The Uses & Abuses of Slides, Part 2: SLIDES ROCK! - Strategies for Communication with Slides

Summary

This video explores the dual nature of PowerPoint presentations. While Part 1 highlighted PowerPoint's flaws—being formulaic and overused—Part 2 emphasizes its strengths when used effectively. The speaker introduces concepts like 'information resolution' and discusses how slides can enhance business communication. The video covers three key uses of PowerPoint: as a visual aid, a standalone document, and a speaker prompt. By focusing on vertical and horizontal logic, presenters can craft compelling presentations that convey clear, audience-oriented messages. Ultimately, PowerPoint is portrayed as a powerful medium when purposefully used.

Takeaways

• 📈 PowerPoint can be both a powerful tool and a source of frustration in business communication.
• 🔍 Edward Tufte's concept of 'information resolution' suggests that PowerPoint encourages limited thinking, which may not be suitable for complex topics.
• 🚀 For complex decisions, such as assessing the safety of a space shuttle, a higher resolution medium like a detailed report might be more appropriate.
• 💡 PowerPoint slides are best for initial presentations or pitching ideas where high information density is not necessary.
• 📊 'Information resolution' refers to the density of information in a medium, not the sharpness of images.
• 📖 Media theorist Ian Bogost suggests understanding a medium by its variety of uses, implying that PowerPoint is versatile and not inherently flawed.
• 🎯 There are three main uses of PowerPoint: as a visual aid, a standalone document, and a speaker prompt.
• 👥 Visual aids are audience-oriented, meant to support and enhance the oral presentation.
• 📚 Standalone documents use slides as a publishing medium to convey all information through the slides themselves.
• 🗣️ Speaker prompts are speaker-oriented and generally less effective as they serve as an outline for the presenter rather than engaging the audience.
• 📝 Before creating slides, establish your audience and message to ensure that slides are being used appropriately and effectively.
• 🔄 Understand 'slide logic', which includes both vertical logic (information within a slide) and horizontal logic (the flow from one slide to the next).

Q & A

What was discussed in part one of the presentation?

In part one, the presenter discussed why PowerPoint is often seen as ineffective. It was highlighted that PowerPoint is formulaic, overused, applied in cliché ways, and often doesn't help the audience understand the message effectively.

What is the main goal of part two of this presentation?

The main goal of part two is to explain why PowerPoint can be a powerful and effective medium for business communication when used correctly, and to provide strategies for communicating effectively with slides.

Who is Edward Tufte, and what was his criticism of PowerPoint?

Edward Tufte is an information design expert who critiqued PowerPoint's cognitive style. He suggested that PowerPoint encourages limited thinking and may not be suitable for conveying complex, high-resolution information, such as engineering data for critical decisions.

What is 'information resolution,' and how does it relate to PowerPoint?

'Information resolution' refers to the density of information conveyed in a medium. In the context of PowerPoint, it means how much and how clearly ideas are communicated. Depending on the situation, slides can have high or low information resolution to match the needs of the message.

What are the three main uses of PowerPoint discussed in the presentation?

The three main uses of PowerPoint are: (1) Visual Aid, which enhances an oral presentation, (2) Standalone Document, where the slides convey the entire message independently, and (3) Speaker Prompt, which serves as a teleprompter for the speaker.

Why is the 'Speaker Prompt' method considered less effective?

The 'Speaker Prompt' method is considered less effective because it is speaker-oriented rather than audience-oriented. The slides primarily help the speaker, making the presentation less engaging and informative for the audience.

What does the term 'vertical logic' mean in the context of slide design?

In slide design, 'vertical logic' refers to the relationship of information within a single slide. The main message or summary should be placed at the top, and supporting information should be organized underneath, ensuring clarity and emphasis on the key points.

How does 'horizontal logic' differ from 'vertical logic'?

'Horizontal logic' refers to the flow and connection of ideas from one slide to the next. It's about ensuring that each slide builds upon the previous one, creating a coherent and logical narrative throughout the presentation.

Why should slides not be an automatic choice for every presentation?

Slides should not be an automatic choice because their effectiveness depends on the purpose and audience of the message. If slides do not enhance or convey the message more effectively than other mediums, they might not be the best option.

What advice does the presenter give for using slides effectively?

