A picture is worth 1,000 words - and 65% better retention

We’ve been standing on a soapbox for years telling the trainers of the world that people learn better through visual than written or spoken word, and that PowerPoint is a communication medium, not the communication itself. Here are some interesting factoids from a recent Forbes column which bolster our position:

According to a SlideRocket survey, the top frustration that people have with PowerPoint is “too much text.” It’s easy to see why. The average PowerPoint has 40 words on one slide. Yet the most memorable presentations have fewer than 40 words on ten slides Images and photographs work because of a concept psychologists call picture superiority. If I deliver information verbally, you’ll remember about 10% of what I tell you. If that same information is delivered with a picture, you’re likely to remember 65% of the information