100 Things Every Presenter Needs to Know About People

42. Vision Trumps All the Senses

Half of the brain’s resources are dedicated to seeing and to interpreting what we see. Maybe this is why presenters spend so much time and energy working on their PowerPoint slides, often at the expense of honing the message or practicing their talk. Just because vision is so important doesn’t mean that it should be the main channel for your message. And it certainly doesn’t mean that your PowerPoint slides should take all your thought, time, and energy. In fact, people will be paying much more attention to you, the room, and the other people in the room. Visuals can enhance what you say—maybe—but they aren’t all that there is.

Because vision is so important, you actually need to minimize what you show, since ...