To prop up the debate a bit, I invited a colleague with a little more first-hand experience with both technologies to provide support to the counter-argument.

Thanks to her, here are 32 reasons a PowerPoint slide deck is nothing like a bra.

1. I wear a bra every day, but could do without daily PowerPoint.
2. Personally, I think most other women would benefit more from a bra than PowerPoint too.
3. You can’t buy a PowerPoint slide deck off the shelf.
4. There’s no such thing as a Push-up PowerPoint deck.
5. There’s no such thing as a Miracle PowerPoint deck, not even from Nancy Duarte or Garr Reynolds.
6. You can’t improve a bra, but you can improve a slide deck.
7. You can’t give away your slide deck to someone who would fit it better.
   

   “Nobody ever asks for a copy of my bra after a meeting.”

8. Bras don’t have annoying transition effects like “window blinds“, “newsflash”, and “fade out”.
9. Bras don’t have annoying sound effects.
10. It’s never a surprise when someone pulls out a PowerPoint slide deck in a business meeting.
11. People will fall asleep in front of a PowerPoint slide deck.
12. No one anticipates the Victoria’s Secret PowerPoint catalog.
13. A bra works perfectly even if there’s no projector, screen, or laptop in the room.
14. Nobody ever asks for a copy of my bra after a meeting.
15. A PowerPoint slide deck is completely useless when exercising, while a bra is only somewhat useless.
16. You can’t craft a bra to suit your purpose.

    “Your employer will likely issue you a standard slide deck in corporate colors.”

17. Bras might be persuasive or motivational, but are rarely educational.
18. The Rule of Thirds says a slide contains four “power points”;
    human anatomy says a bra contains two “power points”.
19. Death by PowerPoint is an overused cliche.
    Death by Bra is not (yet).
20. 40 point bold text on a slide deck is acceptable.
    On bras? Not so much.
21. Only one Nobel Peace Prize winner uses PowerPoint, but nine wear bras. (An inconvenient truth or fiction?)
22. You can’t use the same slide deck all day long, day after day.
23. Slide decks don’t transition well from day to evening.
24. Teenagers know how to use bras, but adults still have trouble with PowerPoint.
25. Your mom will usually buy your first bra for you.
26. With bras, only teen-aged girls pad them with useless fluff.

    “Bras might be persuasive or motivational, but are rarely educational.”

27. It’s socially acceptable for men to use a slide deck, as long as it’s a good one.
28. PowerPoint slides look best when projected on a flat surface.
29. Guy Kawasaki has no 10-20-30 rule for bras.
30. Establishments that outlaw bras are labeled “trashy.”
    Companies that outlaw PowerPoint are labeled “forward-thinking.”
31. Your employer will likely issue you a standard slide deck in corporate colors.
32. A laser pointer rarely accompanies a bra.

Can You Add One?

What differences did we miss? Or maybe you’ve got a similarity to add to the debate?

Send in your suggestions, or add them in the comments.

Similar Articles You May Like... Book Review: Multimedia Learning by Richard E. Mayer PowerPoint Design Wish List: 8 Modest Proposals Why Pausch, not Obama, is Best Communicator of 2008 The 7 Deadly Sins of Public Speaking How to Improve Your Slides with the Rule of Thirds Interview with Nancy Duarte, Author of slide:ology

Have a Question? Contact me anytime, or find me on Twitter: @6minutes

Linda Wu works as a Research Analyst in Vancouver, Canada. When not staring at code on her computer, she likes to think and write about ways to improve technical communication.

What else do all three have in common? They all point to Richard E Mayer’s Multimedia Learning as recommended reading for presentation design.

And I agree.

This article is the latest of a series of public speaking book reviews here on Six Minutes.

How does Multimedia Learning compare to other books?

Let’s set the context:

• Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds (previously reviewed here)
• Slide:ology by Nancy Duarte (previously reviewed here)
• Beyond Bullet Points by Cliff Atkinson

All three of these are:

• More popular than Mayer’s work. [In fact, these are three of the 9 most popular books on PowerPoint, according to amazon.com.]
• More applied in nature.
• More directly tied to public speaking.

