Presenting (Teaching) to Stick

This page is a support resource for the staff development sessions “Telling Stories with Data,” “Presenting to Stick” and/or “Teaching to Stick.”

DESCRIPTION: A presentation should communicate as clearly and simply as possible. We will discuss how a little bit of brain science, a little bit of graphic design and all the things you already know about how people learn can come together to help people walk out the door remembering the main ideas of your presentation.

Session Overview

A “sticky” idea is one that people recall long after you are done talking to them. The good news is that while there is a bit of art to delivering a presentation, there is a lot more science. There are PRACTICAL strategies you can use to make your ideas stay with an audience.

“The Curse of Knowledge” is cognitive bias that leads better-informed parties to find it extremely difficult to think about problems from the perspective of lesser-informed parties.
Sticky ideas have very distinctive traits. (Success Model)
Our job as a presenter is to help the audience absorb our information.
Aim for simplicity in all facets of your presentation.
If you create a mystery people will stay with you and pay attention. Open gaps in curiosity by asking questions and not immediately answering them.
Pictures are better than words. Your cell phone likely has a camera, snap a picture or a short video.
Data is meaningless if you do not provide an appropriate scale.
Don’t create your own competition. People cannot READ and LISTEN at the same time. Use as little text as possible.
Break it up
Use Powerful Imagery
Presenting data in a “shape” does not inherently help your message. Charts are for communicating ideas, not delivering data.

Presentation Construction

There are 3 parts to a presentation.

Notes
Handout
Slides

Do your work in that order.

Tools I use:

Notes/Script: Google Doc
Handouts: Google Doc, WordPress, PDF, etc.
Slides: Google Presentation
During Presentation: Google Drive app on iPad

Resources

Books

‘Made to Stick‘ by Chip and Dan Heath
- PDF: Success Model
‘Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School‘ by John Medina
- PDF: Brain Rules References
- VIDEOS: Brain Rules Videos
- ‘Presentation Zen‘ by Garr Reynolds
‘slide:ology: the Art & Science of Creating Great Presentations‘ by Nancy Duarte
‘Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences‘ by Nancy Duarte

Gale Virtual Reference Library

eBOOK: Jensen, Eric. Teaching with the Brain in Mind, 2nd ed., Rev. and Updated. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2005. Gale Virtual Reference Library.
ARTICLE: “Visual Learning Tools—Videos and Photos.” Web 2.0: How-To for Educators. Gwen Solomon and Lynne Schrum. Washington, DC: International Society for Technology in Education, 2010. 101-116. Gale Virtual Reference Library