science of fail

p cubed presentations > science of fail

Presentations in their current form fail. This failure is due to construction and delivery. They are the result of a failure to understand psychological principles.

 

Hysteron proteron

The slideument

Can you send me your presentation please?

Chicken or egg?

Hypnotised, like a chicken

 

 

 

Presentation paradox

June 15, 2025 0 Comments

The presentation paradox is ubiquitous. Audience members, if questioned, will list the nature, content and delivery of a presentation that they dislike/hate/ignore. When their turn comes to produce a presentation, these same individuals will deliver a presentation with the same…
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science of fail

Presentation is not data transfer

May 15, 2025 2 Comments

The purpose of a presentation is not data transfer. If you believe as though it is, you will be disappointed. This fact should change how presentations are constructed, delivered, and received. Data transfer simply does not work; we cannot broadcast…
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science of fail

Data download complete

March 12, 2025 0 Comments

The perception that presentations should deliver large quantities of data downloaded by the audience is deeply ingrained in both lecturers and recipients. This is driven by institutional expectations, (perceived) academic norms, and misconceptions about learning effectiveness. It does not happen….
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science of fail

Your powerpoint is not the presentation

August 4, 2021 0 Comments

hugely complex slide with diagram and data graph supported by massive amount of unreadable text

Your PowerPoint is not the presentation. If you believe that it is, then you have entirely missed the point of every single presentation you have ever “delivered” or “received”. You are not alone in this erroneous belief but you are…
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science of fail

One more time…

July 26, 2021 0 Comments

one more time...

One more time… please stop using bullet points and text in presentations. Ask any audience member what they hate most about presentations and you will receive the same answer. There is an overwhelming volume of research data on why text…
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science of fail

Tell me why

November 12, 2020 0 Comments

tell me why

Tell me why people believe that reading out huge lists of facts to a passive audience is effective communication? Tell me why we put huge lists of facts on our slides? Tell me why, when we present, we look at…
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science of fail

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What is wrong with presentations?

April 22, 2019 0 Comments

What is wrong with presentations? Presentations as they are currently delivered, fail. There is little debate on the matter. Empirical research in communication suffers from many confounding factors and becomes almost impossible to generalise. Reflection highlights, embarrassingly, the fact though…
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science of fail

Bloom’s taxonomy

October 6, 2018 0 Comments

Bloom’s taxonomy

Bloom’s taxonomy is a classification of thinking, moving though six layers of complexity frequently described as a staircase from lower to higher ordered thinking. Initially proposed in 1954 and revised in 2001 it offers a framework to consider teaching and…
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science of fail

Listening is not learning

April 23, 2018 3 Comments

listening is not learning

Listening is not learning. The impact of The Matrix thought that reading is not teaching recently struck me as having an important and essential corollary; listening is not learning. This has clear implications for the presenter in their construction of…
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science of fail

information is not knowledge

April 12, 2018 0 Comments

information is not knowledge

Information is not knowledge. Sitting in a library does not make you clever. Pouring water over your head does not satisfy a thirst. Reading out a ton of information in a presentation does not make the audience cleverer. It may…
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science of fail