1 00:00:11,011 --> 00:00:13,328 Okay, ladies and gentlemen, welcome. 2 00:00:14,488 --> 00:00:15,636 There is a question 3 00:00:15,636 --> 00:00:17,811 which has puzzled me for quite a while, 4 00:00:18,261 --> 00:00:21,538 and that is, Why do our PowerPoints look the way they look? 5 00:00:22,228 --> 00:00:26,978 Or rather, How on earth, can we accept that they look the way they look? 6 00:00:26,978 --> 00:00:28,679 How can you do that? 7 00:00:29,249 --> 00:00:30,265 And do you know 8 00:00:30,265 --> 00:00:33,372 what's even more intellectually challenging for me to understand? 9 00:00:33,372 --> 00:00:37,508 It's, How can a person sit over here in this meeting room with 10 others, 10 00:00:37,508 --> 00:00:39,733 observing this dismally bad PowerPoint 11 00:00:39,733 --> 00:00:43,976 filled with charts, graphical elements, page numbers, 12 00:00:44,996 --> 00:00:48,390 fading away five, seven minutes, thinking of other things? 13 00:00:48,390 --> 00:00:52,389 You know the feeling, the boredom, the waste of time? 14 00:00:53,725 --> 00:00:55,826 This person, after 40 minutes, 15 00:00:55,826 --> 00:00:58,432 he or she will stand up, a bit dazed, 16 00:00:58,432 --> 00:01:01,685 trotting off to his own office, coming to his own computer, 17 00:01:01,685 --> 00:01:05,107 flipping it up, going like, 'Oh my god, I've got a presentation tomorrow, 18 00:01:05,107 --> 00:01:07,390 and I do have a PowerPoint to build.' 19 00:01:07,390 --> 00:01:08,390 (Laughter) 20 00:01:08,390 --> 00:01:12,418 Now, what is the chance that this person will build an equally bad PowerPoint 21 00:01:12,418 --> 00:01:15,819 as the one that he or she was herself tortured by 22 00:01:15,819 --> 00:01:17,758 in the other conference room? 23 00:01:17,758 --> 00:01:19,442 Is that a big chance? 24 00:01:20,112 --> 00:01:21,205 Yeah. 25 00:01:21,832 --> 00:01:23,154 Now, what is that? 26 00:01:23,154 --> 00:01:25,874 Why do we do that? Is that vengeance? 27 00:01:25,874 --> 00:01:28,263 Is that where you go like, 'You did that to me. 28 00:01:28,263 --> 00:01:31,060 Phew! I'm going to do it to you. You got it coming, bro'? 29 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:34,087 Is that the case? I don't think so. 30 00:01:34,087 --> 00:01:38,035 I don't think that's got to do with vengeance, intelligence. 31 00:01:38,318 --> 00:01:40,663 I think it's got to do with something else. 32 00:01:40,663 --> 00:01:43,208 Now, my passion in life is the brain, 33 00:01:43,208 --> 00:01:46,693 and an even bigger passion that is presentation skills. 34 00:01:46,693 --> 00:01:49,051 And I love combining these two. 35 00:01:49,921 --> 00:01:51,841 And about four years ago, 36 00:01:51,841 --> 00:01:55,201 I got so, so upset I blew my top 37 00:01:56,747 --> 00:02:00,040 because the way that we do neural executions 38 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:03,093 all over our boardrooms today is just - 39 00:02:03,093 --> 00:02:06,309 it's not fair to our intelligence as being Homo sapiens. 40 00:02:07,627 --> 00:02:10,555 So I thought there's got to be something we can do about this, 41 00:02:10,555 --> 00:02:13,365 so I searched the world, I looked for seminars, 42 00:02:13,365 --> 00:02:16,017 I looked for training programs, I looked for books 43 00:02:16,907 --> 00:02:19,216 that could solve this question for me, 44 00:02:19,216 --> 00:02:21,551 but there was none to be found. 45 00:02:21,551 --> 00:02:25,282 So I thought, 'Well, I'll just do as Franz Kafka said, 46 00:02:25,282 --> 00:02:27,930 "If it isn't written, write it yourself."' 47 00:02:27,930 --> 00:02:29,209 And four years later, 48 00:02:29,209 --> 00:02:32,058 I have the great honour to stand here in front of you. 49 00:02:32,908 --> 00:02:34,065 What am I talking about? 50 00:02:34,065 --> 00:02:36,071 What are the PowerPoints I'm referring to? 51 00:02:36,071 --> 00:02:37,531 They can look like this. 52 00:02:37,901 --> 00:02:41,654 Now, this is one of the top three universities in the world, 53 00:02:41,654 --> 00:02:46,111 advising their students and their teachers on how to build great PowerPoints. 