Will reinforcing my key points in text on PowerPoint slides make my audience retain the points more easily?
The following comes from TJ Walker’s upcoming book “The Wisdom of Your Audience”. Consistently, the worst advice speakers and presenters get, comes from everyone who is NOT your audience. The following gives examples of some of the WORST advice people are often given. It is followed by the advice of your audience. Listen to them. They are your true judge and jury.
Will reinforcing my key points in text on PowerPoint slides make my audience retain the points more easily?
Your Director of Marketing: “Yes, research shows that if people see the words in print and hear them, they are more likely to remember the points than if they simply heard them.”
Your PowerPoint Specialist: “Don’t be a jerk! Everybody knows you put all of your key concepts in bullet points on a PowerPoint. Otherwise I’d be out of a job!”
You: “I’ll feel a lot more confident if all of my key concepts are up in bullet points on the screen. This will make life easier for me and my audience.”
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Your Audience: “If we wanted to read, we’d stay at home and curl up with a good book. Or we’d close our office door and read the newspaper on our computer screen. We are more than capable of reading but we’re not quite sure why we’d want to if you are going to say the same stuff. What’s easier for you to remember, the face of someone you just met, or their name on a business card? Obviously, it is the person’s face. So if you want us to remember something, don’t take the lazy person’s route and throw up text. Instead, use a photo, graph or chart. Create an interesting visual and we won’t forget. Sadly, there’s nothing particularly interesting or memorable about text up on a screen, no matter how interesting the topic.