Clear and to the Point

Being somewhat technologically challenged and having participated in the construction of only one PowerPoint presentation, I found Chapter 1 of Stephen Kosslyn’s Clear and to The Point quite enlightening. I am guilty of over utilizing the many options available with the PowerPoint program. However, now that I know what works and what maybe doesn’t work so well, I will surely have a better presentation next time!
Kosslyn addresses three primary goals in the first chapter; he summarizes these 3 goals with eight principles.
Goal One: Connecting with your audience ~ stresses the importance of focusing the audience’s attention on your specific message
Principle One and Two: Too much or too little information can be distracting. All information included in the presentation should be directly related to what information you want the audience to retain, no more no less. You need to carefully consider the language, displays, and concepts you use; will your audience be familiar and able to connect to them?
Goal Two: Direct and hold attention ~ material should be presented in a way that does not distract from your message, one piece at a time
Principle Three, Four, and Five: Significant visual differences draw attention; the main focus should be visually obvious (e.g. in bold text or much larger than any other aspect on the slide). Attention will also be drawn to how you group or visually arrange the aspects of your slide.
Goal Three: Promote understanding and memory ~ keep in mind the mental processes and limitations of how people retain information
Principle Six, Seven, and Eight: Avoid conflicting the message with the form of the message (i.e. writing “big” in small letters or “SMALL” in large letters slows down the mental process and causes confusion, keep the message direct and clear). Unnecessary aspects on the slide will distract your audience from the message; “what they see is what they get”. Furthermore don’t overwhelm the audience with information, special effects, or irrelevant information; only so much information can be retained and processed.


The central NETS standard for teachers that I connected with this chapter was:
3. c. Communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats.