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Remembering narrative story vs bullet points? (self.askscience)
submitted 3d ago by PHealthy
I recently came across this blog: https://ethos3.com/focus-on-the-narrative-not-the-bullets/
"In fact, studies have shown that only 10-15% of an audience will recall specific bullet points just 5 minutes after a presentation; but they’ll recall 80% of the story-based, narrative elements—especially when those elements are visually supported through pictures or graphics."
I can't seem to find anything that corroborates that sentence. Is this true?
"In fact, studies have shown that only 10-15% of an audience will recall specific bullet points just 5 minutes after a presentation; but they’ll recall 80% of the story-based, narrative elements—especially when those elements are visually supported through pictures or graphics."
I can't seem to find anything that corroborates that sentence. Is this true?
0oSlytho0 4 points 3d ago
I've no evidence of this so take this as a grain of salt.
I'd only use bullet points for company presentations (biopharma here) for listing advantages why your research is important at the start and for conclusions at the end. Never more than 2 sets of 3-5 points in ~7 words each. It should be concise and free of clutter.
In academia I see a lot of people using too many words on slides. Most go from a clear intro (narrative) with images and then dive into the science and show graphs or tables and/or text without a narrative, or even a logical link to the intro at all.
If you shape your presentation like a story, your initial results, setbacks, and new results can be depicted in graphs most of the time without bullet points and with very few words on a slide at all. Keep the depicted data as minimalistic as possible.
The audience can listen to your story and see the evidence at a glance, they need not interpret/read much from the slides except what you want them to see.
They should keep their attention on you. A slideshow is not a handheld for the presenter. It's a tool to show your audience something extra to back up your story.
I'd only use bullet points for company presentations (biopharma here) for listing advantages why your research is important at the start and for conclusions at the end. Never more than 2 sets of 3-5 points in ~7 words each. It should be concise and free of clutter.
In academia I see a lot of people using too many words on slides. Most go from a clear intro (narrative) with images and then dive into the science and show graphs or tables and/or text without a narrative, or even a logical link to the intro at all.
If you shape your presentation like a story, your initial results, setbacks, and new results can be depicted in graphs most of the time without bullet points and with very few words on a slide at all. Keep the depicted data as minimalistic as possible.
The audience can listen to your story and see the evidence at a glance, they need not interpret/read much from the slides except what you want them to see.
They should keep their attention on you. A slideshow is not a handheld for the presenter. It's a tool to show your audience something extra to back up your story.
Regular_Independent8 2 points 3d ago
I am personally not aware of some good scientific studies on this particular subject (other people will certainly chime in).
But here some points related to your question:
The memory works like a notepad with words/ sentences and images.
So if the presentation has words/sentences and images which are significantly related, the person will likely be remembering in a better way than only words/sentences (or only images).
A “story” in the presentation of course increase the assimilation of the content (like some mnemonic strategies). And it makes sure that the content of the presentation “makes sense”.
A comparison with bullet point presentation is depending on many factors like how many bullet points, how long, complicated they are. Etc….
But here some points related to your question:
The memory works like a notepad with words/ sentences and images.
So if the presentation has words/sentences and images which are significantly related, the person will likely be remembering in a better way than only words/sentences (or only images).
A “story” in the presentation of course increase the assimilation of the content (like some mnemonic strategies). And it makes sure that the content of the presentation “makes sense”.
A comparison with bullet point presentation is depending on many factors like how many bullet points, how long, complicated they are. Etc….
________________me 1 points 3d ago
It probably depends on the subject, but I find storytelling mostly confusing. Same with metaphors. It will certainly help you to remember and reproduce the story told, but also only that. The superficial layer, not the actual thing to be transferred. I understand that people love the concept because we have been telling stories for centuries. I feel like it's just not the method for these complex times anymore.
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