Better PowerPoint: Quick Fixes Based on How Your Audience Thinks

by Stephen M. Kosslyn

Giving good presentations is not just common sense. Cognitive neuroscientist Stephen M. Kosslyn shows how to make presentations work better based on how our brains work. Where many books focus on how to create a first draft, Better PowerPoint gives you quick steps to improve one you already have.


· 8 key rules that are easy to remember and use


· Clear principles about how to design effective slides based on well-established scientific data


· Quick steps to sharpen and strengthen your presentation


· Easy-to-use checklists guide you through each aspect of your presentation


· Chapters are structured to help you prioritize the most effective edits


· Memorable examples and illustrations to show what works, and what doesn't


· Lessons in what to fix can also help you create better first drafts faster.
If you have a PowerPoint presentation that is not giving you the results you want, take advantage of what scientific research can tell you about how your audience is seeing and thinking about what you have to say.

Genres: Nonfiction, Communication

160 pages, Paperback

First published August 20, 2010

About the author

Stephen Michael Kosslyn (born 1948) is an American psychologist who specializes in the fields of cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience. Until 31 December 2010 he was John Lindsley Professor of Psychology in Memory of William James and Dean of Social Science at Harvard University, having previously been chair of the Department of Psychology at Harvard University. As of 1 January 2011, he became director of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University.

Kosslyn received his B.A. in 1970 from UCLA and his Ph.D. in 1974 from Stanford University, both in psychology. His Ph.D. advisor was Gordon Bower. His former teaching career includes Johns Hopkins and Brandeis Universities.

Kosslyn is known primarily for his research and theories on mental imagery. His theory is that, contrary to common assumption, imagery is not a unified phenomenon. Rather, it consists of a collection of distinct functions, which are responsible for different aspects of imagery. For example, he decomposes imagery into four sets of processes, responsible for generating the image (i.e., activating information stored in long-term memory and constructing a representation in short-term memory), inspecting the object in the image (e.g., by reinterpreting it), maintaining the image over time, and—possibly—transforming the image (e.g., by rotating it, adding or deleting parts, or changing the color). His research, which includes fMRI-imaging and similar techniques, has located some of these functions to different neural networks, some of which are in different cerebral hemispheres of the brain. For example, his laboratory demonstrated that the left half of the brain is better than the right at encoding categories and generating mental images on the basis of categories, whereas the right half of the brain is better than the left at encoding specific examples or continuous distances and at generating images that have such characteristics.

Kosslyn also works on visual display design, showing how psychological principles can be used to produce displays that can be read at a glance. Most recently, he has extended this work to showing how psychological principles of perception, memory, and comprehension can be used to make and deliver PowerPoint presentations.

He has received numerous honors for his research. These include the National Academy of Sciences Initiatives in Research Award, the Prix Jean-Louis Signoret, and three honorary doctorates (from the University of Caen, France; the University of Paris-Descartes, France; the University of Bern, Switzerland). He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Society of Experimental Psychologists.

Kosslyn has published over 300 scientific papers and written or co-authored 15 books and edited or co-edited 13 books; his authored books include Image and Mind (1980), Ghosts in the Mind's Machine (1983), Wet Mind (1992, with Olivier Koenig), Elements of Graph Design (1994), Image and Brain (1994), The Case for Mental Imagery (2006, with Thompson and Ganis), Graph Design for the Eye and Mind (2006), Clear and to the Point: 8 Psychological Principles for Compelling PowerPoint Presentations (2007), and Better PowerPoint (2010). He is also the co-author (with Rosenberg) of the textbooks Psychology: The Brain, the Person, the World (2000, 2004), Psychology in Context (2006), Abnormal Psychology (2010), and (with Smith) Cognitive Psychology: Mind and Brain. His forthcoming Top Brain/Bottom Brain (with G. W. Miller) develops a new theory of "cognitive modes" -- different thinking styles that affect how each of us approaches the world and interacts with other people.

Reviews

[Morten Greve · Rating 1 out of 5]

A terrible disappointment.

I have read widely on this subject and this book offers very little of value compared with books by Garr Reynolds, Nancy Duarte, Edward Tufte et al.

Kosslyn’s basic premises are:

1. Far too many people make terrible presentations
2. This can be quick-fixed by taking your faulty slide deck and go through a series of questions with accompanying easy remedies proposed by the writer.

I agree wholeheartedly with premise one, and disagree equally strongly with the second one.

Making a compelling presentation requires you to start with your audience and focus on creating value for them. NOT with PowerPoint or similar software.

Apart from that, many of his recommendation are of the useless “not too little, not too much” nature. And many of his “do and don’t” examples are so trivial that you continually ask yourself if he’s even serious.

[Manuel Frias · Rating 4 out of 5]

This nice little book is full of important recommendations for making compelling presentations. The author is a well-known researcher in the field of cognitive psychology so all the ideas are backed by science. Even though I disagree with some of his points (especially about graphs), it's actually a good book with many examples.

[Hamid Ramianpour · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice book. It has many questions based on 8 systematic rules. These questions, which you should ask during the creation of a PowerPoint slide, sharpen your senses to create a good and clear presentation.

[Jasmine · Rating 3 out of 5]

read this for class so technically cheating to add to my book challenge hehe

[Parker Abercrombie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has some good suggestions for how to improve your existing PowerPoint slides, and things to keep in mind when creating new slides. The section on displaying data is especially good. Many of the suggestions are backed up by studies, though citations are not given. The chapter on effective use of color would have been more useful if printed in color. Definitely worth a read if you're interested in creating effective presentation slides.

[Evan · Rating 2 out of 5]

If this book was written in 2001, it would be one thing, but it's from 2011; Kosslyn does a decent job of giving suggestion to improve PowerPoint slides, but avoids entirely the question of whether or not one should use PowerPoint slides in the first place. Tufte's VDQI is, in my opinion, a much better guide to visual conveyance of information; I recommend starting there.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple, quick read. Have done a lot of research and other reading on this topic, so nothing here was earth-shattering to an experienced designer, but if you are someone who thinks your presentations could use a boost and aren't sure where to start, then this might be a good read for you.

[bumblethunderbeast · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fabulous, clear examples for displaying data. While a small book, this packs a powerful punch. One of the best I've seen for concise explanation about data display.