Perspectives on images in
presentations
Burmark (2011) provides an in-depth look at the power that
images have on a presentation. Images must be pertinent to be effective. They
should not disengage or distract the listener from the core topic. Images draw
the attention of the audience before the words. For maximum benefit in
learning, there should not be any more words than essential. After the authors
reduce the words to the essential, they should highlight the text in color,
with red being the fastest color to recognize. Sizing of the image is critical
and the presenter should aim for a full slide image for maximum effectiveness.
Burmark (2011) is sometimes confusing on her objective with
images. At times (p.119, p.135, p.136) she discusses the usage of images alone
without any text. At other times (p.123, p.129, p.130, p.134, p.140) she speaks
of combining images with text as a synergistic experience. While linearly
reading the chapter, it is unclear which technique she is recommending. I
believe that some words are essential to the learning experience. Images do a
great deal to enhance learning, especially for those that are slower with
processing words. For maximum retention, though, I believe that all channels of
learning should be used, that is, auditory, textual and imagery. Burmark (2011)
shows one example of a color graph, but does not go into extensive details
about the benefits of graphs. Graphs are images, too, and I find them very
effective, with two exceptions. A presentation of only graphs is repetitious
and boring. Graphs that have too much detail, as in a quarterly earnings
report, are unreadable and ineffective. Her graph example, on the other hand,
is very effective. In another great example, she shows an increasingly improved
presentation on riding a bicycle. It a concrete idea and works very well. For
an abstract idea, visual enhancement is considerably more challenging.
References
Burmark,
L. (2011). Harnessing Humor. In
They snooze, you lose: Starting with images (pp. 109-140). San Francisco, CA:
Josey Bass.
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