54 00:02:48,626 --> 00:02:50,846 I received this from a customer, 55 00:02:51,246 --> 00:02:53,824 and you've got to be semi-blind 56 00:02:54,134 --> 00:02:57,175 in order to even have something like this in the company. 57 00:02:58,005 --> 00:02:59,348 I love this one. 58 00:03:00,096 --> 00:03:03,372 This one was awarded the prize of being the worst PowerPoint 59 00:03:03,372 --> 00:03:06,623 delivered by a public CEO in 2010. 60 00:03:06,623 --> 00:03:08,515 It's a nice prize to pick up, isn't it? 61 00:03:08,515 --> 00:03:09,525 'Oh yes, thank you.' 62 00:03:09,525 --> 00:03:10,595 (Laughs) 63 00:03:10,985 --> 00:03:12,169 Well done, mate. 64 00:03:12,849 --> 00:03:15,763 And then you're like, 'This is bad. Can it get worse?' 65 00:03:16,553 --> 00:03:17,556 Yes, it can. 66 00:03:17,556 --> 00:03:20,065 (Laughter) 67 00:03:20,065 --> 00:03:22,978 Now, this is the UN in Afghanistan, 68 00:03:23,388 --> 00:03:27,304 the US military describing the situation in the area. 69 00:03:28,094 --> 00:03:30,927 And, well, there are no comments on that. 70 00:03:32,168 --> 00:03:33,356 But then we get this one. 71 00:03:33,356 --> 00:03:37,515 'My god, David Phillips, this has got to be the thing. 72 00:03:37,515 --> 00:03:39,573 This has got limited amounts of text. 73 00:03:39,573 --> 00:03:41,227 It's got a supporting image. 74 00:03:41,227 --> 00:03:42,983 It's got a clear headline. 75 00:03:42,983 --> 00:03:44,793 This is the truth.' 76 00:03:45,984 --> 00:03:47,675 Well, the thing is, 77 00:03:47,675 --> 00:03:49,805 if you recognise yourself in any of these, 78 00:03:49,805 --> 00:03:52,405 which I think you do, nodding away, 79 00:03:53,255 --> 00:03:55,696 I want to make you aware of the following: 80 00:03:55,696 --> 00:03:59,451 that if you've delivered a presentation with something like that behind you, 81 00:04:02,112 --> 00:04:04,839 90% of what you said 82 00:04:06,148 --> 00:04:08,668 was gone within 30 seconds. 83 00:04:09,948 --> 00:04:13,343 And then you go, 'No, no, no way, Jose, 84 00:04:13,343 --> 00:04:16,334 that is way - I know it's bad, but it can't be that bad, 85 00:04:16,334 --> 00:04:17,879 can it now, really?' 86 00:04:18,229 --> 00:04:21,951 Well, just let me give you an example of really how bad your working memory is, 87 00:04:21,951 --> 00:04:23,891 and mine, for that case. 88 00:04:23,891 --> 00:04:25,962 I want you to imagine this situation. 89 00:04:25,962 --> 00:04:28,342 You're at the train station, waiting for the train. 90 00:04:28,342 --> 00:04:30,459 You can see it coming on the horizon. 91 00:04:30,459 --> 00:04:33,510 You're fiddling away, you finally find where you put your ticket. 92 00:04:33,510 --> 00:04:36,940 And you take it out, and you go, 'Car five, seat 42. Got it.' 93 00:04:37,570 --> 00:04:38,580 Have you? 94 00:04:38,580 --> 00:04:39,972 (Laughter) 95 00:04:39,972 --> 00:04:42,949 You have absolutely no idea where you're going to sit, do you? 96 00:04:42,949 --> 00:04:46,235 So, you're like, 'Is this only me, or ... Well, I'll check. Five, 42.' 97 00:04:46,235 --> 00:04:47,303 You put it down again. 98 00:04:47,303 --> 00:04:48,296 Have you got it? 99 00:04:48,296 --> 00:04:49,907 No, you haven't got it. 100 00:04:49,907 --> 00:04:53,688 You'll do this on an average of six times before you sit down. 101 00:04:53,688 --> 00:04:56,163 I've seen people in the train go, 102 00:04:56,163 --> 00:05:00,226 'Five, 42, five, 42. Yes, this is my seat, check.' 103 00:05:00,969 --> 00:05:03,629 Now, the bad news in the situation is this: 104 00:05:03,629 --> 00:05:07,156 you do not have a separate working memory for PowerPoint 105 00:05:07,156 --> 00:05:10,009 and a separate working memory for train tickets. 106 00:05:10,319 --> 00:05:15,402 It's the same dismally bad working memory for both activities. 