they Snooze, you Lose: Chapter 7

Synopsis: Chapter 7: Starting with images
            In this chapter Dr. Burmark explains and gives strategies on how to implement images in presentations.
            According to Dr. Burmark we have to set the stage or mood for our presentation. Without a good introduction to lure our audience into our presentation, it’s going to be a waste of time to continue if they believe it’s not worth their time to pay attention.
            Throughout this chapter Dr. Burmark gives plenty of tips on how to implement images in a presentations. A tip that I learned from this chapter is that first impressions are everything. So your title slide is the slide seen the longest, so with title slide you have to capture the audience’s attention.
            As the old say goes “A picture is worth a thousand words”, it’s very true because with a single picture you can learn a lot from the objects that are present. This is supported by 3M corporation, Dr. Burmark states, “we process visuals 60,000 times faster than text” (Burmark, 2011). Dr. Burmark also states, “Retention and recall are boosted 42 percent and transfer a whopping 89 percent with illustrated texts” (Burmark, 2011).
            Another important tips Dr. Burmark discusses are focusing on the essentials. To implement this strategy we have to limit the amount of text we put on each slide, and focus on key points by reducing text on a slide.  A way to implement this in your presentation, you have to focus on key words you want to use and highlight them in red. Next you take away all the other text and add an image to the slide. After awhile of implementing this strategy, all your future presentation will be mostly presented with images and no text. After practice the image will become the focal point of your presentation as you discuss your content.
            Color is very important, its an attention getter, tells you where to stare, and enhances learning. Dr. Burmark makes important key factors regarding color in presentations, she states “Color visuals increase willingness to read by up to 80 percent, using color can increase motivation and participation by up to 80 percent, and color enhances learning and improves retention by more than 75 percent” (Burmark, 2011). After reading this section I learned that color is important in everyday life, its part of learning and retaining information, I’m going to implement more color in my future presentations, and in my classroom.