Clear and to the Point: 8 Psychological Principles for Compelling PowerPoint Presentations |  | Author: Stephen M. Kosslyn
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
List Price: $19.95
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Seller: a1books
Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 51570
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Pages: 240
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.6 x 7.1 x 0.5
ISBN: 0195320697
Dewey Decimal Number: 006.6869
EAN: 9780195320695
ASIN: 0195320697
Publication Date: August 13, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
True or False?
Most PowerPoint presentations are:
compelling illuminating informative clear and to the point
Answer: False
Make a change following the principles of Stephen Kosslyn:
a world authority on the visual brain a clear and engaging writer
Making PowerPoint presentations that are clear, compelling, memorable, and even enjoyable is not an obscure art. In this book, Stephen Kosslyn, a renowned cognitive neuroscientist, presents eight simple principles for constructing a presentation that takes advantage of the information modern science has discovered about perception, memory, and cognition. Using hundreds of images and sample slides, he shows the common mistakes many people make and the simple ways to fix them. For example, never use underlining to emphasize a word--the line will cut off the bottom of letters that have descending lines (such as p and g), which interferes with the brain's ability to recognize text. Other tips include why you should state your conclusion at the beginning of a presentation, when to use a line graph versus a bar graph, and how to use color correctly. By following Kosslyn's principles, anyone will be able to produce a presentation that works!
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 13
A gem, but a tough read April 25, 2009
Easy Writer
This is a terrific book with excellent direction on how to create a PowerPoint presentation which works with, rather than against, the way the mind processes visual information. The concepts are terrific and supported by neuroscience research, and I've been using them to radically improve my own slides.
The 'Do' and 'Don't' slides are also very good to bring the concepts to life. There are many lists of "10 things to remember" with mixed value, but you can typically find many useful nuggets in these lists. The author has presented these concepts in live workshops and has worked out the flow of the book so it feels very comfortable and flows well.
The biggest drawback is the difficult writing style. The author is obviously a very educated and intelligent man, but this works against him because the reader needs things to be simplified much more. The 8 principles need snappier names to really be memorable for the reader (eg. "The Principle of Perceptual Organization" could be re-named "The Law of Chunking"), and the writing style is a bit flat and not persuasive or energetic. This is a shame, because the concepts really are excellent but readers may not recognize them as excellent when they are presented without pizazz.
 Useful Powerpoint Design Reference March 19, 2009
Thom Mitchell (Providence, RI USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
There are so many books on powerpoint presentations that cutting through the clutter is difficult and after a while they all sound about the same. This book however is different because it lives up to it's title. It gives clear examples of do's and don't's showing how the same information is cleaned up and presented. The eight principles it conveys are straight-forward and useful. Given the low price it's well worth the money - especially if you are a manager of people who use powerpoint.
It belongs on your office or cubicle bookshelf.
The Bible of Effective Presentations October 15, 2008
Francesc X. Villalba (Barcelona, Spain)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is the best book I've ever read on how to design effective presentations. It is sound, clear, and funny. A must-read!
Where research and practice meet June 11, 2008
Kristina Lamour (Cranston, RI)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Finally!, a book that engages visual communication practice with cognitive
neuroscience and psychology research. Too often these areas live separately
and as a graphic designer professor, I find the Kosslyn's content invaluable.
As producers of visual communication, students should know what is going
on in the mind of their users. I plan on adding Clear and to the Point to my
course reading list.
 Eight principles lost in a forest of recommendations March 25, 2008
J. Green (Bay Area, CA, USA)
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
The idea seems good -- eight principles for compelling PowerPoint presentations. But the execution is neither clear nor to the point. For example, chapter 2, the first chapter of substance, lists eight recommendations for overall structure, five recomendations for building the introduction, ten recommendations for the body of the presentation, three recommendations for the wrap-up, and five recommendations for delivery (that's 31 recommendations in all), before returning to the eight psychological principles. And that, as I said, is only chapter 2. Other chapters are similarly ungainly.
In addition, as other reviewers point out, many of the suggestions are barely worth the paper they're printed on. For example, "start with a bang" or "face the audience."
In short, this is a book that will overwhelm novice presenters and bore experienced ones. Find another.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 13
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