{"id":3489,"date":"2010-08-23t15:24:18","date_gmt":"2010-08-23t21:24:18","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/"},"modified":"2021-02-19t16:57:58","modified_gmt":"2021-02-19t21:57:58","slug":"making-better-powerpoint-presentations","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/guides-sub-pages\/making-better-powerpoint-presentations\/","title":{"rendered":"making better powerpoint presentations"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: right\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.vanderbilt.edu\/vu-sub\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/59\/2010\/08\/19134024\/making-better-powerpoint-presentations.docx\">print version<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"#baddeley\">baddeley and hitch\u2019s model of working memory.<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#research\">research about student preferences for powerpoint<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#resources\">resources for making better powerpoint presentations<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#biblio\">bibliography<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>we have all experienced the pain of a bad powerpoint presentation. and even though we promise ourselves never to make the same mistakes, we can still fall prey to common design pitfalls. \u00a0the good news is that your powerpoint presentation doesn\u2019t have to be ordinary. by keeping in mind a few guidelines, your classroom presentations can stand above the crowd!<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h4><img data-attachment-id=\"3503\" data-permalink=\"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/guides-sub-pages\/making-better-powerpoint-presentations\/new-mind-book\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/cdn.vanderbilt.edu\/vu-wp0\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/59\/2019\/03\/27131511\/new-mind-book.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"277,419\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"new-mind-book\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/cdn.vanderbilt.edu\/vu-wp0\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/59\/2019\/03\/27131511\/new-mind-book-198x300.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/cdn.vanderbilt.edu\/vu-wp0\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/59\/2019\/03\/27131511\/new-mind-book.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3503 alignleft\" style=\"margin: 0px 5px\" title=\"new-mind-book\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.vanderbilt.edu\/vu-wp0\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/59\/2019\/03\/27131511\/new-mind-book.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"64\" height=\"100\" \/><em>&#8220;it is easy to dismiss design \u2013 to relegate it to mere ornament, the prettifying of places and objects to disguise their banality. but that is a serious misunderstanding of what design is and why it matters.&#8221;<\/em><\/h4>\n<h5><em>daniel pink<\/em><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h2><a name=\"baddeley\"><\/a>baddeley and hitch\u2019s model of working memory.<\/h2>\n<p>one framework that can be useful when making design decisions about your powerpoint slide design is baddeley and hitch\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/baddeley%27s_model_of_working_memory\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">model of working memory<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><img data-attachment-id=\"3507\" data-permalink=\"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/guides-sub-pages\/making-better-powerpoint-presentations\/working_memory_diagram\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/cdn.vanderbilt.edu\/vu-wp0\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/59\/2019\/03\/27131510\/working_memory_diagram.png\" data-orig-size=\"598,364\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"working_memory_diagram\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/cdn.vanderbilt.edu\/vu-wp0\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/59\/2019\/03\/27131510\/working_memory_diagram-300x182.png\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/cdn.vanderbilt.edu\/vu-wp0\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/59\/2019\/03\/27131510\/working_memory_diagram.png\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3507 aligncenter\" title=\"working_memory_diagram\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.vanderbilt.edu\/vu-wp0\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/59\/2019\/03\/27131510\/working_memory_diagram.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"342\" height=\"208\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.vanderbilt.edu\/vu-wp0\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/59\/2019\/03\/27131510\/working_memory_diagram.png 598w, https:\/\/cdn.vanderbilt.edu\/vu-wp0\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/59\/2019\/03\/27131510\/working_memory_diagram-300x182.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 342px) 100vw, 342px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>as illustrated in the diagram above, the <strong>central executive<\/strong> coordinates the work of three systems by organizing the information we hear, see, and store into working memory.<\/p>\n<p>the <strong>phonological<\/strong> <strong>loop<\/strong> deals with any auditory information. students in a classroom are potentially listening to a variety of things: the instructor, questions from their peers, sound effects or audio from the powerpoint presentation, and their own \u201cinner voice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>the<strong> visuo-spatial sketchpad<\/strong> deals with information we see. this involves such aspects as form, color, size, space between objects, and their movement. for students this would include: the size and color of fonts, the relationship between images and text on the screen, the motion path of text animation and slide transitions, as well as any hand gestures, facial expressions, or classroom demonstrations made by the instructor.