How to give a talk (advanced) CT Lin’s version 2025. Visuals. Part 2 of 4

See part 1 of 4, prior post.

Don’t skimp on the size of your images, even if Powerpoint suggests framing them in cute little frames. No.

Full-bleed, a term from the days of the printing press, where you would size your photo/image to the edges of the press, so that the color ‘bleeds’ off the edges of the print, give an impression that there is no border between the image and real life. Make your images big as possible for more impact.

Tiny images are a waste of effort. And please don’t pack the page full of words. Please.

More like this. Full-bleed image. Then, talk about your points.

Yes, this is a full bleed image of some dummy. But please do prepare. Your preparation will show in how well you convey your ideas.

Too many words. How often have you heard people say “I know you can’t read this, but …” or “I’m sorry …” You control the slide. You decide what images to use, how to crop it, how to emphasize your point. Don’t passively paste something and the heave a big shrug “not my problem.”

YOU make it work or not work.

Here is an alternative. Keep your big ideas over a large icon or image, and then tell some stories to make your points. Talks are never about being comprehensive. They are about setting fire to someone’s imagination.

Please put some effort into making your ideas clear and easy to grasp.

Don’t make the audience work to figure out what you are trying to say.

Just because you have all these formatting tools does NOT mean you have to use them. The formatting should stay out of the way so that your ideas shine through. You want your audience to go “Wow, what a great idea” instead of “Can you read that? What do those words mean anyway?”

For example, when I see word widows (one word wrapping over onto the next line), I completely stop learning and get mad at the way the words show on the screen. What an aggravation and a waste for both of us.

Go read Richard Mayer’s work from 1988. Or Andy Goodman who writes about good communication for public interest companies http://thegoodmancenter.com. Specifically, this post:

https://www.thegoodmancenter.com/blog/icymi-say-the-words-show-the-pictures/

The point is: your learner has 2 channels: an audio channel, and a visual channel. If the information you are sending complements each other, more gets through. For example, show a picture with no words. Then, the Visual channel is uncluttered. Then, speak the words, telling about water vapor condensing into clouds. The Audio channel is uncluttered, and learning occurs.

HOWEVER! If you put words on the screen with the visual, the words and image clutter the visual channel. Even if speaker is silent, having both words and image on screen is WORSE for learning than a wordless image and a spoken lesson. There is a lot to absorb visually.

EVEN WORSE. If the screen contains an image, and also explanation words as above, AND THEN the speaker says the words or similar explanation, the learning is EVEN WORSE. The audio channel interferes with the visual channel and the learner automatically starts comparing comparing your spoken words with the written words, and now no one is paying attention to the idea, they’re all stuck on comparing words.

THIS IS TERRIBLE and WE ARE ALL GUILTY OF PUTTING WORDS ON SCREEN AND THEN VERBALLY EXPLAINING WITH SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT WORDS.

I call this Polluting the Channels. I do it, you do it.

I both love this and hate it. I have now encapsulated my entire idea on one slide. And it is exactly, according to Dr. Mayer’s theories, the worst way to do it.

CMIO’s take?

Giving a talk, it turns out, is really hard. Knowing what we know now, how will you change? How will I change? Good luck to all of us.