Rethinking the Design

of Presentation Slides
Fillets reduce leading edge vortices in nature
and in engineering

Fillet
Fillet on dorsal fin
of shark
Michael Alley [Rader, 1997]

College of Engineering
Penn State
Fillet
Fillet on Seawolf
submarine

[Devenport et al., 1991]

[Zess and Thole, 2001]

Templates: http://writing.eng.vt.edu/slides.html

This presentation presents a slide design that is

more effective than PowerPoint’s default design
We propose to test a fillet design for turbine
blades and vanes downstream of the combustor

Combustor

Is grasped
more readily [Pratt&Whitney, 2000]

This presentation
Three compares
classes of methods several
exist for methods
reducing emissions
for reducing of sulfur
emissions dioxide
of sulfur dioxide
The purpose of the fillet design is to reduce vortices
that disrupt the film cooling of the blades and vanes

pre-combustion methods

Is more
memorable combustion
methods
Power passive modules perform the same functions
as discrete circuits but with smaller volumes
post-combustion
methods
Passive module
82 cm3

Is more
168 cm3
persuasive
Discrete Components

[Alley, 2003]
[Alley and Neeley, 2005] The total volume is cut by more than half

Alley, Michael, The Craft of Scientific Presentations (New York: Springer-Verlag, 2003), chap 4.
Alley, Michael, and Kathryn A. Neeley, "Rethinking the Design of Presentation Slides: A Case for Sentence
Headlines and Visual Evidence," Technical Communication, vol. 52, no. 4 (November 2005), pp. 417-426.
 For a slide to be effective, the audience has
to be able to grasp its content quickly

rds
• Hefner developed a dynamic electro-thermal model for IGBT, from of the
temperature-dependent IGBT silicon chip, packages and heat sinks. The temperature-

wo
dependent IGBT electrical model describes the instantaneous electrical behavior in
terms of the instantaneous temperature of the IGBT silicon chip surface. The

n y
instantaneous power dissipated in the IGBT is calculated using the electrical model
and determines the instantaneous heat rate that is applied to the surface of the silicon

a
chip thermal model. Hefner incorporated this methodology into the SABER circuit

om
simulator.
• Adams, Joshi and Blackburn considered thermal interactions between the heat

To
sources, substrate, and encloses walls as affected by the thermal conductance of the
walls and substrate with the intent of determining which physical effects and level of
detail are necessary to accurately predict thermal behavior of discretely heated
enclosures.
• Chen, Wu and Borojevich are modeling of thermal and electrical behavior using
several commercial softwares (I-DEAS, Maxwell, Flotherm and Saber) and 3-D,
transient approaches.

For a slide to be effective, the audience has

to be able to grasp its content quickly

Observations
Segment C (not on the 520 Main St. Property)
a d
represents the dominant feature
r e
e to
The characteristics of Segment C are vastly
different than those of Segments A and B (which

om
are located on the subject property)

s
The characteristics of the dominant portion of the
e
Tir
system (Segment C) are suggestive of a perennial
stream
Direct observations are needed
A detailed technical analysis is needed by a
qualified, independent hydrologist.

Alley, Michael, The Craft of Scientific Presentations (New York: Springer-Verlag, 2003), chap 4.
Alley, Michael, and Kathryn A. Neeley, "Rethinking the Design of Presentation Slides: A Case for Sentence
Headlines and Visual Evidence," Technical Communication, vol. 52, no. 4 (November 2005), pp. 417-426.
 For a slide to be effective, the audience has
to be able to grasp its content quickly
We propose to test a fillet design for turbine Sentence
blades and vanes downstream of the combustor headline
Observations
Combustor
• HefnerSegment
developed a C (notelectro-thermal
dynamic on the 520modelMain St. Property)
for IGBT, from of the
temperature-dependent
represents the IGBTdominant
silicon chip, packages
feature and heat sinks. The temperature-
dependent IGBT electrical model describes the instantaneous electrical behavior in
The
terms of characteristics
the instantaneous ofofSegment
temperature C are
the IGBT silicon vastlyThe
chip surface. Visual
instantaneous power dissipated in the IGBT is calculated using the electrical model
different than those of Segments A and B (which
and determines the instantaneous heat rate that is applied to the surface of the silicon
evidence
are located
chip thermal onincorporated
model. Hefner the subject property)
this methodology into the SABER circuit
simulator.
The characteristics of the dominant portion of the
[Pratt&Whitney, 2000]
No bullet lists
• Adams, Joshi and Blackburn considered thermal interactions between the heat
sources,system
substrate, (Segment C)asare
and encloses walls suggestive
affected ofconductance
by the thermal a perennial of the
stream
walls and substrate with the intent of determining which physical effects and level of
detail are necessary to accurately predict thermal behavior of discretely heated
purposeDirectofobservations
Theenclosures. the fillet design are needed
is to reduce vortices
that• disrupt
AWudetailed
Chen, and technical
theBorojevich
film analysis
are modeling
cooling ofofthe isandneeded
thermal
blades andby
electrical a using
behavior
vanes
several commercial softwares (I-DEAS, Maxwell, Flotherm and Saber) and 3-D,
qualified, independent hydrologist.
transient approaches.