<\/p>\n<p>the<strong> episodic buffer<\/strong> integrates the information across these sensory domains and communicates with long-term memory. all of these elements are being deposited into a holding tank called the \u201cepisodic buffer.\u201d this buffer has a limited capacity and can become \u201coverloaded\u201d thereby, setting limits on how much information students can take in at once.<\/p>\n<h2><a name=\"research\"><\/a>research about student preferences for powerpoint<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.muhlenberg.edu\/academics\/psychology\/faculty\/lauraedelman\/\">laura edelman<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.muhlenberg.edu\/main\/academics\/psychology\/faculty\/kathleenharring\/\">kathleen harring <\/a>from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.muhlenberg.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">muhlenberg college<\/a>, allentown, pennsylvania have developed an approach to powerpoint design using baddeley and hitch\u2019s model. during the course of their work, they conducted a survey of students at the college asking what they liked and didn\u2019t like about their professor\u2019s powerpoint presentations. they discovered the following:<\/p>\n<h4>characteristics students don\u2019t like about professors&#8217; powerpoint slides<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>too many words on a slide<\/li>\n<li>clip art<\/li>\n<li>movement (slide transitions or word animations)<\/li>\n<li>templates with too many colors<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>characteristics students like like about professors&#8217; powerpoint slides<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>graphs increase understanding of content<\/li>\n<li>bulleted lists help them organize ideas<\/li>\n<li>powerpoint can help to structure lectures<\/li>\n<li>verbal explanations of pictures\/graphs help more than written clarifications<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>according to edelman and harring, some conclusions from the research at muhlenberg are that students learn more when:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>material is presented in short phrases rather than full paragraphs.<\/li>\n<li>the professor talks about the information on the slide rather than having students read it on their own.<\/li>\n<li>relevant pictures are used. irrelevant pictures decrease learning compared to powerpoint slides with no picture<\/li>\n<li>they take notes (if the professor is not talking). but if the professor is lecturing, note-taking and listening decreased learning.<\/li>\n<li>they are given the powerpoint slides before the class.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>advice from edelman and harring on leveraging the working memory with powerpoint:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>leverage the working memory by dividing the information between the visual and auditory modality.\u00a0 doing this reduces the likelihood of one system becoming overloaded. for instance, spoken words with pictures are better than pictures with text, as integrating an image and narration takes less cognitive effort than integrating an image and text.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>minimize the opportunity for distraction by removing any irrelevant material such as music, sound effects, animations, and background images.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>use simple cues to direct learners to important points or content. using text size, bolding, italics, or placing content in a highlighted or shaded text box is all that is required to convey the significance of key ideas in your presentation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>don\u2019t put every word you intend to speak on your powerpoint slide. instead, keep information displayed in short chunks that are easily read and comprehended.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><a name=\"resources\"><\/a>resources for making better powerpoint presentations<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>one of the mostly widely accessed websites about powerpoint design is garr reynolds\u2019 blog, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.presentationzen.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">presentation zen<\/a>. in his blog entry:\u00a0 \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/presentationzen.blogs.com\/presentationzen\/2005\/09\/whats_good_powe.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">what is good powerpoint design?<\/a>\u201d reynolds explains how to keep the slide design simple, yet not simplistic, and includes a few slide examples that he has &#8216;made-over&#8217; to demonstrate how to improve its readability and effectiveness. he also includes <a href=\"http:\/\/www.garrreynolds.com\/presentation\/sample1.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sample slides<\/a> from his own presentation about powerpoint slide design.<\/li>\n<li>another presentation guru, david paradi, author of &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/0969875185?ie=utf8&amp;tag=thinkoutsidet-20&amp;linkcode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeasin=0969875185\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the visual slide revolution: transforming overloaded text slides into persuasive presentations<\/a>&#8221; maintains a video podcast series called \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/thinkoutsidetheslide\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">think outside the slide<\/a>\u201d where he also demonstrates powerpoint slide makeovers. examples on this site are typically from the corporate perspective, but the process by which content decisions are made is still relevant for higher education. paradi has also developed a five step method, called <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thinkoutsidetheslide.com\/lesson-4-the-kwick-method-for-creating-persuasive-visuals\/\">kwick<\/a>, that can be used as a simple guide when designing powerpoint presentations.