107 00:05:17,668 --> 00:05:20,663 So, I might be harsh when I say this, 108 00:05:20,663 --> 00:05:22,730 but there is one man on this earth 109 00:05:22,730 --> 00:05:25,055 who knows more about the brain than anybody else, 110 00:05:25,055 --> 00:05:27,925 one of the most leading neurologists called John Medina, 111 00:05:27,925 --> 00:05:29,845 and he puts it like this. 112 00:05:29,845 --> 00:05:32,455 [If companies would have as little respect for business 113 00:05:32,455 --> 00:05:33,936 as they have for presentations, 114 00:05:33,944 --> 00:05:35,542 the majority would go bankrupt.] 115 00:05:35,542 --> 00:05:41,393 And it's with his words that I welcome you to 'How to Avoid Death by PowerPoint'. 116 00:05:42,386 --> 00:05:45,621 Now, my objective for this evening, for these 18 minutes, 117 00:05:45,621 --> 00:05:48,520 is to give you five design principles 118 00:05:49,039 --> 00:05:53,941 that will cognitively and psychologically optimise your PowerPoint slides. 119 00:05:54,573 --> 00:05:56,652 And if you haven't used them before, 120 00:05:57,152 --> 00:05:59,683 they will make a tremendous difference 121 00:05:59,683 --> 00:06:03,493 to every PowerPoint you'll be delivering from this day and on. 122 00:06:05,051 --> 00:06:06,358 So, let's start. 123 00:06:06,358 --> 00:06:08,782 The first one of these five is one message. 124 00:06:08,782 --> 00:06:10,346 I received this from a customer, 125 00:06:10,346 --> 00:06:13,567 and I said, 'Hey, we've got a lot of issues in here, 126 00:06:13,567 --> 00:06:15,285 but let's start with the first one. 127 00:06:15,285 --> 00:06:16,836 You've got two messages. 128 00:06:16,836 --> 00:06:21,063 Let's move one of them out of the way, and just bring one message per slide.' 129 00:06:21,683 --> 00:06:24,367 So, why should we only have one message per slide? 130 00:06:24,367 --> 00:06:26,393 Well, I'll give you this beautiful example. 131 00:06:26,393 --> 00:06:29,572 You're at this nice party, you've got the music going boom-boom, 132 00:06:29,572 --> 00:06:31,766 you've got this person you're chatting away to, 133 00:06:31,766 --> 00:06:33,033 you're having a good time. 134 00:06:33,033 --> 00:06:34,353 (Imitates chatter) 135 00:06:34,353 --> 00:06:37,534 And then you hear your name; you hear your name spoken somewhere. 136 00:06:37,534 --> 00:06:40,786 Your entire attention is now diverted in that direction, 137 00:06:41,686 --> 00:06:43,849 and with this person, you're just nodding away 138 00:06:43,849 --> 00:06:46,479 hoping that you're nodding in the right instances, yeah? 139 00:06:46,479 --> 00:06:47,483 Yes, yes, yes. 140 00:06:47,483 --> 00:06:49,772 After a minute, this one stops talking about you, 141 00:06:49,772 --> 00:06:51,822 so you divert your attention straight again. 142 00:06:51,822 --> 00:06:54,996 Now, that person will then say, 'Well, don't you agree?' 143 00:06:54,996 --> 00:06:57,011 And don't we just love that situation? 144 00:06:57,011 --> 00:06:59,603 We have got no clue what they've been talking about. 145 00:07:00,023 --> 00:07:01,822 The same thing goes for PowerPoint. 146 00:07:01,822 --> 00:07:03,808 If you've got more than one message, 147 00:07:03,808 --> 00:07:07,075 the chance is big they will be focusing on this one and not that one, 148 00:07:07,075 --> 00:07:09,060 or that one and not this one. 149 00:07:09,060 --> 00:07:11,164 Just make it simple for human beings. 150 00:07:11,164 --> 00:07:12,818 Have one message per slide. 151 00:07:12,818 --> 00:07:15,465 We are extremely limited to understanding more. 152 00:07:17,746 --> 00:07:19,791 Let's move on. Go to working memory. 153 00:07:19,791 --> 00:07:23,875 I've already given you this bad vibe that your working memory is bad, 154 00:07:23,875 --> 00:07:27,220 and I'm afraid I'm not coming with better news. 155 00:07:27,220 --> 00:07:30,593 I'm coming with worse news, and it goes like this. 156 00:07:30,593 --> 00:07:35,048 This equation has the basis of John Sweller and Mayer, 157 00:07:35,048 --> 00:07:36,523 and they come to the conclusion 158 00:07:36,523 --> 00:07:39,747 that there is something in our brain called 'the redundancy effect', 159 00:07:39,747 --> 00:07:40,922 and it works like this. 160 00:07:41,062 --> 00:07:45,381 If you have text, sentences on your PowerPoint, 161 00:07:45,381 --> 00:07:50,095 and you persist with the annoying idea of speaking at the same time, 162 00:07:51,931 --> 00:07:54,779 what will be remembered by the audience 163 00:07:54,779 --> 00:07:55,869 is zero. 164 00:07:55,869 --> 00:07:57,159 (Laughter) 165 00:07:57,159 --> 00:07:59,110 Or very close to zero. 166 00:07:59,530 --> 00:08:03,875 Now, why is that? How does that come about? 