clear and to the point psychological principals behind effective presentations based on clear and to...
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Clear and to the Point
Psychological Principals Behind Effective Presentations
Based on Clear and to the Point
by Stephen Kosslyn
19/10/09
Presentation Success
Kosslyn states that success in a presentation can be seen in the following three says:
(1) Connect with your audience
(2) Direct and hold their attention
(3) Promote understanding & memory
Kosslyn’s Principles
• Relevance
• Appropriate Knowledge
• Salience
• Discriminability
• Perceptual Organisation
• Compatability
• Information changes
• Capacity limitations
Kosslyn’s Principles
• The principles are based in Kosslyn’s work in perceptual psychology
• They help the audience connect with your presentation
• They help hold the audience’s attention
• They promote understanding and memory
Relevance
Communication is most effective when neither too much nor too little
information is presented
Appropriate Knowledge
Communication requires prior knowledge of pertinent concepts, jargon, and
symbols
Appropriate Knowledge
So pitch your presentation at what the audience already knows, build from
there
Discriminability
Two properties must differ by a large enough proportion or they will not be
distinguished
Perceptual Organisation
People automatically group elements into units, which they then attend to
and remember
Perceptual Organisation
Rely on people’s natural tendency to synthesize information and highlight
elements that go together so that people can focus on your point
Compatability
That was a famous psychological effect called the ‘stroop’ effect
Your difficulty arose when the word and colour were different, that is: not
compatible
Information changes
Don’t use changes in colour, shape or size unless there is a change in
information
People are distracted by non-informative changes
Capacity Limitations
People have a limited capacity to retain and to process information, and so will not understand a message if too much
information must be retained or processed
Legible Text on a clear background
• Use clear ‘sans-serif’ fonts (like this one) on a plain background
• Don’t let the background detract from the message or content
• Avoid ‘humorous’ fonts
• This is a serif font
Keep the slide clear and uncluttered
• A single piece of information on a slide is enough
• For a second piece of information, use a new slide but lighten the already shown information
Keep the slide clear and uncluttered
• A single piece of information on a slide is enough
• For a second piece of information, use a new slide but lighten the already shown information
• Avoid those dumb slide transitions!
Keep the slide clear and uncluttered
• A single piece of information on a slide is enough
• For a second piece of information, use a new slide but lighten the already shown information
• Avoid those dumb slide transitions!
• Use the same terms in your oral presentation as you have on the slide, but don’t just read the slide!
Use colour to make reinforce a message
• Notice that the title is a different colour from the main body.
• This follows from the principle of perceptual organisation –
• ‘Regions of the same colour will be seen as a group. Use the same colour for all titles and another colour for all text entries, which will clearly group the material into these two categories’.
Make sure your visuals are as informative as possible!
• “Construct an exploded pie graph by displacing the important slice or slices, as if a wedge of pizza had been pulled out from the pie. [...] If you decide to use an exploded pie, you must decide which part or parts to emphasize. If too many wedges are exploded, the viewers won’t know where to look”.
Capacity Limitation
• Use photos and clipart to give the audience time to “come up for air.” [...] useful as a break in the steady flow of information, allowing the audience a moment to reflect and digest. This is especially the case if the photo or clipart is humorous.
• Or even disturbing in some way!
Goals and Principles
• Remember the three goals:
(1) Connect with your audience
(2) Direct and hold their attention
(3) Promote understanding & memory
Goals and Principles
• Remember the three goals:
(1) Connect with your audience
Principles of Relevance and Appropriate Knowledge
Goals and Principles
• Remember the three goals:
(2) Direct and hold their attention
Principles of Salience, Discriminability, Perceptual Organisation
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