1. Garr Reynolds wrote a book in 2008, and he has a follow up book published this year (2010) called Presentation Zen Design – the library has both books in its collection!
Edward Tufte, an expert in visual communication of information said:
“There’s no such thing as information overload, only bad design.”

2. com·mu·ni·ca·tion
What are presentations but a form of communication? Communication is defined as “the act of conveying information”
It’s your job as a presenter to communicate with the audience. By doing so, you are delivering a message.

3. Storytelling
So how do you deliver your message? By reaching out and connecting with your audience.
Reynolds talks in his book about storytelling.
Adding personal context helps you and your audience connect and communicate. Your personal experience, put in context of their previous knowledge – analogies, common experiences, etc. Your own stories, that of your customers, etc.
And it doesn’t have to be about life-altering events- it can be short anecdotes that people can relate to.
When done effectively, your audience “gets it” and understands and REMEMBERS your message
By Virginia State Parks staff [CC BY 2.0 ( via Wikimedia Commons from Wikimedia Commons

4. Simplicity Clarity Brevity
In both design and message, Reynolds recommends
Keep to core message – what’s the one thing you want your audience to remember
Keep your design simple
Keep your presentation “brief” – suggests 80-90% of time allotted

5. Simplicity Requires Restraint
Reynolds talks about restrictions or limits and how these can yield higher creativity- forces you to think in new ways about your message and how to convey it within your self-imposed rules.
This fish represents all the things we REALLY want to include in our presentation- all those goodies, the data we want to share- but we can’t possibly cram EVERYTHING into our slide deck.
Time (last minute = procrastination?), space, words, images - it drives my colleagues nuts, but I work better when ideas and plans percolate in my mind for a while before I put things in motion- so I tend to work best as a last-minute kind of person. This presentation is no exception!
Restraint can be in the number of words you use, the time you take to prepare, the content of your images- keep it simple!

6. Signal vs. Noise
There are many simple design concepts covered in Presentation Zen. Here are a few that stuck with me…
Signal is the message
Noise is everything else that doesn’t actively contribute to the message – it can be text, design elements, images, etc.
One solution is to use of handouts or other supporting materials to free slides of clutter, “noise”
Try eliminating components to your slide and ask yourself “can this slide’s message survive without it?”
Designers ask, “what’s the signal-to-noise ratio” –or SNR…
If in doubt, leave it out!

8. Survey Results Cut out all options- just top 5
Removed labels that were below original bar chart and inserted
Enlarged percentages

9. Visual vs. Text Cognitive load theory- research in 80s and 90s
Picture superiority effect- recognition/recall of information improves with pictures when exposure is for 30 seconds or more – doesn’t have same effect when tested with text.
Text and auditory together hinders understanding - e.g. reading bullet points off a slide
Your slides should enhance what you’re saying, not distract.
Your slides should NOT BE ABLE TO STAND ALONE- no handouts of your slide deck…

11. If Facebook were a country… 500 Million people
It would be the 4th largest country with a population of 500 billion people…
500 Million people