167 00:08:03,875 --> 00:08:07,226 Well, it can't look like this. It's just not practical. 168 00:08:07,226 --> 00:08:09,868 You can't stand and have this and talk at the same time. 169 00:08:09,868 --> 00:08:11,419 So, what are you supposed to do? 170 00:08:11,419 --> 00:08:14,604 Well, use PowerPoint for what it's supposed to be used for. 171 00:08:15,494 --> 00:08:18,682 Pick it like this, pull down your text into the documentation field, 172 00:08:18,682 --> 00:08:21,548 and use the area up there for the presentation material: 173 00:08:21,548 --> 00:08:24,132 short, sweet bits of text and an image. 174 00:08:24,132 --> 00:08:26,062 That is what enhances your image. 175 00:08:26,192 --> 00:08:28,497 That is what enhances your message. 176 00:08:28,847 --> 00:08:31,690 So use PowerPoint as it's supposed to be used. 177 00:08:33,560 --> 00:08:35,794 Come to the third of these five principles, 178 00:08:35,794 --> 00:08:37,308 and that's size. 179 00:08:37,788 --> 00:08:38,862 Before I go into that, 180 00:08:38,862 --> 00:08:41,612 I want to make you aware the following. 181 00:08:42,332 --> 00:08:45,350 Every time you open your eyes for the rest of your life, 182 00:08:45,684 --> 00:08:47,690 you will focus on four things: 183 00:08:47,690 --> 00:08:52,728 moving objects, signalling colours, like red, orange and yellow, 184 00:08:53,345 --> 00:08:57,813 contrast-rich objects and big objects for the rest of your life. 185 00:08:58,693 --> 00:09:00,495 Give you a practical example of that. 186 00:09:00,495 --> 00:09:03,601 Imagine yourself being home with a friend, a really good friend. 187 00:09:03,601 --> 00:09:06,862 Now, the television is on, but the sound is off. 188 00:09:07,932 --> 00:09:09,626 You're having a great conversation, 189 00:09:09,626 --> 00:09:12,331 but do you find it easy to not look at the television? 190 00:09:12,511 --> 00:09:14,037 No. Why not? 191 00:09:14,037 --> 00:09:15,854 Because it's got moving objects, 192 00:09:15,854 --> 00:09:18,260 it's got signalling colours, it's high in contrast, 193 00:09:18,260 --> 00:09:20,572 and they're usually very big these times. 194 00:09:22,810 --> 00:09:25,055 So, why not use this to our benefit? 195 00:09:25,055 --> 00:09:27,812 If you look at this, where is your attention drawn to 196 00:09:27,812 --> 00:09:30,986 without you even having a chance of controlling it? 197 00:09:30,986 --> 00:09:33,592 It's going to the big three all the time. 198 00:09:33,592 --> 00:09:36,411 Have a look at the practical situation; have a look at this. 199 00:09:36,411 --> 00:09:37,798 Where are your eyes drawn to? 200 00:09:37,798 --> 00:09:40,426 I can see that they're drawn constantly to the headline. 201 00:09:41,251 --> 00:09:45,282 Now, how often is the headline the most important part in a PowerPoint? 202 00:09:45,282 --> 00:09:46,972 It's very rare. 203 00:09:48,144 --> 00:09:52,115 Even so, every PowerPoint template is built like this, 204 00:09:52,115 --> 00:09:56,405 where the headline is the biggest object, and the content is the smallest - 205 00:09:56,405 --> 00:09:59,773 going absolute opposite to our biological reactions. 206 00:10:00,163 --> 00:10:03,993 So, what does this look like if we just show you an example? 207 00:10:03,993 --> 00:10:06,823 Well, now I've reduced the title, and it looks like this. 208 00:10:06,823 --> 00:10:09,686 Do you see how your eyes now fall down into the content? 