Yet, all three offer advice which is, in part, based upon research explained by Mayer in Multimedia Design.

So, who should read Multimedia Learning?

Given that Richard Mayer is a professor of psychology, it is not surprising that Multimedia Learning is written in an academic style. I believe it is this style which hinders its mainstream appeal. (And the pedestrian cover design.)

However, the content is fascinating and provides scientific explanations which leads to deep understanding of much of the contemporary approach to slide design.

For this reason, I think the primary audience for Multimedia Learning is:

• Professors, teachers, and trainers who create, design, and deliver instructional courses
• Professionals who are frequently involved with slide design
• Public speaking instructors and coaches

12 Principles You Learn from Multimedia Learning

Mayer’s work is organized around 12 key principles. Each chapter introduces the principle, describes the methodology used to study it, and summarizes research results.

1. Coherence Principle
   People learn better when extraneous words, pictures, and sounds are excluded rather than included.
2. Signaling Principle
   People learn better when cues that highlight the organization of the essential material are added.
3. Redundancy Principle
   People learn better from graphics and narration than from graphics, narration, and on-screen text.
4. Spatial Contiguity Principle
   People learn better when corresponding words and pictures are presented near rather than far from each other on the page or screen.
5. Temporal Contiguity Principle
   People learn better when corresponding words and pictures are presented simultaneously rather than successively.
6. Segmenting Principle
   People learn better when a multimedia lesson is presented in user-paced segments rather than as a continuous unit.
7. Pre-training Principle
   People learn better from a multimedia lesson when they know the names and characteristics of the main concepts.
8. Modality Principle
   People learn better from graphics and narration than from animation and on-screen text.
9. Multimedia Principle
   People learn better from words and pictures than from words alone.
10. Personalization Principle
    People learn better from multimedia lessons when words are in conversational style rather than formal style.
11. Voice Principle
    People learn better when the narration in multimedia lessons is spoken in a friendly human voice rather than a machine voice.
12. Image Principle
    People do not necessarily learn better from a multimedia lesson when the speaker’s image is added to the screen.

About Richard E. Mayer

Richard E. Mayer is Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

From his home page:

His current research involves the related disciplines of cognition, instruction, and technology with a special focus on multimedia learning and computer-supported learning. [...]

He was ranked #1 as the most productive educational psychologist in the world for 1991-2001. [...]

He is the author of more than 390 publications including 23 books, such as Multimedia Learning: Second Edition (2009), Learning and Instruction: Second Edition (2008), E-Learning and the Science of Instruction: Second Edition (with R. Clark, 2008), and the Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning (editor, 2005).

Get Your Copy or Read Other Reviews

• Title: Multimedia Learning
• Author: Richard E. Mayer
• ISBN: 0521735351
• Get a copy from your local bookstore, or from these online sources (also with additional reviews):
  • amazon.com
  • amazon.ca
  • amazon.co.uk
  • amazon.de

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Andrew Dlugan is the editor and founder of Six Minutes. He teaches courses, leads seminars, coaches speakers, and strives to avoid Suicide by PowerPoint. He is an award-winning public speaker and speech evaluator. Andrew is a father and husband who resides in British Columbia, Canada.

But, after reading his “Top Ten Best (and Worst) Communicators of 2008” list, I’m confused — how did he get it wrong?

Best Communicators of 2008

1. Barack Obama
2. Tim Russert
3. Randy Pausch
4. Colin Powell
5. Mike Huckabee
6. John Chambers
7. Sarah Palin
8. Nancy Duarte, Garr Reynolds, Seth Godin, Guy Kawasaki
9. Tina Fey
10. Anderson Cooper

Worst Communicators of 2008

1. George Bush
2. Richard Fuld
3. Rod Blagojevich
4. Eliot Spitzer
5. Roger Clemens
6. Sarah Palin
7. Dan Rather
8. Al Davis
9. Rosie O’Donnell
10. John McCain

Okay, top 10 lists are subjective by nature. They are one person’s opinion. Can Bert Decker really be wrong in his opinion? No, he can’t.

So, instead, I’ll just have to say that I am disappointed with this year’s lists for three reasons:

1. Too much emphasis on politics.

60% of the individuals cited are intimately tied to the political arena.

