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 who are trying to teach or learn the assertion-evidence slide structure. This structure relies on a sentence assertion headline supported by visual evidence. As an instructor, you are welcome to project these slides to your students and to add or delete slides to suit your purpose. However, you should credit the authors of this presentation listed on the title slide. If your students would like 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 presentation in CAS 100A for Engineers. University Park: Penn State. [Hamaker, 2009]

The defaults of PowerPoint are not based on research in communication or cognitive psychology Poor starting place 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 40% Too much text 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 25% Too much text: crowded 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). “Comparison of Xenon Headlights versus Halogen Headlights on Automobiles.” 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). “Comparison of Xenon Headlights versus Halogen Headlights on Automobiles.” 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 Brown, Genna (2008, October). Solution presentation in 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. Mayer, Richard E., Multimedia Learning (New York: Cambridge, 2001). Paivio, A. (1986). Mental Representations. New York: Oxford University Press, 53. [Mayer, 2001] [Paivio, 1986] [Brown, 2008] 11

During growth, cells secrete waste products and macromolecules into their environment Reference: Brown, Genna (2008, October). Solution presentation in 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 presentation in 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 presentation in CAS 100A for Engineers. University Park: Penn State. [Maryland Transportation Authority, 2007] 14

Rolling Friction and Accessories How much power from a truck’s engine is needed to overcome aerodynamic drag? At typical highway speeds, overcoming drag requires about two-thirds of a truck engine’s output [LLNL, 2010] Aerodynamic Drag CD = 0.6 Rolling Friction and Accessories Please view this slide in the slideshow mode. Notice that Casey begins with a question headline because the assertion headline was too complex for the audience to comprehend without first absorbing information from the graph. Notice also that the assertion-evidence structure allows for this type of flexibility when the main point is too complex or too controversial to state when the slide first appears. Reference: Howsare, Casey (2010, April). Solution presentation in CAS 100A for Engineers. University Park: Penn State. [McCallen, 2004]

A third hurdle in adopting the assertion−evidence structure is to overcome the weak defaults of PowerPoint [Alley, 2003] [Atkinson, 2005] Template at first Google listing for “presentation slides” To achieve the assertion-evidence structure, you have to overcome the defaults of PowerPoint. These defaults make it difficult to create a sentence headline that is left justified and 28 points in size. Moreover, these defaults tend to push everything into the middle of the slide and waste valuable blank space that is needed to separate images from the headline. As Cliff Atkinson argues, the first step to improving slide design is to change those defaults. One way is to begin with the free templates available at http://writing.engr.psu.edu/slides.html Which is the first Google listing for the search term “presentation slides.” 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). 16

In summary, assertion-evidence slides are more effective than the common practice of PowerPoint Reference: Hamaker, Nicole (2009, February). Problem presentation in CAS 100A for Engineers. University Park: Penn State. [Hamaker, 2009] 17