209 00:10:09,686 --> 00:10:11,856 Now they're sucked into the headline, 210 00:10:11,856 --> 00:10:13,080 (Laughter) 211 00:10:13,080 --> 00:10:15,505 and now they're falling down into the content. 212 00:10:15,505 --> 00:10:18,065 So I can control exactly where you are, 213 00:10:18,065 --> 00:10:21,609 but why do people build PowerPoints 214 00:10:21,609 --> 00:10:24,494 where people will be spending 70% of the time on the headline 215 00:10:24,494 --> 00:10:26,592 when it's not the most important part? 216 00:10:27,302 --> 00:10:29,447 So, what I want you to take with you from this 217 00:10:29,447 --> 00:10:31,566 is the most important part of your PowerPoint 218 00:10:31,566 --> 00:10:34,333 should also be the biggest, nothing else. 219 00:10:35,359 --> 00:10:38,036 Moving on to number four, contrast. 220 00:10:41,026 --> 00:10:44,179 Contrast controls your focus. 221 00:10:44,413 --> 00:10:45,791 So, what does that look like? 222 00:10:45,791 --> 00:10:47,889 For instance, if I show you a list like this, 223 00:10:47,889 --> 00:10:49,222 your eyes are over the place 224 00:10:49,222 --> 00:10:51,694 because you don't really know what to focus on. 225 00:10:51,694 --> 00:10:55,307 So, I'll use a built-in functionality into PowerPoint, which goes like this. 226 00:10:55,308 --> 00:10:58,387 I'll show you the first subject, I'll take it away with contrast, 227 00:10:58,387 --> 00:10:59,959 and I'll show you the second one, 228 00:10:59,959 --> 00:11:03,242 and I'll do it again and again and again and again. 229 00:11:03,242 --> 00:11:05,386 You're now following exactly the white spot. 230 00:11:05,386 --> 00:11:07,608 If I do this - dun-dun-dun-dun - 231 00:11:07,608 --> 00:11:09,791 I can see your eyes just wobbling around, 232 00:11:09,791 --> 00:11:13,626 and you're a bit like a kitten going after a little laser pointer on the wall, 233 00:11:13,626 --> 00:11:16,081 going like, 'Where is it? I've got it. I've got it.' 234 00:11:16,081 --> 00:11:19,624 Because you're following where the white spot is, and not the rest. 235 00:11:20,208 --> 00:11:21,793 Now, this is a beautiful example. 236 00:11:21,793 --> 00:11:23,633 Please do use this. 237 00:11:23,633 --> 00:11:27,079 Use it because you can show amazing big tables like this 238 00:11:27,079 --> 00:11:29,936 if you use the effect of contrast, the principle of contrast. 239 00:11:29,936 --> 00:11:31,193 Look what this looks like. 240 00:11:31,193 --> 00:11:34,306 Your eyes are all over the place; you don't know what to focus on, 241 00:11:34,306 --> 00:11:36,310 but I just apply the principle of contrast, 242 00:11:36,310 --> 00:11:40,074 and it looks like that, and suddenly, you know exactly what to focus on. 243 00:11:40,074 --> 00:11:41,817 Here, they're all over the place, 244 00:11:41,817 --> 00:11:44,211 and here, they're exactly where I want them. 245 00:11:45,801 --> 00:11:49,117 Now, there's a big, major drawback with PowerPoints, 246 00:11:49,117 --> 00:11:53,249 and that is that the majority of companies on this earth today, 247 00:11:53,543 --> 00:11:57,157 they persist in having white backgrounds in PowerPoint. 248 00:11:57,157 --> 00:11:58,957 Look at that. 249 00:11:58,957 --> 00:12:00,876 Oh, it's bright, it's shiny. 250 00:12:00,876 --> 00:12:04,955 Could you tell me who has the highest contrast, me or the screen? 251 00:12:04,955 --> 00:12:06,189 Well, the screen. 252 00:12:06,189 --> 00:12:08,244 Who's usually the biggest, me or the screen? 253 00:12:08,244 --> 00:12:09,449 Well, the screen. 254 00:12:09,449 --> 00:12:13,277 So the only option I have is dress myself up in signalling colours 255 00:12:13,277 --> 00:12:14,287 (Laughter) 256 00:12:14,287 --> 00:12:18,006 and jump around on stage in order to balance that problem out, 257 00:12:18,746 --> 00:12:21,295 and that is obviously not a good corporate strategy 258 00:12:21,295 --> 00:12:23,169 in the long term, would it be? 259 00:12:23,169 --> 00:12:26,765 I think the long-term strategy is to just switch it around. 260 00:12:26,765 --> 00:12:29,450 PowerPoint is not supposed to have white backgrounds. 