Rethinking the Design of Presentation Slides Michael Alley College of Engineering Melissa Marshall Department of Communication Arts & Sciences This set of slides, which accompanies The Craft of Scientific Presentations (Springer-Verlag, 2003, ISBN 0-387-95555-0), is intended to help those of you teaching CAS 100A who are trying to teach the assertion-evidence slide structure, which relies on a sentence assertion headline supported by visual evidence. As an instructor of CAS 100A, you are welcome to project these slides to your students and to add or delete slides to suit your purpose. If your students would like a handout of this presentation or a template that follows the Assertion-Evidence structure, please have them go to the following web-site: http://writing.engr.psu.edu/slides.html This web-site is the first Google listing for the topic of presentation slides (out of more than 10 million sites). Reference for example slide: Hamaker, Nicole (2009, February). Problem speech for CAS 100A for Engineers. University Park: Penn State. [Hamaker, 2009]

The defaults of PowerPoint are not based on research in communication or cognitive psychology Reference: Gomes, Lee (2007, June 20). PowerPoint turns 20, as its creators ponder a dark side to success. online.wsj.com/public/article/SB118228116940840904.html. The Wall Street Journal. B-1. [Gomes, 2007] 2

Our research has found that most slides are heavily influenced by these defaults The category of topic-subtopic slides (shown here) accounts for about 40% of slides in science and engineering (Garner et al. 2009). This slide is prototypical in terms of the number of lines and words for slides in this category. The reference for this example slide is not given to protect the identity of the creator, since the slide is a weak example. Reference: Garner, J., M. Alley, A. Gaudelli, & S. Zappe (2009). The common use of PowerPoint versus the assertion–evidence structure: A cognitive psychology perspective. Technical Communication, 56 (4): 1-15. [Garner et al., 2009]

Our research has found that most slides are heavily influenced by these defaults The category of topic-subtopic-graphic slides (shown here) accounts for about 25% of slides in science and engineering (Garner et al. 2009). This slide is prototypical in terms of the number of lines and words for slides in this category. The reference for this example slide is not given to protect the identity of the creator, since the slide is a weak example. Reference: Garner, J., M. Alley, A. Gaudelli, & S. Zappe (2009). The common use of PowerPoint versus the assertion–evidence structure: A cognitive psychology perspective. Technical Communication, 56 (4): 1-15. [Garner et al., 2009]

The past few years, this common practice of PowerPoint has received harsh criticism January 24, 2003 February 1, 2003 The visual evidence in this slide refers to the weak presentation that tried to assess the damage done to the Space Shuttle Columbia after its launch on January 16, 2003. The presentation did not communicate the risks that the shuttle faced. One weak later the shuttle disintegrated as it returned to Earth. For a good discussion, see Tufte’s article in Wired or Tufte’s monograph The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint. References Keller, Julia, “Is PowerPoint the Devil?” Chicago Tribune (23 January 2003). Schwartz, John, “The Level of Discourse Continues to Slide,” The New York Times (28 September 2003). Tufte, Edward R., “PowerPoint Is Evil,” Wired, http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/ppt2.html (11 September 2003). Tufte, E. R. (2003). The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint. Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press. January 16, 2003 [Tufte, 2003] [Schwartz, 2003] [Keller, 2003] 5

Several recent texts have challenged the defaults of PowerPoint 2005 References Alley, M. (2003). The Craft of Scientific Presentations. New York: Springer-Verlag. Atkinson, Cliff, Beyond Bullet Points: How to Use Microsoft PowerPoint to Create Presentations That Inform, Motivate, and Inspire (Redmond, WA: Microsoft Press, 2005). Duarte, Nancy (2008). Slide:ology. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly Media. Reynolds, Garr (2008). Presentation Zen. Berkeley, CA: New Riders. 2003 2008 6

We advocate an assertion–evidence slide structure that is grounded in communication research Reference for example slide: Fishbone, Scott (2008, April). Policy speech for CAS 100A for Engineers. University Park: Penn State. [Fishbone, 2008] 7

Xenon headlights illuminate signs better than halogen headlights do SilverStar Ultra TM Standard Halogen Xenon Halogen Headlight Reference: Fishbone, Scott (2008, April). Policy speech for CAS 100A for Engineers. University Park: Penn State. Xenon Headlight [Sylvania, 2008 ] 8

The structure calls for a succinct sentence headline that states the main assertion of the slide The reasoning for placing an assertion at the top of the slide is as follows. Toulmin (2002) finds that people are more likely to understand something if they understand the flow of the argument. Alley et al. (2006) found that students are more likely to comprehend and remember an assertion if it is placed in the headline. Alley (2003), Atkinson (2005), and Doumont (2007) all agree that sentence headline is more easily read if it is left justified (not centered) and no more than two lines. References: Alley, M., Schreiber, M. M., Ramsdell, K., & Muffo, J. (2006). How the design of headlines in presentation slides affects audience retention. Technical Communication, 53 (2), 225–234. Doumont, Jean-luc (2007). Creating effective presentation slides. www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/pcs/index.php?q=node/111, IEEE Professional Communication Society: audio file. Sawarynski, Lauren (2009, February). Problem speech for CAS 100A for Engineers. University Park: Penn State. Toulmin, Stephen E. (2003). The Uses of Argument. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. [Toulmin, 2002] [Alley et al., 2006] [Sawarynski, 2009] 9

The small size of the mouse brain makes locating specific areas extremely difficult As Lauren Sawarynski states about this slide: “I increased the size a bit, but maintained the ratio of the mouse brain. On the animation, the enlarged size disappears leaving the relative size.” Reference: Sawarynski, Lauren (2009, February). Problem speech for CAS 100A for Engineers. University Park: Penn State. [Welker, 2008] 10

The structure also calls for supporting that sentence-assertion headline with visual evidence The argument for including visual evidence on slides arises from the following. Paivio (1986) found that retention of a term is doubled when audiences receive that term visually and verbally. Mayer’s multimedia principle states that audiences learn more deeply from words and images than from words alone. Mayer also argues that in a multimedia presentation as many those words as possible should be spoken. References Mayer, Richard E., Multimedia Learning (New York: Cambridge, 2001). Miller, Genna (2008, October). Policy speech for CAS 100A for Engineers. University Park: Penn State. This talk can be found at the following web-site: http://www.engr.psu.edu/speaking/Visual-Aids.html. Paivio, A. (1986). Mental Representations. New York: Oxford University Press, 53. [Mayer, 2001] [Paivio, 1986] [Miller, 2008] 11

During growth, cells secrete waste products and macromolecules into their environment Reference: Miller, Genna (2008, October). Policy speech for CAS 100A for Engineers. University Park: Penn State. This talk can be found at the following web-site: http://www.engr.psu.edu/speaking/Visual-Aids.html Cells 12

The Chesapeake Bay, which is the country’s largest estuary, has only two places for traffic to cross sha.state.md.us Annapolis Dover Washington D.C [roadtraffic-technology.com] Reference: Pavelko, Brittany (2009, February). Problem speech for CAS 100A for Engineers. University Park: Penn State. Richmond [landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov] 13

In the past 25 years, traffic has significantly increased on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge 1952 Traffic: 1.1 million 2007 Traffic: 27 Million 1961 Traffic 1.5 million Reference: Pavelko, Brittany (2009, February). Problem speech for CAS 100A for Engineers. University Park: Penn State. [Maryland Transportation Authority, 2007] 14

In summary, assertion-evidence slides are more effective than the common practice of PowerPoint Reference: Hamaker, Nicole (2009, February). Problem speech for CAS 100A for Engineers. University Park: Penn State. [Hamaker, 2009] 15