The presenter advises focusing on being audience-oriented, establishing the purpose and main idea before designing slides, using vertical and horizontal logic, and considering the resolution of the information to ensure that slides enhance the communication of the message.

Outlines

00:00

📊 The Power and Pitfalls of PowerPoint

This paragraph discusses the dual nature of PowerPoint as both a hindering and enhancing tool in business communication. It acknowledges PowerPoint's formulaic and overused nature, which can lead to clichéd presentations that obscure the message. However, it also highlights PowerPoint's potential as an effective medium when used correctly, emphasizing the concept of 'information resolution' introduced by Edward Tufte. This concept suggests that the choice between high and low information resolution should be made based on the context, such as detailed reports for complex decisions versus initial pitches that benefit from lower resolution. The paragraph sets the stage for exploring strategies to leverage PowerPoint effectively.

05:01

🎯 Understanding PowerPoint's Versatility

The second paragraph delves into the various uses of PowerPoint, emphasizing its versatility as a medium. It introduces the idea that PowerPoint can serve as a visual aid to enhance oral presentations, a standalone document for publishing complete information, or a speaker prompt to guide lectures. The paragraph stresses the importance of being audience-oriented and understanding the purpose and audience for the message before deciding to use slides. It also introduces the concept of slide logic, differentiating between vertical logic, which organizes information within a slide, and horizontal logic, which connects one slide to the next, building a narrative. The goal is to avoid making slides a crutch for the speaker and instead use them to effectively convey the intended message to the audience.

10:02

💡 Maximizing the Impact of Slides

The final paragraph concludes the discussion by reiterating the power of slides when used correctly. It emphasizes the importance of understanding the audience and the purpose of the message to decide the appropriate use of slides. The paragraph also touches on the importance of slide logic, where vertical logic should summarize the main point at the top of the slide, and horizontal logic should create a coherent narrative across slides. The speaker encourages embracing the power of slides as a common and powerful form of business communication, capable of combining text and images in compelling ways. The advice is to think critically about the use of slides, ensuring they serve to enhance understanding and communication rather than detract from it.

Keywords

💡PowerPoint

PowerPoint is a presentation software used to create visual aids for speeches, presentations, and other visual communications. In the video, PowerPoint is discussed as both a problematic tool when misused, and a powerful medium for business communication when used effectively. The script critiques its formulaic use and suggests strategies for enhancing its utility.

💡Information Resolution

Information resolution refers to the clarity and detail with which information is presented. The video discusses how PowerPoint can be used to convey information with varying levels of resolution, from high (detailed and complex) to low (simple and broad). This concept is used to argue for the appropriate use of PowerPoint depending on the complexity of the message that needs to be communicated.

💡Edward Tufte

Edward Tufte is a noted statistician and professor, famous for his work on the visual display of quantitative information. In the script, Tufte is mentioned as a critic of PowerPoint who argues that it encourages limited thinking. His concept of 'information resolution' is used to discuss the appropriate use of slides for different types of information.

💡Visual Aid

A visual aid in the context of the video refers to the use of slides to support and enhance an oral presentation. The slides are designed to help the audience understand the speaker's message better. The script emphasizes that effective visual aids should be audience-oriented and not just a crutch for the speaker.

💡Standalone Document

A standalone document is a type of PowerPoint use where the slides themselves are the complete message. They are meant to be read and understood without the need for an oral presentation. The script contrasts this with visual aids, where the slides support an oral message.

💡Speaker Prompt

Speaker prompt refers to the use of slides as a teleprompter for the speaker, guiding them through their talk. The script advises against this approach as it tends to be audience-unfriendly because the slides are there to help the speaker remember points rather than to convey information to the audience.

💡Narrative

In the context of the video, narrative refers to the story or sequence of ideas that a PowerPoint deck tells when the slides are viewed in order. The script likens this to the opening of Star Wars, suggesting that each slide should build upon the previous one to create a coherent and compelling story.

💡Vertical Logic

Vertical logic in PowerPoint refers to the organization of information within a single slide, with the most important point or conclusion at the top, followed by supporting evidence or details. The script contrasts this with classical logic, which typically builds from premises to a conclusion.

💡Horizontal Logic

Horizontal logic pertains to the relationship between one slide and the next, creating a flow or progression of ideas. The script suggests that this logic is crucial for the overall narrative of the presentation, ensuring that each slide logically follows from the previous one.

