Lecture Notes: How to Avoid Death by PowerPoint

Introduction

• The lecture addresses the common issue of poorly designed PowerPoint presentations.
• The speaker questions why bad PowerPoint practices persist in professional settings.

Problems with Current PowerPoint Designs

• PowerPoints often filled with excessive charts, graphical elements, and unnecessary details.
• People tend to replicate bad PowerPoint designs due to lack of better examples or guidance.
• Speaker's passion: Combination of brain science and presentation skills.
• Traditional PowerPoint design is unfair to our cognitive abilities.

Cognitive Limitations in PowerPoint Presentations

• Working memory limitations affect our ability to process multiple pieces of information simultaneously.
• Example: Difficulty in remembering train seat numbers.
• Single, shared working memory for all cognitive tasks.

Five Design Principles for Effective PowerPoint Slides

1. One Message per Slide

• Focus on delivering one key message per slide.
• Avoid multiple messages to prevent divided attention.

2. Working Memory

• Avoid text-heavy slides while speaking; leads to zero retention.
• Use short, concise text and supporting images.

3. Size

• Human attention is drawn to:
  • Moving objects
  • Signaling colors (red, orange, yellow)
  • High contrast
  • Large objects
• Make the most important part of the slide the largest.

4. Contrast

• Use contrast to direct focus.
• Highlight elements you want the audience to focus on.
• Avoid white backgrounds as they take focus from the presenter.

5. Number of Objects

• Limit to six objects per slide.
• More objects require significantly more cognitive processing.
• Avoid clutter and ensure clarity.

Additional Notes

• Amount of slides is not the problem; the issue is the number of objects per slide.
• More slides with less information each is preferable to fewer, cluttered slides.

Conclusion

• By adhering to these principles, presentations become more effective and engaging.
• Audience should feel relieved and focused ("ahhhh") rather than overwhelmed ("ahhhh") when viewing slides.

Cross-Examination Summary

• Key takeaways:
  • One message per slide
  • Use size and contrast to steer focus
  • Avoid text if speaking simultaneously
  • Use dark backgrounds
  • Limit slides to six objects