Author of the best-selling book on the art of presentation, Presentation Zen

The Presentation Zen approach

Bullet-point filled slides with reams of text become a barrier to good communication. We have become accustomed to a “Slideument culture” in which a disconnect exists between the audience and the presenter. Many people, including many top business leaders, are fed up with dense, hard to comprehend text-filled slides. But it is not the fault of the tool, necessarily. It is not enough to be a master at using the application.

"Technical knowledge is not enough. One must transcend techniques so that the art becomes an artless art, growing out of the unconscious." 

— Daisetsu Suzuki 

If we apply basic, accessible concepts borrowed from the world of Zen, we can improve our effectiveness and free our content to connect in more powerful ways. One key concept is simplicity. However, simplicity is not merely a means to more effective communication. Rather, it is a consequence of our letting go of ineffective presentation habits.

“Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity.”

— Charles Mingus

Slideument culture causes both audiences and presenters to suffer. And content suffers too. The root of the suffering is attachment to old slideware habits and misunderstandings about how best to connect to an audience. Lose your attachment to the “normal” way of designing and presenting with slides and lose poor presentation habits to move to a higher level of effectiveness. 

Effective use of multimedia 

When designing our presentations and creating the supporting visual aids, we should keep in mind the way our audience will actually process our presentation. We must design our visuals and use slides and other visuals in ways that take advantage of how people process information. Much can be learned, then, from a review of the key findings in the field of cognitive science concerning how people learn best in multimedia presentation settings. Below, cognitive scientist, Dr. Richard Mayer, summarizes the three assumptions of multimedia learning theory. 

“Cognitive scientists have discovered three important features of the human information processing system that are particularly relevant for PowerPoint users: dual-channels, that is, people have separate information processing channels for visual material and verbal material; limited capacity, that is, people can pay attention to only a few pieces of information in each channel at a time; and active processing, that is, people understand the presented material when they pay attention to the relevant material, organize it into a coherent mental structure, and integrate it with their prior knowledge.” 

— Rich Mayer, in an interview with Sociable Media, Inc. 

Key Findings 
• Multimedia Effect. Narration with pictures (visuals) is better than narration alone.
• Modality Principle. People learn better when words are presented as narration rather than text.
• Redundancy Principle. People learn better from narration & graphics rather than narration, graphics, & text.
• Coherence Principle. People learn better when extraneous visual material is excluded. 

Practical Implications for better PowerPoint Presentations 
• Presentations must be both verbal & visual.
• Too much slide information overloads people’s cognitive systems.
• Can your visuals be understood in a few seconds? If not, redesign them to support your talk.
• Slide design & delivery must help people organize, integrate information. 

Go here on my Presentation Tips page to get concrete advice on preparing, designing, and delivering stunning presentations that engage, teach, and inspire.

Presentation Zen principles as articulated by Master Yoda