Average business presentations are a dime a dozen, but it is the ones that are truly unique that stand out. Understanding what makes these types of presentations memorable and effective is the first step to creating your own. After you understand how people learn, you can use available tools and resources to execute an effective presentation.
 

How Do People Learn?

The point of a presentation is to convey information, ideally in a way that will allow the audience to not just understand what you are presenting in the moment, but also to remember it later. The first part of this equation is usually simple; it is the second half, making it memorable, which is typically more challenging.

Understanding the following concepts of cognitive theory can help you refine your presentations to be most effective:

    • Limited capacity - The human brain can only capture and process a certain amount of information. This is one reason to keep your messages as simple as possible.

 

    • Working memory - Think of this as the temporary storage space in your brain, for example the ability to remember the elements on one presentation slide. It is much more limited than you might expect. In fact, Miller's Law is a psychological concept that states that the average human brain can only hold 7 (plus or minus 2) objects in memory at one time. In terms of a presentation, an "object" would be considered a single word or an image. This brings new meaning to the phrase "a picture is worth a thousand words."

 

    • Active learning - Your brain uses a mental model to move information from working memory to a more permanent place - this is essentially the process of learning. A mental model is formed from text, images, spoken words, and other memories. Presenting information for one mental model at a time is the best way to ensure that your presentation moves on to the active learning phase.

 

The mental model theory includes the concept that when a presenter is narrating, putting words on a page actually detracts from the learning process because the audience is not listening while they are reading. Adding images to this combination of auditory and text presentation makes it even more difficult for the audience to process all of the information being presented to them. This is why psychologists believe that the best way to convey information to an audience is to use images with very little on-screen text.

Implementing Scientific Concepts

Now that you understand the importance of conveying information in a way that is visually stimulating, you can use those principles to create more effective presentations. The tools and resources to do this are widely available, and the most comprehensive software suite that can help you do this is Adobe Creative Cloud.

Creative Cloud has all the robust features you need to make a visually stunning presentation. Some examples of the ways you can use Creative Cloud include:

  • Photoshop to create before/after and cause/effect graphics
  • InDesign to develop custom charts and graphs
  • Premiere Pro to generate time-lapse videos
  • Edge Animate to create interactive diagrams
  • Illustrator to make 3D artwork, scientific figures, maps of geographic data, or an illustration of an abstract concept

The possibilities are limited only to your imagination, but remember that the best way to present information is in the simplest way possible.

MelroseMAC can help you acquire and implement the software that can help you make visually stunning presentations that your audience will remember.

What was the most visually stunning presentation you have ever seen?