Michael Alley has investigated an alternative to the default PowerPoint slide layout, which he terms the “assertion-evidence design.”
This approach employs succinct sentence headlines (sentences that make an assertion) at the top of the slide. Under it, in the main section of the slide, there would appear a visual representation of evidence, such as a picture or a graph.
In multiple experiments, Alley has found that students viewing presentations following this design were better able to recall the main assertion of slides than were those students viewing presentations employing phrase headlines and bulleted text.
?An example of a phrase headline would be, “Product safety,” a phrase that contains no information of value and no point of view.
If the author of such a slide were to use Alley’s “assertion-evidence design,” the headline might read, “Product safety is competitive.” That is, the sentence would make an assertion, or a point, and then the viewer would be able to glance down to review the evidence on display that supports the assertion.
McKinsey and Co., a leading consulting firm, has used this methodology for years, if not decades, as have other reputable institutions, including the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory.
Any presenter whose job is to create clarity out of complexity will benefit from using Alley’s “assertion-evidence design.”
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