261 00:12:29,450 --> 00:12:31,568 If I do this, your eyes relax. 262 00:12:31,568 --> 00:12:32,758 You focus on me. 263 00:12:32,758 --> 00:12:33,977 I'm the biggest object. 264 00:12:33,977 --> 00:12:36,249 I'm the most contrast-rich object. 265 00:12:37,199 --> 00:12:38,215 I got your focus. 266 00:12:38,215 --> 00:12:39,938 Why is that important? 267 00:12:40,900 --> 00:12:45,054 It's important because I am, I always have been, 268 00:12:45,054 --> 00:12:48,011 and I always will be the presentation. 269 00:12:48,652 --> 00:12:51,065 That is my visual aid. 270 00:12:56,895 --> 00:13:01,752 Moving into the last principle, and that is objects. 271 00:13:03,336 --> 00:13:06,786 Now, this is one of the most severe principles, 272 00:13:06,786 --> 00:13:07,916 and it goes like this. 273 00:13:07,916 --> 00:13:10,010 How many objects do I have here? 274 00:13:10,010 --> 00:13:12,741 If you count them quickly, you'll see that I've got 16. 275 00:13:12,741 --> 00:13:14,987 Do you see this little beauty at the end as well 276 00:13:14,987 --> 00:13:17,400 which goes 'page 12 of 95'? 277 00:13:17,762 --> 00:13:19,039 What is that? 278 00:13:19,039 --> 00:13:20,802 Why do we do that? 279 00:13:20,802 --> 00:13:22,302 That only creates anxiety. 280 00:13:22,302 --> 00:13:26,487 If anything, you are, 'Oh my god, I can't take 83 more of those.' 281 00:13:26,487 --> 00:13:27,890 (Laughter) 282 00:13:28,390 --> 00:13:30,907 But, it can also create hope 283 00:13:31,347 --> 00:13:32,789 because imagine ... 284 00:13:33,339 --> 00:13:36,159 imagine when it's 90 out of 95. 285 00:13:36,159 --> 00:13:40,008 'Oh, I can see the lights; I can see the end of the tunnel.' 286 00:13:42,517 --> 00:13:44,741 Kidding aside, don't do that. 287 00:13:45,521 --> 00:13:47,866 Now, there are so many ideas out there 288 00:13:47,866 --> 00:13:51,258 on how many objects you're supposed to have in PowerPoint, 289 00:13:51,698 --> 00:13:54,437 and once and for all, I just want to put my foot down 290 00:13:54,437 --> 00:13:57,456 and state to you that this is the perfect amount. 291 00:13:57,456 --> 00:14:00,130 In order to do that, I want you to just feel it yourself. 292 00:14:00,130 --> 00:14:02,640 How many objects are you supposed to have? 293 00:14:02,640 --> 00:14:06,018 And we're going to do that by showing you a couple of balls. 294 00:14:06,018 --> 00:14:07,516 I'll throw up the balls. 295 00:14:07,516 --> 00:14:09,825 I want you to nod to me when you've counted them. 296 00:14:09,825 --> 00:14:12,057 Simple instruction. You with me? 297 00:14:12,447 --> 00:14:13,655 Cool, here we go. 298 00:14:13,655 --> 00:14:14,708 Boom. 299 00:14:16,789 --> 00:14:19,793 Alright, takes you about two seconds. 300 00:14:19,793 --> 00:14:21,433 Good. Well done. 301 00:14:21,433 --> 00:14:22,719 Your next set of balls. 302 00:14:22,719 --> 00:14:25,121 Count them, and nod to me when you've counted them. 303 00:14:25,121 --> 00:14:26,251 Here we go. 304 00:14:27,206 --> 00:14:28,461 Excellent. Yeah. 305 00:14:28,461 --> 00:14:30,781 That took you about 1.2 seconds if you're normal, 306 00:14:30,781 --> 00:14:33,309 which about 90% of you seem to be. 307 00:14:33,309 --> 00:14:34,469 (Laughter) 308 00:14:34,469 --> 00:14:37,139 We'll have the third set of balls, the last one. 309 00:14:37,139 --> 00:14:39,511 Look at this, nod to me when you've counted them. 310 00:14:40,285 --> 00:14:42,785 Oh, what was that? 311 00:14:43,187 --> 00:14:47,240 I just pressed the button, and you nodded simultaneously. 312 00:14:47,469 --> 00:14:51,358 That will, if you are normal, take you 0.2 seconds, 313 00:14:51,358 --> 00:14:53,201 two-tenths of a second. 314 00:14:53,201 --> 00:14:57,682 This will take you 1.2, this will take you two-tenths of a second. 315 00:14:57,682 --> 00:15:00,007 And for anyone of you who - you're good at math, 316 00:15:00,007 --> 00:15:05,005 you'll find out that that number is approximately 500% difference. 317 00:15:05,639 --> 00:15:07,873 How is that even remotely possible? 318 00:15:07,873 --> 00:15:10,481 There are only two objects in difference. 