The Cognitive Style of Power Point – A Summary
Eric A. Escoto
September 27, 2015
PowerPoint (PP) has largely been accepted as a tool to present many different types of
information. Unfortunately, the pitch-style typography of PP reduces or negates almost every
type of information especially in the fields of sciences. According to Tufte, the hierarchy of
information presented in each slide is indifferent to the information. He uses the Space Shuttle
Columbia tragedy to highlight some of the problems with PP. PP demands that information be
cut into small abbreviations with unordered layouts. The result when presenting abbreviated or
obtuse information is that the audience may or may not understand what is being said. This has
happened to me during many PP presentations where I was an audience member and not
familiar with the terms or information being presented. One of the biggest challenges is that
abbreviated terms were coupled to following slides in the presentation. This had the effect of
compounding the mystery of many of the overall points that were made.
Tufte suggests that scientific information be presented in well-written word processing
programs like Word. In these programs, clear and concise data may be presented to produce a
more informed audience. Tables, graphs and charts are also easily maneuverable in these
programs and presented with better clarity.
Tufte notes that audience members are usually capable of reading 300-1000 words per
minute but PP reduces almost all of the information to word counts in the tens! Information is
reduced to the point of almost having no significant scientific impact for the work that was
performed to the audience that receives the information.
Scientific data that can be modeled simply and concisely in a basic bar or pie chart is
often replaced with fluffy objects. Three dimensional models and jumbled color schemes
obscure the data being presented. Bullet points are nonsensical and follow universal formatting
that is expected to be used for an unlimited type of data.
It is difficult to imagine that the work of someone potentially over many years may be
summed up in twenty or so PP slides. But it has been done and I have only ever need to then
find the paper by the presenter in order to gain any sort of clear understanding. It is almost as
if, as Tufte suggests, PP is essentially a sales pitch method to the larger and more concise
information contained within any publications that the presenter may have.