The Deadly Risks of Power Point

Any training includes at least one PowerPoint (PPT) presentation. Yet we tend to forget that the presentation is just a tool, a visual support for transmitting information. It is not the only one, and it is probably not the best one either, particularly if our training starts to revolve around PPTs as the central, and only, tool used. As argued in the previous sections, learning is not about information transfer from the trainer’s brain to the participants’ brains via a PPT.

In the following sections, we will introduce more tools and methods that can support you to create a meaningful and effective learning process in your trainings.

However, if you want to use a PPT, remember that the presentation is actually there to support you to catch and maintain people’s attention and transmit the exact message you want.

David JP Phillips wrote a bestseller called “How to Avoid Death By PowerPoint” and became famous for reframing PPT in such a way that people can actually benefit from it. One of his most important messages is to remember that YOU are, always have been, and always will be the presentation. The PPT is just your visual aid.

Phillips came up with five design principles to cognitively and psychologically optimize PPT slides (detailed and illustrated in the previous video):

1 + 1 = 0

If you will have two messages on a slide, people will most likely remember neither. And that is because we humans have quite a limited working memory. Consequently, you should include just one message per slide (And, surprise! You can have as many slides as you need!)

PowerPoint is a terrific tool for visual representation, but it is not meant to reproduce everything you say, nor does it replace you. Remember that vision is the strongest of our senses. We process images faster than words and learn better when information is structured and chunked. So use images and bullets to provide a schema of your message. That, together with your verbal input, will create a more meaningful and effective message.

Object size is one of many visual traits that attracts attention. Enhancing the size of an object enhances the importance of messages and concepts. Make sure the most important part of your PPT is the biggest.

Contrast controls your participants’ focus. You can control the focus of their attention by strengthening the contrast for the concepts you want them to look at. It is recommended that you use darker backgrounds and lighter text color (preferably black background and white text color).

People actually spend 500% more time and energy to perceive and understand slide messages if there are seven or more objects on it. That is a lot of time and energy. The most efficient choice for content is to have six objects, including one image and five bullet points.

Again, remember there is no limitation for the amount of slides you can include in your PPT.