319 00:15:11,121 --> 00:15:13,548 Well, might I suggest the following: 320 00:15:13,548 --> 00:15:15,623 this one you have to count, 321 00:15:15,623 --> 00:15:17,480 and this one you see. 322 00:15:17,480 --> 00:15:19,207 Could that be correct? 323 00:15:20,037 --> 00:15:22,577 So what you've just experienced is the following: 324 00:15:22,577 --> 00:15:24,801 that the cognitive process of counting 325 00:15:24,801 --> 00:15:30,258 takes 500% longer time, requires 500% more energy resources 326 00:15:30,803 --> 00:15:34,406 to execute than just seeing. 327 00:15:36,674 --> 00:15:41,482 So, what I want you to keep in mind at all times, 328 00:15:41,962 --> 00:15:44,915 what I want you to keep in your head is this: 329 00:15:44,915 --> 00:15:45,915 [Sex] 330 00:15:45,915 --> 00:15:48,519 which is the Swedish number for this: 331 00:15:48,519 --> 00:15:49,539 [Six] 332 00:15:49,539 --> 00:15:51,185 (Laughter) 333 00:15:51,185 --> 00:15:53,718 The magical number is six. 334 00:15:53,718 --> 00:15:56,348 It's not five, it's not seven, it's six. 335 00:15:57,188 --> 00:15:59,151 And I want to make you aware of this. 336 00:15:59,151 --> 00:16:01,486 When you go into a presentation in the future, 337 00:16:01,486 --> 00:16:04,204 and you've built this amazing PowerPoint, 338 00:16:04,544 --> 00:16:08,080 if you've got more than seven objects, or seven or more objects, 339 00:16:08,080 --> 00:16:10,438 you have to be aware that all the people in there, 340 00:16:10,438 --> 00:16:13,800 they have to use 500% more energy and cognitive resources 341 00:16:13,800 --> 00:16:16,212 to understand what's in your PowerPoint. 342 00:16:16,212 --> 00:16:17,349 Now, how do you think 343 00:16:17,349 --> 00:16:19,826 their energy-saving brain by nature behaves? 344 00:16:19,826 --> 00:16:24,437 Will it go like, 'Ooh, I'll easily invest 500% more cognitive resources 345 00:16:24,437 --> 00:16:26,073 to understand this weird slide' 346 00:16:26,073 --> 00:16:27,233 or, 'I won't'? 347 00:16:28,303 --> 00:16:29,615 'I won't.' 348 00:16:29,615 --> 00:16:32,396 And you've just incurred death by PowerPoint. 349 00:16:33,906 --> 00:16:36,010 Now what does this look like in real life? 350 00:16:36,010 --> 00:16:37,929 Well, have a look at this. 351 00:16:37,929 --> 00:16:40,546 Sixteen objects - can we agree that that's too many? 352 00:16:40,546 --> 00:16:42,174 Yes, we can. 353 00:16:42,174 --> 00:16:44,946 So, what does it look like if we reduce it? 354 00:16:44,946 --> 00:16:47,269 Look at this. We go from this to this. 355 00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:51,246 And this is where your brain goes, 'Ahh'. 356 00:16:52,026 --> 00:16:54,885 And this is where your brain goes, 'Ugh'. 357 00:16:55,835 --> 00:16:57,075 Ahh. 358 00:16:57,075 --> 00:16:58,160 (Laughter) 359 00:16:58,860 --> 00:17:00,170 Ugh. 360 00:17:01,697 --> 00:17:04,506 And I assume that in the future 361 00:17:04,506 --> 00:17:10,329 when you deliver PowerPoints to your colleagues, to your fellow people, 362 00:17:10,329 --> 00:17:14,956 you want them to go, 'Ahh' 363 00:17:14,956 --> 00:17:16,742 when you show them your slides. 364 00:17:16,742 --> 00:17:20,512 You don't want them to go, 'Ugh'. 365 00:17:23,638 --> 00:17:27,199 Now, there is - have you seen this movie, 366 00:17:27,199 --> 00:17:30,225 'The Rain Man' by Dustin Hoffman? 367 00:17:30,225 --> 00:17:31,238 Seen that? 368 00:17:31,238 --> 00:17:32,595 It's a beauty, isn't it? 369 00:17:33,135 --> 00:17:35,947 He comes into this cafeteria, and somebody drops toothpicks, 370 00:17:35,947 --> 00:17:38,590 and he goes like, 'Boom, 247.' 