• 7 of the Best are either politicians (Obama, Powell, Huckabee, and Palin) or closely tied to politicians in 2008 (Russert, Fey, Cooper)
• 5 of the Worst (Bush, Blagojevich, Spitzer, Palin, and McCain) are politicians

This is a bit like having 60% of the “Best Athletes of 2008″ be Olympic heroes and disappointments. [Then again, perhaps Michael Phelps could be #1, #2, ... #8.]

Yes, 2008 is a presidential  election year. And, yes, communication is an integral part of politics. However, there’s a whole world communicating out there outside of the political arena too. Duarte and Reynolds merit much higher consideration, for example, because they are helping transform the public speaking status quo.

2. “Worst Communicator” = “Scandal-ridden”??

(At least) Six of the 10 Worst were caught up in scandals of varying degree in 2008: Fuld, Blagojevich, Spitzer, Clemens, Davis, O’Donnell.

Which of these seem more likely?

1. Bad communication leads to scandal?
   Did these people end up embroiled in scandal because they are poor communicators? No, the scandals resulted because they made (very) bad decisions.
2. Scandal leads to bad communication?
   Before the scandal broke, were they particularly bad communicators? Maybe. Maybe not. But without those scandals, none of these people would be on the list. Feelings of guilt plus a camera and microphone is a bad combination… for just about anyone.

I’m not saying that these people demonstrated good communication habits under fire. But, it is rare for someone to be under fire and come out looking like a great communicator.

I’d prefer more emphasis on this list on genuinely bad communicators not tied to scandals (Bill Gates is the often cited example here, although that title is not always deserved.)

3. Randy Pausch, not Barack Obama, is the Best Communicator of 2008

It’s a difficult task to argue against Barack Obama in #1 position. It would not surprise me if he earns that position for the next eight years.

• His oration skills have been compared regularly to Lincoln, Churchill, and Kennedy.
• His speaking prowess far outdistanced that of his two main rivals this year (Hilary Clinton, John McCain).
• His speeches are worthy of analysis (he has already been featured on Six Minutes, and he will continue to be going forward).

But, it is overkill to suggest that “he was elected President BECAUSE of his communications ability“. Numerous factors contributed to his victory, including these three:

• Superior Fundraising — His campaign excelled at fundraising in ways never seen before.
• Superior Strategy — His team had the best strategy (both in the Democratic primaries and the general election).
• Inferior Bush — The economy and Iraq (among many other reasons) doomed any candidate the Republicans put forward.

Running for President put Obama in a very select group, and gave him a global audience. To his credit, he maximized this opportunity. But would he be first on this list if he were giving these same speeches as just the Senator from Illinois? Would he have moved millions to action if he were just a party strategist? Or a community organizer from Chicago? Or a computer science professor?

Randy Pausch was a computer science professor. He had virtually no audience — just an auditorium filled with 400 people at Carnegie Mellon University. He had no fame. No reputation. No speechwriters. No army of volunteers. He had nothing to guarantee an attentive audience other than a particularly timely lecture and a death sentence of pancreatic cancer. As he points out in his book, this fact hardly makes him unique — more than 37,000 Americans are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer each year.

Despite all of this, over 8 million people have watched Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture on Youtube alone. That’s quite an increase from the 400 who saw it live.

Pausch’s Last Lecture is poignant, thought-provoking, emotional, funny, inspirational, and memorable. Pausch lacked Obama’s polish as a classical orator, but he is second to none as a communicator.

His skillful communication continued beyond his famous speech into his bestselling book, which I received for Christmas a few days ago. In addition to all the life lessons, every speaker can learn from how Pausch teaches a lesson through storytelling. If you enjoyed the stories in the speech, you’ll love the additional stories in the book. Ditch the facts, figures, and PowerPoint… just tell stories.

In short, 2008 saw Pausch emerge from complete obscurity to touch the hearts of millions… all from a single speech to an audience of 400. He proved that if you speak from the heart, the world will listen. For that, he’s the best communicator of 2008 in my book.