<\/li>\n<li>in the video clip below, comedian <a href=\"http:\/\/www.technicallyfunny.com\/\">don mcmillan<\/a> talks about some of the common misuses of powerpoint in his routine called \u201clife after death by powerpoint.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/mjco2exthso?version=3&#038;rel=0&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-us&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>this <a href=\"http:\/\/chronicle.com\/blogs\/profhacker\/improving-powerpoint-style-presentations\/32126?sid=at&amp;utm_source=at&amp;utm_medium=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">article from the chronicle of higher education<\/a> highlights a blog moderated by microsoft\u2019s<a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.office.com\/b\/office_casual\/archive\/2010\/10\/11\/better-powerpoint-presentations-the-office-casual-way-video.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> doug thomas<\/a> that compiles practical powerpoint advice gathered from presentation masters like <a href=\"http:\/\/sethgodin.typepad.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">seth godin<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.guykawasaki.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">guy kawasaki<\/a>, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.presentationzen.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">garr reynolds<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><a name=\"biblio\"><\/a>bibliography<\/h2>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><a href=\"http:\/\/acorn.library.vanderbilt.edu\/cgi-bin\/isbn-search\/9780768668810\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong><em>presenting to win: <\/em><\/strong><\/a><em><a href=\"http:\/\/acorn.library.vanderbilt.edu\/cgi-bin\/isbn-search\/9780768668810\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the art of telling your story<\/a>, <\/em>by jerry weissman, prentice hall, 2006<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><a href=\"http:\/\/acorn.library.vanderbilt.edu\/cgi-bin\/isbn-search\/9780321525659\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong><em>presentation zen: <\/em><\/strong><\/a><em><a href=\"http:\/\/acorn.library.vanderbilt.edu\/cgi-bin\/isbn-search\/9780321525659\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">simple ideas on presentation design and delivery<\/a>, <\/em>by garr reynolds, new riders press, 2008<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><em><a href=\"http:\/\/acorn.library.vanderbilt.edu\/cgi-bin\/isbn-search\/9780321423443\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>solving the powerpoint predicament:<\/strong> using digital media for effective communication<\/a>, <\/em>by tom bunzel<em>, <\/em>que, 2006<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/cognitive-style-power-point\/dp\/0961392150\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><strong>the cognitive style of power point<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, by edward r. tufte, graphics pr, 2003<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/0969875185?ie=utf8&amp;tag=thinkoutsidet-20&amp;linkcode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeasin=0969875185\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>the visual slide revolution:<\/strong> transforming overloaded text slides into persuasive presentations<\/a><\/em>, by dave paradi, communications skills press, 2000<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/why-most-powerpoint-presentations-suck\/dp\/0615142230\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong><em>why most powerpoint presentations suck: <\/em><\/strong><\/a><em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/why-most-powerpoint-presentations-suck\/dp\/0615142230\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">and how you can make them better<\/a>, <\/em>by rick altman, harvest books, 2007<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/\" rel=\"license\"><img class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.creativecommons.org\/l\/by-nc\/4.0\/80x15.png\" alt=\"creative commons license\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nthis teaching guide is licensed under a <a href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/\" rel=\"license\">creative commons attribution-noncommercial 4.0 international license<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>print version baddeley and hitch\u2019s model of working memory. research about student preferences for powerpoint resources for making better powerpoint presentations bibliography we have all experienced the pain of a bad powerpoint presentation. and even though we promise ourselves never to make the same mistakes, we can still fall prey to common design pitfalls. \u00a0the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":452,"featured_media":0,"parent":18232,"menu_order":73,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"spay_email":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3489"}],"collection":[{"href":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/452"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3489"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3489\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37643,"href":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3489\/revisions\/37643"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}