371 00:17:38,918 --> 00:17:40,529 It's amazing, isn't it? 372 00:17:40,529 --> 00:17:42,899 His perceptive limit is here. 373 00:17:43,639 --> 00:17:45,189 Your perceptive limit 374 00:17:45,189 --> 00:17:47,441 (Laughter) 375 00:17:47,441 --> 00:17:48,731 is here. 376 00:17:50,161 --> 00:17:51,831 Now, what amazes me 377 00:17:51,831 --> 00:17:56,616 is that whichever country I go to, whichever company I see, 378 00:17:56,616 --> 00:17:58,995 it seems like they build PowerPoints 379 00:17:58,995 --> 00:18:04,981 in the hope that all their fellow colleagues are autistic or savants, 380 00:18:04,981 --> 00:18:06,266 (Laughter) 381 00:18:06,266 --> 00:18:08,923 which obviously is not the case. 382 00:18:11,411 --> 00:18:16,916 So, but then you go like this, 'But, David, my god. 383 00:18:16,920 --> 00:18:19,886 This means that I have to have more slides.' 384 00:18:20,226 --> 00:18:22,166 (Laughter) 385 00:18:23,952 --> 00:18:26,278 'Yes, that is entirely correct. 386 00:18:26,278 --> 00:18:28,608 You have understood me clearly.' 387 00:18:28,968 --> 00:18:30,683 I want to make one thing clear here, 388 00:18:30,683 --> 00:18:33,774 and that is that the amount of slides in your PowerPoint 389 00:18:33,774 --> 00:18:37,227 has never been the problem. 390 00:18:38,562 --> 00:18:44,453 It is the amount of objects per slide which has been the problem. 391 00:18:45,041 --> 00:18:46,136 The stupid idea 392 00:18:46,136 --> 00:18:48,865 that corporate organisations all over the world - 393 00:18:48,865 --> 00:18:51,187 they've come up with limitations going like, 394 00:18:51,187 --> 00:18:53,517 'Ooh, we've got this clever idea: 395 00:18:53,517 --> 00:18:55,989 You can't use 40 slides. You can only use four.' 396 00:18:55,989 --> 00:18:57,639 So what do people do? 397 00:18:57,645 --> 00:18:58,845 (Laughter) 398 00:18:58,852 --> 00:19:01,057 Well, they take the content of the rest 36, 399 00:19:01,057 --> 00:19:03,759 and they jam it in the first four. 400 00:19:03,759 --> 00:19:07,122 My god, is that counterproductive or what? 401 00:19:07,122 --> 00:19:09,675 And we call ourselves intelligent. 402 00:19:11,726 --> 00:19:12,754 No, no. 403 00:19:12,754 --> 00:19:14,708 Alright, so compared - 404 00:19:14,708 --> 00:19:19,071 I started off with 95 of those. 405 00:19:19,481 --> 00:19:22,958 We ended up with 135 of these. 406 00:19:23,503 --> 00:19:26,071 And yes, it gave an immediate result 407 00:19:26,071 --> 00:19:28,578 to the application that we were working for. 408 00:19:30,556 --> 00:19:32,683 So, to summarise this. 409 00:19:33,023 --> 00:19:35,858 Let's have some fun and do a cross-examination 410 00:19:35,858 --> 00:19:37,864 because obviously I have to prove my point. 411 00:19:37,864 --> 00:19:40,521 Do you remember more than 90% of what I said? 412 00:19:41,051 --> 00:19:42,645 I'm not going to be that harsh. 413 00:19:42,645 --> 00:19:44,588 Let's do a crossword instead. 414 00:19:45,268 --> 00:19:46,708 It's going to go like this. 415 00:19:46,708 --> 00:19:48,023 Words are going to come up. 416 00:19:48,023 --> 00:19:51,706 I'm going to ask you to scream them out as loud as you can as we go along. 417 00:19:51,817 --> 00:19:54,719 How many messages are you supposed to have per slide? 418 00:19:54,719 --> 00:19:55,764 (Audience) One. 419 00:19:55,764 --> 00:19:56,767 One. Very good. 420 00:19:56,767 --> 00:19:58,341 (Laughter) 421 00:19:58,341 --> 00:20:00,892 I think you were looking for a different word there. 422 00:20:00,892 --> 00:20:02,492 (Laughter) 423 00:20:03,012 --> 00:20:05,362 What can we use to steer our focus? 424 00:20:05,362 --> 00:20:06,366 (Audience) Contrast. 425 00:20:06,366 --> 00:20:07,378 Yes, and another one? 426 00:20:07,378 --> 00:20:08,401 (Audience) Size. 427 00:20:08,401 --> 00:20:09,424 Well done. 428 00:20:09,424 --> 00:20:12,063 What should we avoid using if speaking at the same time? 429 00:20:12,063 --> 00:20:13,066 (Audience) Sentences. 430 00:20:13,066 --> 00:20:14,079 Beautiful. 431 00:20:14,079 --> 00:20:16,420 And what kind of background should we have? 432 00:20:16,420 --> 00:20:18,408 We should have dark. 433 00:20:18,408 --> 00:20:19,936 And finally, now you can say it. 434 00:20:19,936 --> 00:20:21,886 How many objects per slide? 435 00:20:21,886 --> 00:20:24,526 Six. That is magnificent. 436 00:20:24,526 --> 00:20:25,606 Thank you very much. 437 00:20:25,606 --> 00:20:27,996 (Applause) (Cheers)