💡Audience-Oriented

Being audience-oriented means designing a presentation with the needs and understanding of the audience in mind. The script emphasizes the importance of this approach, suggesting that effective PowerPoint use should always consider what will be most helpful and engaging for the audience.

💡Big Idea

The 'big idea' refers to the central message or main point that the presenter wants to convey. The script advises that before creating slides, one should clearly identify the big idea and the audience for that idea, as this will guide the design and use of the slides.

Highlights

PowerPoint can be an effective medium for business communication when used well.

Edward Tufte introduced the concept of information resolution, suggesting that PowerPoint encourages limited thinking.

Higher resolution is necessary for complex messages, while lower resolution is suitable for initial presentations or idea pitching.

Information resolution refers to the density of information conveyed, not the sharpness of images.

Slides have varying information resolution depending on their purpose.

Slides can sometimes detract from the message instead of helping it.

Ian Bogost's quote emphasizes understanding the relevance of a medium by looking at the variety of things it does.

PowerPoint is a powerful medium that can be recovered from its critics by embracing its variety of uses.

There are three basic uses of PowerPoint: visual aid, standalone document, and speaker prompt.

Visual aids are audience-oriented and meant to enhance an oral presentation.

Standalone documents use PowerPoint as a publishing medium to communicate all information through the slides.

Speaker prompt uses slides as a teleprompter, which is generally not recommended as it's not audience-oriented.

Slides can be a powerful tool when used with an audience-oriented approach.

Before designing slides, establish the audience and the message to be conveyed.

Slides should not be an automatic go-to; they should be used for a specific reason.

Vertical slide logic is the relationship of information within a given slide, often starting with the main point.

Horizontal slide logic is the relationship of one slide to the next, building a narrative or story.

Slides can combine text and images in interesting ways to create compelling visual aids and documents.

Understanding the audience and purpose is key to using PowerPoint effectively.

