The Bucket List: A presentation skills blog

Looking to improve presentation effectiveness by 30%?

January 26 Filed in: Insights | Presentation effectiveness | Visual aids | PowerPoint Visual

The goal of any presentation should be to be as memorable as possible—to lodge as much information as possible in the long-term memory of those attending.

Put another way, presentation effectiveness is best be measured by what the audience retains, not what was said or shown. The research is clear. By shutting off the projector, you can increase what the audience remembers by up to 30 per cent.

Learn how to improve presentation effectiveness ...

If you’re showing PowerPoint, you’re missing the point

January 20 Filed in: Reviews | Insights | PowerPoint | Visual aids | Presentation effectiveness

This review of One Bucket at a Time, by Jay Robb of The Hamilton Spectator, makes the case that “there’s only one good reason to bring us together for a meeting on Zoom or in a room.

“Showing us PowerPoint decks isn’t it.”

Click this link to read the full review.

And, of course, One Bucket at a Time is available from Amazon, Kindle and Apple Books.

If your goal is to get the point ...

Your audience is better off turning their backs

December 14 Filed in: Insights | Visual aids | Presentation effectiveness | PowerPoint

The research is unequivocally clear. As humans, we cannot read and listen at the same time. When we attempt to do both, we get nothing from either.

As we’ll explore in this article, even the simplest slides overload working memory. When your audience attempts to listen and follow along, they understand and retain less than if they either read. Or listen.

In other words, they will understand and retain more if they turn their back on your slides and simply listen to your presentation.

Learn more to become more effective ...

Zoom + PowerPoint = Hell on Earth

January 04 Filed in: Articles | Insights | PowerPoint | Visual aids

Doesn’t this article by Geoffrey James at Inc. scream “TWENTY-TWENTY?” But this version of “Hell on Earth” has been evolving since acetate film first met laser printers.

Take the 5-minute slide effectiveness challenge

December 21 Filed in: Insights | Presentation effectiveness | Visual aids | PowerPoint

This five-minute challenge will help you understand the importance of separating the written word from the spoken. It also underscores the importance of simply shutting off the projector and delivering your bullet points without showing them to the audience.

By simply shutting off the projector and delivering the presentation, it’s possible to improve how much the audience retains by up to 30 per cent.

Take the challenge ...

Inc.com: PowerPoint is least effective alternative

Powerpoint is least effective alternative

December 18 Filed in: Articles | PowerPoint | Insights

This author cites an article from Inc. magazine that said the “audience will be just as happy with your presentation if you do it without your slides.”

Actually, the research is clear. If happiness is measured by what they understand and retain, the audience will be happier if there are no slides.

Read the article.

Forbes: Stop using PowerPoint

Beautiful slides are a waste of time

December 18 Filed in: Articles | PowerPoint powerpoint, post-secondary, lectures

This article in Forbes magazine suggests that presenters should stop using powerpoint because it may damage a brand.

Citing a study at Harvard, the author points out that in a business scenario, PowerPoint was rated as no better than verbal presentations with no visual aids.

The author says that research found “a more engaging and enjoyable experience for an audience with an oral presentation’s total lack of visual aids.”

Read the article.

Article explores whether slides are powerful or pointless

PowerPoint: Powerful or pointless?

December 18 Filed in: Articles | PowerPoint powerpoint, post-secondary, lectures

The author of Public Speaking Skills for Dummies! says he doesn’t have a problem with slides, as long as they enhance what the speaker is saying.

His biggest complaint is that the slides should complement what the speaker is saying, but often there is one thing on the screen while the speaker is saying something else.

He also makes a point that has long seemed obvious to me. Why would someone bother attending the presentation when they can read the PowerPoint deck and stay home?

Read the article.

Article says beautiful slides a waste of time

Beautiful slides a waste of time

December 18 Filed in: Articles | PowerPoint powerpoint, post-secondary, lectures

This author believes too much emphasis is being put on developing “snazzy presentation slides.” He believes it “is a waste of time and elicits a deluded sense of accomplishment.”

In his opinion, spending “days and days doing up a colourful slides with funky animation or photoshopped images” is not an optimal use of time.

Read the article.

Article explores banning PowerPoint in lectures

Let's ban PowerPoint in lectures

December 18 Filed in: Articles | PowerPoint powerpoint, post-secondary, lectures

This article makes the point that PowerPoint should be banned in lectures because it makes students more stupid and professors more boring.

And, based on my conversations with students and professors, moving bad PowerPoint lectures from the room to via Zoom has just made things worse, not better.

Read the article.