The problem with many presentations is that we are given only two levels of information – the slide headlines and the bullet-pointed text – as illustrated below.
However, the actual structure of content is usually much more sophisticated – as Fig 2 below gives some idea of – with topics, sub-topics and sub-sub-topics.
In order to fully understand all the information being conveyed, listeners to a presentation have to construct Fig 2 for themselves from the information presented in Fig 1- and doing this at the same time as taking in all the content being given to them.
And that’s a tall order for almost everyone.
The end result of this is serious. People who can’t or don’t extract the real structure for themselves end up feeling more confused and pick up less information.
Lessons for You
Firstly, it’s important to be clear about the structure of the information you provide whatever format you use. Hopefully you’re clear about the structure of your material; but you also need to convey your understanding to everyone else.
You do this by clearly describing the structure of your information and how all the different topics relate to each other.
Whether you’re writing a book, an ebook or a manual or giving a presentation, you can start with a diagram showing the structure in graphic format and then explain from time to time where you are in the structure so you give everyone their bearings.
Another way to do this is to explain the structure using a mind map.
Your ability to help people get results is dependent on people being able to understand your ideas quickly and easily. The more confused you make them, the less successful they are going to be.