Transcripts

all right

welcome to part two of the uses and

abuses of

powerpoint now in the last one we talked

about why

powerpoint sucks and we looked at it's

the fact that it's formulaic

that it's overused that it's used in

cliche ways

and it's often used in ways that don't

help the

audience understand your message

so this section we want to look at why

it's an awesome medium to use for

business communication and if we do it

well

it works really well

so so let's do part two

slides rock strategies for communicating

with slides

so in the last section we introduced

this concept of

information resolution edward tufte

introduced it

an edward softie right is the person who

was critiquing

powerpoint's cognitive style he was

suggesting that powerpoint encourages

limited thinking and so if you are an

engineer trying to decide whether space

shuttle is safe to re-enter

or not due to the foam damage foam tile

damage

maybe you need a higher resolution

medium maybe you should write a report

or maybe you should think about how

you're using slides in a different way

in order to convey information to

management so there's plenty of

scenarios in which higher resolution is

necessary for conveying

a message there are other situations

where lower resolution is really good if

you're pitching an idea

or just giving an initial presentation

slides can be really awesome because you

don't need that high of a resolution

so we want to think about when

resolution is really important to our

message

high resolution and when you know slide

resolution lower resolution is

okay so resolution does not refer to how

sharp your images are but rather how

sharp your ideas are and how much

information you can convey so this is

information

resolution the density of information

in a particular medium

so we learned a couple things from the

last

from the first part of this presentation

we looked at a couple different kinds of

slides where we saw different levels of

density and different levels of

effectiveness and we learned one

that slides have a varying information

resolution depending on their purpose

so slides can have higher or lower

resolution

and two slides don't always help the

message in fact very often slides don't

help or message so how do we make it so

that

the slide is helping our message

furthering our message and not

detracting from it or creating

unnecessary

noise i want to take a look um at this

quote from the media theorist ian bogos

he wrote a book called how to do things

with video games which is a very short

little book that i highly recommend

but he's a media theorist and he says

this we can understand the relevance of

a medium by looking

at the variety of things it does i think

this quote is interesting because it's

going to help us recover powerpoint from

its critics a little bit and say you

know what slides are actually a very

good

medium a powerful medium in fact frank

from or the other critic from before

said that

powerpoint is a powerful medium so let's

talk about what that means

bogus goes on to say this it's a longer

quote but bear with me because it's a

nice example

he says think of all the things you can

do with a photograph you can document

the atrocities and celebrations of war

as did photojournalists like eddie adams

and alfred eisenstadt

you can record fleeting moments in time

as the photographers like

henry cartier-bresson and robert frank

you can capture the ordinary moments of

family life as all of us do at birthday

parties or holidays for an

album or shoebox archive you can take a

snapshot reminder of a home improvement

project

to help you buy the right part at the

hardware store an automated camera at a

street intersection can capture a

license plate for ticketing and a

pornographer can capture a naked body

for titillation

photography has common properties it

bends light

through an aperture to expose an

emulsion or digital sensor

but the uses of photography vary widely

it is this breadth and depth of uses

that make

that makes photography a mature medium

so here he is using photography as an

example of what a mature medium might

look like and in this book that

this comes from he's trying to make the

argument that video games are also going

to be a mature medium and that we

shouldn't limit our understanding of

video games just based on a few games

but rather look at the medium itself and

what it can do

i want to argue that that's what we

should do with slides too slides are a

super important form of communication

and business and all kinds of

industries and so we need to think about

the variety of things powerpoint is good

at and i think when we embrace what

powerpoint is good at we get

good at powerpoint so let's jump into

some ideas about that

there are three basic uses of powerpoint

there might be more but for now we'll

look at these three

right the first one is visual aid the

second one is

standalone document and you should

recognize both of those because you're

going to be using them

visual aids will be important in your

persuasive speech and the standalone

document

is really important when you write your

research deck and then the third one is

speaker prompt

which you've probably seen people like

me and other professors use all the time

when that's when you have slides

as you're kind of prompt for giving your

lecture

in the visual aid category visual you

know

the point of the slide is to visually

enhance an oral presentation so i'm up

giving a speech and i have slides behind

me that are supposed to help you the

audience understand what i'm saying

it's an audience oriented use of

powerpoint

the slides help the message i have a

message i want to say and the slides are

there behind me

to help reinforce that message

with the standalone document you're

basically using powerpoint as a

publishing medium you're trying to make

something that you can publish as a

document

standalone documents they communicate

all the information through the slides

they're not meant to be presented

they're all inside the slides and

they're meant to be read

not presented the slides in this case

are the message

so in the first example of visual aids

the slides help the message

when we have a standalone document the

slides are the message there's no other

deliverer of the message and then the

last one and this is not one we will be

practicing in this class at all and in

fact this is probably one to avoid in

general although i'm guilty of doing it

is the speaker prompt method that's when

you use

powerpoint as a teleprompter for the

speaker and it's speaker oriented not

audience oriented which is why we want

to

avoid it we almost always want to be

audience oriented

and this is when the slides are helping

the speaker

right so and i like i said i'm guilty of

this this is when

if you have uh you know you give lots of

lectures in a day you need that

you need the slides to sort of help

guide you through the lecture remind you

where you're at and give you kind of an

outline

and usually that's not a very effective

use of slides because it becomes quite

boring for the audience because the

sides aren't really there for the

audience they're there for the speaker

so there are three uses one used to help

the message

another use where the slide is the

message and finally

a use of slides where the slides are

helping the speaker

as a prompt and as i said we want to

