Clear and to the Point: 8 Psychological Principles for Compelling PowerPoint Presentations

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
True or False?
Most PowerPoint presentations are:
compelling illuminating informative clear and to the point
Answer: False
Make a change following the principles of Stephen Kosslyn:
a world authority on the visual brain a clear and engaging writer
Making PowerPoint presentations that are clear, compelling, memorable, and even enjoyable is not an obscure art. In this book, Stephen Kosslyn, a renowned cognitive neuroscientist, presents eight simple principles for constructing a presentation that takes advantage of the information modern science has discovered about perception, memory, and cognition. Using hundreds of images and sample slides, he shows the common mistakes many people make and the simple ways to fix them. For example, never use underlining to emphasize a word--the line will cut off the bottom of letters that have descending lines (such as p and g), which interferes with the brain's ability to recognize text. Other tips include why you should state your conclusion at the beginning of a presentation, when to use a line graph versus a bar graph, and how to use color correctly. By following Kosslyn's principles, anyone will be able to produce a presentation that works!

Customer Reviews: Read 6 more reviews...

2 out of 5 stars

If you're new to presentations, this is good but otherwise, you will find little value. December 3, 2007
25 out of 29 found this review helpful

This book is filled with very basic advice - much of which is very intiutive. For example, there are a lot of Do's and Dont's. Some of the do's and dont's:

dont vary bullets arbitrarily (one bullet is round, second is a ~, third is #, fourth is >).

dont present one giant list of items on a slide, do categorize them

dont make the subheading of your title slide more salient (visible, eye catching) than the heading. do make the heading more salient than subheading.

dont vary color in your presentation purely for decoration, do vary for emphasis

don't use underline, do use bold italics, etc.

This book is filled with probably 50 pages of such examples since each do and dont takes up a full page (sometimes two).

the 8 principles are also very simple things you would learn from watching a few well done presentations online such as talking at the right level, not trying to cram too much in people's heads at once, keeping focused on what you want people to get out of the presentation, etc.

If you are new to presentations, this is a good book for you. If you are familiar with giving presentations, you're better off trying a different book.

4 out of 5 stars

Excellent guide to visual design of slides October 18, 2007
13 out of 14 found this review helpful

This is an excellent guide to the visual design of presentation slides (PowerPoint or otherwise). Kosslyn explain his 8 principles, and then provides guidelines for various aspects of presentations, such as text, sound, graphs, and other visuals. At the end of each chapter, he ties the guidelines in that chapter to basic principles that underlie them.

However, Kosslyn is an expert on visual perception, not an expert on learning. Therefore, take his suggestions on non-visual aspects of presentations with a grain of salt. For example, he endorses reading your slides aloud, which he says "gives the viewers two chances to understand and remember them". In fact, reading and hearing the same information *reduces* retention of information. For more details, see Multimedia Learning.

If you buy only one book to improve your presentations, I suggest that you get Beyond Bullet Points: Using Microsoft PowerPoint to Create Presentations That Inform, Motivate, and Inspire (Bpg-Other). However, "Clear and to the Point" is an excellent additional resource.

1 out of 5 stars

Basic and minor information November 11, 2007
8 out of 9 found this review helpful

Wrapped-up in 8 so-called "psychological principles" that turn to be more grandma recipes than latest discoveries from neurosciences, this book introduces very obvious advices that can be found free of charge in any serious blog about PowerPoint! If you're discovering the software for the first time (!) and really don't know basics such as: readable fonts must be over 36 points; colors are not for decorative purposes; and varying bullets distrub the message, then may be you can spend your money, otherwise I would highly recommend your turn to Seth Godin, Garr reynolds, and all other modern efficient communicators who provide real valuable stuff for designing 21st century presentations!

1 out of 5 stars

Eight principles lost in a forest of recommendations March 25, 2008
7 out of 8 found this review helpful

The idea seems good -- eight principles for compelling PowerPoint presentations. But the execution is neither clear nor to the point. For example, chapter 2, the first chapter of substance, lists eight recommendations for overall structure, five recomendations for building the introduction, ten recommendations for the body of the presentation, three recommendations for the wrap-up, and five recommendations for delivery (that's 31 recommendations in all), before returning to the eight psychological principles. And that, as I said, is only chapter 2. Other chapters are similarly ungainly.

In addition, as other reviewers point out, many of the suggestions are barely worth the paper they're printed on. For example, "start with a bang" or "face the audience."

In short, this is a book that will overwhelm novice presenters and bore experienced ones. Find another.

5 out of 5 stars

Maximising Powerpoints Potential August 30, 2007
3 out of 8 found this review helpful

This book takes you on a journey to convey the best and worst of powerpoint presentations. Grounded in theories of visual cognition, the book uses actual slides to illustrate the key principles underlying effective powerpoint presentatins. Written in an accessible style, Kosslyn uses anecdotes and catch-phrases to increase the memorability of the material (e.g., the Goldilocks principle-not too much, not too little, just right). This book is a "must-buy" for communicators in the powerpoint medium!

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