Clear and to the Point ... Presentations!

The Fall Conference Committee has started to receive donations for raffle prizes ... (there are going be to LOTS of prizes at the Fall conference on Nov.3rd in Fishkill, NY) and I would like to give you a preview of one of the raffle prizes ....

Stephen M. Kosslyn, chair of the Department of Psychology and John Lindsley Professor at Harvard University, has written a book to elucidate the process [of making Powerpoint presentations].

In Clear and to the Point: 8 Psychological Principles for Creating Compelling PowerPoint Presentations, Kosslyn presents eight simple principles, based on modern science about perception, memory, and cognition, that will make any presentation work.

More information about the book can be found at the publisher's blog...
http://blog.oup.com/2007/08/powerpoint/

Concepts from the book include ...

The Goldilocks Rule: Don’t give people too little or too much – give them just the right amount for the message you want to convey.

The Rule of 4: Don’t expect the audience to keep in mind more than four groups on a slide.

The Rudolph-the-Red-Nosed-Reindeer Rule: As Rudolph knew all too well, what’s different stands out, be it a red nose, a large graphic, or words in bold. Make what’s important stand out by being different from the surrounds. It can be larger, bolder, or a more striking color.

A word of thanks to another blog, Presentation Zen where I first heard about the book and, of course, the publisher, Oxford University Press USA, who provided the District 53 Fall Conference with two copies as raffle prizes !

It is a great book ... well suited to Toastmasters... so be sure to get in on the raffle by signing up for the conference TODAY ! Registration forms are available (click here) ... or visit the D53 conference page for more information.

Submitted by Dave Wheeler, Div.A Governor, 2006-8