3 [Zess and Thole, 2001]

We propose to test a fillet design for turbine

blades and vanes downstream of the combustor

Combustor

[Pratt&Whitney, 2000]

The purpose of the fillet design is to reduce vortices

that disrupt the film cooling of the blades and vanes

Alley, Michael, The Craft of Scientific Presentations (New York: Springer-Verlag, 2003), chap 4.
Zess, Gary, and Karen Thole, “Computational Design and Experimental Evaluation of Using a Leading Edge Fillet on a
Gas Turbine Vane, Proceedings of the ASME Turbo Exposition, 2001-GT-404 (New Orleans: IGTI, 5 June 2001).
 Fillets reduce leading edge vortices in nature
and in engineering

Fillet
Fillet on dorsal fin
of shark
[Rader, 1997]

Fillet
Fillet on Seawolf
submarine

[Devenport et al., 1991]

The sentence headline should state succinctly

the purpose or assertion of the slide

Sentences orient the audience Sentences force the presenter

much better than phrases do to wrestle with the argument

Computations show that the fillet prevents the

leading edge vortex and delays the passage vortex

Tinf– Taw
Tinf– Tslot
0.5
0.4
0.3
6 0.2

Alley, Michael, The Craft of Scientific Presentations (New York: Springer-Verlag, 2003), chap 4.
Zess, Gary, and Karen Thole, “Computational Design and Experimental Evaluation of Using a Leading Edge Fillet on a
Gas Turbine Vane, Proceedings of the ASME Turbo Exposition, 2001-GT-404 (New Orleans: IGTI, 5 June 2001).
 Computations show that the fillet prevents the
leading edge vortex and delays the passage vortex

Tinf– Taw
Tinf– Tslot
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
Passage 0
vortex
-0.1
Leading edge
vortex -0.2
-0.3
Without Fillet -0.4 With Fillet
-0.5

The body of a slide

Measurements show should support
that the the headline
fillet prevents
with visualof
formation evidence rather
the leading edgethan bullet lists
vortex

0.25
0.25

0.20 0.20

0.15 0.15
z/S
z/S z/S
0.10 0.10

0.05 0.05
Leading edge
vortex 00 0
-0.25 -0.20 -0.15 -0.10 -0.05 0 -0.25 -0.20 -0.15 -0.10 -0.05 0
x/C x/C

Velocity profile: Velocity profile:

vane without fillet vane with fillet

Zess, Gary, and Karen Thole, “Computational Design and Experimental Evaluation of Using a Leading Edge Fillet on a
Gas Turbine Vane, Proceedings of the ASME Turbo Exposition, 2001-GT-404 (New Orleans: IGTI, 5 June 2001).
 To make slides memorable, you have to consider
what to include and what to exclude

Presentation Outline
• Introduction
• Background
• Pre-Combustion Methods
ble
–coal switching
–coal cleaning ora
•Combustion Method
mem
t
–atmospheric fluidized bed

No
• Post-Combustion Methods
–adsorption
–absorption
•Conclusions
• Questions?

