To compare the effectiveness of different kinds of presentations, Zakary Tormala from Stanford set up this experiment:
“The audio portion was the same for all versions, but some people saw a standard PowerPoint presentation, with bullet points and stock photography. Others heard the same message in the so-called “Zen” condition: a popular PowerPoint technique involving one big metaphorical image per slide with just a few words.Others heard the message accompanied by “whiteboard visuals,” defined as pictures that “an average human being could draw with a whiteboard marker,” says Tim Riesterer, Corporate Visions’ chief strategy and marketing officer.After, participants were tested on how much they recalled and, in some versions of the experiment, whether they’d be likely to share the information with someone else.
In all cases, the whiteboard visuals won, hands down.”
