In the article titled “My Seven-Step Method for Creating a Presentation When the Stakes are High” by Carmine Gallo  http://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2013/12/18/my-seven-step-method-for-creating-a-presentation-when-the-stakes-are-high/, Gallo accentuates one of the great points of creating a slide deck – less information and more pictures increases retention of the material. Specifically, Gallo identifies that only 10% of information conveyed verbally is retained by the audience, but this increases to 65% if the verbal concept is coupled with a relatable graphic or picture. This article also addresses a number of techniques for preparing to give the presentation, many of which have been covered in posts elsewhere.

I believe this concept extends far beyond the basics of slidecraft. We have seen other posts this semester about dealing with distracted audiences, so let’s evaluate this concept in that scope. Imagine that you are watching a presentation where the presenter is exploring a complex issue in detail. Suppose the slide looks something like this:

(from Gallo article)

How distracted will you be, specifically if the verbal presentation does not align with the visual? In my case, I would likely be even more confused if the presenter attempted to step through each part of this obviously overrun slide. By simplifying the presentation of the slide, the audience is allowed to focus on the information. I liken this idea to introducing the audience to the information in lieu of confronting them with it. The presentation and presenter will be far better received with a consumable amount of information on each slide and slide design that does not distract or alienate. If I can develop my skillset to always fall within the boundaries of this concept, I believe most of my battle is won. However, this is a difficult transition for me, as I am always most interested in the underlying data and information behind a presentation and always am yearning to dive deeper into what I have been presented with and what I am presenting. Therein lies my challenge: balancing the desire for information with the desire to be understood. Tricky for sure!

I think that we have seen fantastic examples in the first two semesters of MP of how to do this correctly, so we obviously have some classmates very strong in the area of slidecraft. Personally, I have had little previous need to develop me skills with Powerpoint or similar software, but I was fortunate to work with a great team in last fall’s semester of MP, from which I was able to begin to sharpen my skills. Again, thankfully, I was paired with a team during the spring that had excellent technical slide creators from whom I gained an even more detailed look into the mechanics of creating the slides. This is where I intend to focus the balance of my semester: the technical details of actually creating the slide deck and I look forward to seeing the resources that everyone is able to uncover.