focus on the first two because these are

the two that you're going to be doing a

lot of and they're very different uses

of slides so we want to be aware of the

fact that when we're making visual aids

we're we're engaging in something quite

different than when we're trying to make

powerpoint into a publishing medium for

our standalone document

two two very different uses so slides

rock slides can be awesome slides are

super powerful tools that are both a

visual medium and a publishing document

medium at the same time

they can have varying resolution they

can be very sparse in terms of

information

and really just reinforce some other

thing like a presentation

or they can be the point of the whole

message and carry the whole message

as in the form of a standalone document

so slides are really powerful media

so how do we use them better how do we

stop ourselves from sucking at

powerpoint

and so you know part of this is the just

the overall philosophy of being audience

oriented so

before you can start to design slides

you have to establish the so

what who is your audience and what are

you trying to say why are you trying to

say it

what is that what is the point what is

the big idea you're trying to get across

and

who is the intended audience for that

idea

and without establishing those first

then you will be lost in how you use

slides you will not be motivated and why

you're doing what you're doing

so you have to settle up that so what

part before you even get into what we

might call

the what and the what is what am i going

to say

and through which media on what platform

am i going to say it

and so if you're wondering whether to

use slides

in a certain context don't just use them

because everyone uses slides

think about why you're using them am i

using them because they're a crutch for

me

as a speaker or am i using them because

they're really important information

that i want to convey to the audience

and i think the slides will help me

what what message do you have what

resolution does that message need to be

at

uh in order to get your point across

and then ask yourself are slides part of

the picture of how i want to put it put

together this message

so slides should not be an automatic

go-to

um this should be something that are

that you're using for a reason because

you've decided that the purpose of your

message and the audience for your

message

uh are such that slides will help so

just a couple of things to know when you

are using slides that there are a couple

of things to know about slide logics so

there are two kinds of logic we're going

to talk about with slides one is

vertical logic and one is horizontal

logic

so let's jump back first to classical

logic you might recognize this very

famous

syllogism syllogism is a logical

statement and it comes from classical

greek rhetoric right

it goes like this all humans die

socrates

is a human therefore socrates will

die that's right right so it's a it's

it's got a set of premises and then a

conclusion

and and you can see here i have an arrow

for pointing down because this is

there's a downward trajectory to this

logic where we start with the premises

and then we come to a conclusion

that's classical logic now let's look at

vertical slide logic

vertical slide logic is the relationship

of information to itself

within a given slide and if we were to

make a slide of the previous syllogism

we'd want to reverse

things right so one of the points of how

we organize slides is to put the summary

at the top

if you think back to that columbia slide

from the tufty criticism

one of the problems with that slide was

that the conclusion was buried at the

bottom of the slide when really that was

the main message the main message being

that we do not have enough test data to

know whether the tiles were damaged

that should have been at the top of this

slide so with slides we want to keep

the big takeaways at the top not at the

bottom so if we were to

turn that syllogism into a slide we

wanted to go the opposite direction we'd

put at the top

in big letters socrates will die and

then

fill it in afterwards with some of the

information

that helps make that clear right so

socrates will die and then

the rest of the slide unfolds the

premises and evidence and things like

that that you have

to to prove that out right so that's

part of a summary heading is to get to

the point

so vertical slide logic often runs

opposite of how we think about

classical logic and of course not every

slide is

literally a classical logic like this

but that you want your big takeaway your

main point your conclusion to be the big

message

the big takeaway and then the rest of

the slide fills in

that horizontal slide logic is the

relationship of one slide to the next

slide so

vertical logic is the relationship of

the information within a given slide

and horizontal logic its relationship of

one slide to another so when we're

talking about

something like a research deck the

horizontal logic is how the deck

flows how the ideas build upon each

other how the organization

makes it you know makes sense and things

like that

i like to think of horizontal side logic

as the story your deck tells that's why

i don't have any more that

that classical greek syllogism there but

rather i have

the beginning of star wars right because

this is more of the narrative this is

how your deck builds

its story its big message so horizontal

logic has to do with what comes next a

long time ago in a galaxy

far far away it is a period of civil war

rebel spaceship striking etc the opening

credits of star wars if you're familiar

with it right

that's narrative that's building a story

so each individual slide needs to have

its own vertical logic where

the top level header summarizes what's

on the

what's on the slide and the slide

unfolds evidence in an interesting way

but then the relationship of one slide

to the next slide is the horizontal

logic so after you've established

point a on on slide a now you're going

to move to point b

on slide b what's the link in the

connection between them if i were to

read all of your summary headings across

every slide what would there start to be

a a story

that develops that's building your

message

right so that's horizontal slide logic

all right that concludes part 2

slides rock i hope this gives you some

philosophical understanding or some

general principles for thinking about

why slides are effective and what the

risks are when using slides so

slides can be formulaic and boring and

not convey the information they need to

or they can be wonderful tools that are

really powerful tools for communicating

a business

and in this class we want to embrace the

power of slides

because they are a really common form of

communication and a really powerful

medium and what's great about them is

their ability to combine

text and images in interesting ways you

don't have to be an expert in layout to

put together very compelling

relationships between text and image

and varying levels of resolution and so

we can make really interesting documents

and visual aids when we think about our

audience and understand our purpose

and use powerpoint to enhance our

understanding of our audience and our

purpose

so hopefully this helps you think about

in a broad sense

how to think about slides and use slides

in your business communication

all right