Harvard cognitive scientistStephen M. Kosslyn , who learn how brains process look-alike , wants to ameliorate the existence with his cutting - edge enquiry . And he ’s get with four way to make your PowerPoint presentations more human brain - compliant . This morning at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual encounter in Boston , Kosslyn address in a symposium devote the visual image of information , explaining how breakthrough in cognitive scientific discipline have divulge the honest way to present information in the PowerPoint formatting . It was one of the most interesting good example of applied scientific discipline I ’ve ever seen .
Jumping off from ideas he raises in his recent Good Book , Clear and to the Point , Kosslyn explained that the four rules of PowerPoint are : The Goldilocks Rule , The Rudolph Rule , The Rule of Four , and the Birds of a Feather Rule . Here ’s how they work .
The Goldilocks Rule refers to presenting the “ just veracious ” amount of information . Never admit more information than your audience involve in a visual range of a function . As an example , Kosslyn showed two graphs of veridical estate prices over time . One included ten different numbers , one for each class . The other let in two numbers : a peak terms , and the current cost . For the purposes of a presentation about today ’s prices relative to peak price , those numbers were the only ones necessary .
The Rudolph Rule denote to simple-minded way you’re able to make information stand out and guide your consultation to significant details — the fashion Rudolph the Rangifer tarandus ’s red nozzle stand up out from the other caribou ’ and go them . If you ’re presenting a piece of relevant data in a listing , why not make the data of interest a dissimilar colouration from the tilt ? Or circle it in crimson ? “ The human brain is a difference sensor , ” Kosslyn note . The centre is immediately drawn to any objective that looks different in an image , whether that ’s due to gloss , size , or separation from a chemical group . He showed us a pizza pie with one composition pulled out slightly , noting that our eyes would immediately go to the piece that was pull out ( which was truthful ) . Even minuscule difference guide your audience to what ’s significant .
The Rule of Four is a elementary but powerful tool that develop out of the fact that the brain can broadly hold only four pieces of visual information simultaneously . So do n’t ever present your consultation with more than four thing at once . This is a really significant piece of entropy for masses who be given to pack their PowerPoint slides with obtuse reams of data . Never give more than four pieces of information at once . It ’s not that people ca n’t think beyond four idea — it ’s that when we take in the visual information on a sliding board we protrude to get overwhelmed when we make four items .
The Birds of a Feather Rule is another proficient formula for how to organize information when you desire to show things in groups . “ We think of things in chemical group when they look similar or in law of proximity to each other , ” Kosslyn pointed out . Translation into PowerPoint ? If you need to indicate to your audience that five things belong in a group , make them similar by giving them the same color or configuration . Or group them very close together . This sounds introductory , but it often means take your data aside and reorganizing it . Kosslyn ’s co - panellist , Stanford psychologistBarbara Tversky , explained that one of the fundamental precept of data visualisation is , ironically , misrepresentation so as to get at the true statement .
Even these silly public figure for each rule of PowerPoint abide by a principle from cognitive skill : it ’s always easier to remember an unfamiliar melodic theme if it ’s name after something familiar .
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