We recently completed our first instructor led training session of 2018, which means I spent an unfortunate amount of time in the weeks prior coaching our presenters regarding PowerPoint design. (I’ll continue this coaching in the coming week as the participants’ feedback is distributed to the presenters/speakers.) During these consultations, we often discuss the impact of a visually engaging presentation versus a presentation that is text heavy.
I do not mean it as a slight to students, but learning science has proven the human brain cannot read a text heavy slide while simultaneously listening to what a presenter has to say. While there are learning activities you can facilitate for text heavy slides, in this post we’ll discuss using a visually engaging slide as a talking point. To help demonstrate my point, I designed a basic presentation with two quick topics, two slides per topic. Using an image or photo to craft a story can create emotion, or as demonstrated in the first topic of the attached slideshow, an image can better demonstrate statistics, numbers, or other data (when compared to listed data). Above all, this improved design and presentation method can increase learners’ retention!
I’d like to elaborate this idea using the second topic in the sample presentation I’ve included. The simple way to tell a learner about my favorite beach would be to list attributes about the under developed, quiet South Carolina town. The second option isn’t as easy- it requires a designer to think a bit more creatively, and the presenter must also be comfortable speaking on a topic without the “crutch” that a text heavy slide may provide. (Although, shouldn’t any subject matter expert be able to speak on his/her topic with minimal guidance/cue?)
Using lovely pictures to create meaning and emotion, I could tell a learner about the small town where golf carts and bicycles are primary means of transportation. I could detail the delicious meals served on screened patios of mom and pop restaurants, struggling ceiling fans offering some reprieve from the South Carolina heat and humidity. I could offer stories about dolphins playing at sunset, alligators sunning on marsh banks, or egrets swooping over the water to catch his/her meal. I could (verbally) list the animals I’ve watched fishermen and women pull in from the surf, horseshoe crab that once dotted the sand during one of my visits, or the boneyard beach. I could even facilitate an activity where participants would learn about and then demonstrate the ability to build temporary fencing, which island volunteers construct seasonally to protect the nests of loggerhead turtles, a vulnerable species that lays eggs on the island each summer. I could go on and on.
Unfortunately, the odds are slim that I ever get to teach my adult learners about this haven (near Charleston, SC), but I hope the ideas I’ve shared here make you think twice about how you use PowerPoint and inspire you to take a more visual approach when you begin contemplating the design of your next presentation.
Text Versus Visual Presentations