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• The 7 Deadly Sins of Public Speaking

Andrew Dlugan is the editor and founder of Six Minutes. He teaches courses, leads seminars, coaches speakers, and strives to avoid Suicide by PowerPoint. He is an award-winning public speaker and speech evaluator. Andrew is a father and husband who resides in British Columbia, Canada.

My favorite aspect of the book was the hundreds of sample slides which illustrate design principles, particularly those illustrating before versus after transformations.

I’ve just discovered a great online resource from Garr Reynolds which contains a representative sample of the book contents.

Sample Slides from Garr Reynolds

Via SlideShare.net, here is a set of 85 sample slides taken from his book or from his presentation library.

| View | Upload your own

Interested in More?

You can check out the full book review or the Presentation Zen book for more details. It is a great resource for every presenter.

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• Free E-book – Visualizing Information for Advocacy: An Introduction to Information Design

Andrew Dlugan is the editor and founder of Six Minutes. He teaches courses, leads seminars, coaches speakers, and strives to avoid Suicide by PowerPoint. He is an award-winning public speaker and speech evaluator. Andrew is a father and husband who resides in British Columbia, Canada.

In the spirit of Rotten Tomatoes – a site I always check before buying or renting a movie – this article gathers book reviews from public speaking experts and fellow bloggers.

A summary of their opinion is simple: buy this book and the slides in your next presentation will benefit.

The Book

• Title: Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery
• Author: Garr Reynolds, presentation design expert and author of very popular Presentation Zen blog
• Paperback; 240 pages; New Riders Press

Introspective Book Review from the Author

• 2007-07-13 | Announcing Presentation Zen: the book
• 2007-07-17 | Reflections on the editing process
• 2007-09-12 | “The text is about 90% ready”
• 2007-10-19 | Design and layout previews
• 2007-12-18 | “The books have left the warehouse”

iStockphoto Bonus: Garr also reported that buying the book earns you credits to download 10 free images at the highest resolution from iStockphoto.

Book Reviews

Guy Kawasaki interviews Garr Reynolds with thirteen questions on presentation style which offer a flavor of what can be found in the book.

At its heart Presentation Zen is about restraint, simplicity, and a natural approach to presentations [...]

Paul Gibler – Powerful Presentation Techniques:

All in all, [...] an A for your reading list and as an addition to your presentation skills library.

Bert Decker – Create Your Communications Experience:

Presentation Zen [...] should be read by any business presenter, leader, politician, professional… well, by everybody.

Wayne Botha – Make Your Point with Pow’R:

Don’t leave home for your next presentation without Garr’s book.

Pamela Slim – Escape from Cubicle Nation:

As one who has suffered through years of excruciating PowerPoint presentations, all I can say is “Hallelujah!”

Michael Nolan – Peachpit:

This book will change the world [...] As this book makes its way through the corporate culture, the simple principles of Presentation Zen will change thinking.

Merlin Mann – 43 Folders:

[...] this is about re-imagining how your entire presentation will work together as a persuasive and integrated show, from conception through delivery.

TJ Walker:

Reynolds cuts through a lot of the silly noise about PowerPoint and gets right to how it can be used effectively, memorably and beautifully.

Mike Sporer – Fresh Perspectives:

This book didn’t just change the way I think about presentations, it changed the way I look at our world.

Rhett Laubach – Authenticity Rules:

[...] an instant classic [...]

Seth Godin:

Please don’t buy this book! Once people start making better presentations, mine won’t look so good.

Stephen Few:

Even if you’re good at this, I’m betting this book will make you better. If you struggle with this stuff and know you need help, let Garr Reynolds ease the load. Buy this book.

Preview the Book with an Excerpt

You can read a 12-page excerpt from Presentation Zen which addresses slide design concepts of contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity (c.r.a.p.).

Preview the Book via Sample Slides

You can view sample slides from Garr Reynolds. Many are taken from the book, and provide a sneak preview at what you’ll find inside.

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• World’s Best Presentation Contest

Andrew Dlugan is the editor and founder of Six Minutes. He teaches courses, leads seminars, coaches speakers, and strives to avoid Suicide by PowerPoint. He is an award-winning public speaker and speech evaluator. Andrew is a father and husband who resides in British Columbia, Canada.