presented information.
RM: Bullets don't kill learning, but improper use of bullets kills learning. In order to create effective PowerPoint presentations, it is important to understand how people learn. In particular, cognitive scientists have discovered three important features of the human information processing system that are particularly relevant for PowerPoint users: dual-channels, that is, people have separate information processing channels for visual material and verbal material; limited capacity, that is, people can pay attention to only a few pieces of information in each channel at a time; and active processing, that is, people understand the presented material when they pay attention to the relevant material, organize it into a coherent mental structure, and integrate it with their prior knowledge.
The implications are that: 1) PowerPoint presentations should use both visual and verbal forms of presentation, 2) filling the slides with information will easily overload people's cognitive systems, and 3) the presentations should help learners to select, organize, and integrate presented information.
More notes on better techniques here: Brad Feld : The Torturous World of Powerpoint and Beyond Bullets : The Seen and the Unseen and Really Bad Powerpoint and How to Avoid It by Seth Godin.
So take better notes people and don't bore your audience to death by your own bullets! Good Luck.
Labels: business, communications, consulting, speaking, success, writing