To make slides memorable, you have to consider

what to include and what to exclude

Three classes of methods

This presentation comparesexist
severalformethods
reducing emissions
for reducing of of
emissions sulfur
sulfurdioxide
dioxide
What to include

pre-combustion methods

combustion
methods
What to exclude

post-combustion
methods

9 [Schmidt, 1989]

Alley, Michael, The Craft of Scientific Presentations (New York: Springer-Verlag, 2003), chap 4.
Schmidt, Cynthia, “Methods to Reduce Sulfur Dioxide Emissions from Coal-Fired Power Plants” (Austin, Texas:
University of Texas December 1999).
 Bullets are not memorable, because bullets do
not show the connections

ƒ Accelerometer outputs an analog voltage

ƒ Hardware converts analog signal to digital

ƒ Computer samples a number of points

ƒ Data is exported to popular applications

10 [Shaw and others, 1998]

Audiences can remember more when details

are presented visually
Hardware converts
analog signal to digital
Accelerometer outputs
an output voltage

Computer samples a
number of points

Data is exported to
popular applications

11 [Robertshaw, 2004]

Robertshaw, Harry, “Class Period 15: Signals and Systems,” classroom presentation (Blacksburg, VA: ME 4005,
16 March 2004).
Shaw, Gordon, Robert Brown, and Philip Bromiley, “Strategic Stories: How 3M Is Rewriting Business Planning,”
Harvard Business Review (May–June, 1998), pp. 41–50.
 In a pilot study, we tested this new design in the
teaching slides of a large geology course

Message delivered with Students: Fall 2004 Comparison:

typical slide design Test scores on
same questions

Same message delivered

with new slide design Students: Fall 2005
[Alley et al., 2006]

When the tested assertion was in the sentence

headline, students performed significantly better

Q: How abundant is iron in the earth’s crust?

Iron ores
Where is the
makelargest
up 5.6%
concentration
of the earth’s
of iron
crustores
Iron in North
and account
America?
for 95% of the metals used
Iron Ore Distribution
• An abundant metal, makes
up 5.6% of earth’s crust Iron Ore Distribution
• Properties: Iron ore
– shaped, sharpened, welded
– strong, durable
• Accounts for >95% of
metals used
• Iron ores discovered in 1844
[www.star-bits.com]
in Michigan’s Upper
Peninsula
• Soon found other ores in Is strong Can be shaped,
upper Wisconsin and and durable sharpened, and welded
Minnesota Kesler 1994 [Kesler 1994]

Led to 59% recall Led to 77% recall

Level of significance < 0.001

13 [Alley et al., 2006]

Alley, Michael, Madeline Schreiber, Katrina Ramsdell, and John Muffo, "How the Design of Headlines in Presentation
Slides Affects Audience Retention," Technical Communication, vol. 53, no. 2 (May 2006), pp. 225-234.
 When answers resided in the sentence headlines,
students scored higher on identical test questions

Q: Percentage of world’s resources that the U.S. uses?

Although the U.S. has 5% of the world's population,

we use an average of 30% of all resources
U.S. Resource Use
• The United States uses:
– 42% of all the aluminum produced worldwide
– 31% of all the petroleum
– 29% of all the phosphate
– 27% of all the copper
– 27% of the nitrogen
– 25% of the zinc
• Approximately 30% of all resources worldwide United States use of specific resources
(percentage of worldwide use)

Led to 71% correct Led to 82% correct

p < 0.025
14 [Alley et al., 2006]

When the tested assertion was in the sentence

headline, students performed significantly better
3.5
Score (Sentence) / Score (Traditional)

Statistically significant increase

3.0 No significant difference
Statistically significant decrease
2.5

2.0

1.5

1.0

0.5

0.0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

Question [Alley et al., 2006]

Overall percent correct (traditional headline): 70% p < 0.001

Overall percent correct (sentence headline): 82%

Alley, Michael, Madeline Schreiber, Katrina Ramsdell, and John Muffo, "How the Design of Headlines in Presentation
Slides Affects Audience Retention," Technical Communication, vol. 53, no. 2 (May 2006), pp. 225-234.
 The slide design presented here is more persuasive
than PowerPoint’s default design

Power passive modules perform the same functions

as discrete circuits but with smaller volumes
Sentence headline can
clarify assertions
Passive module
82 cm3

168 cm3 Images in body can

supply cogent evidence
Discrete Components

The total volume is cut by more than half

Design leads to fewer slides,

[Toulmin, 2003]
16 which can increase ethos [Zhu, 2003]

Power passive modules perform the same functions

as discrete circuits but with smaller volumes

Passive module
82 cm3

168 cm3

Discrete Components

The total volume is cut by more than half

17

Toulmin, Stephen E., The Uses of Argument (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2003).
Zhu, Julie, “IDEAS Simulation of Thermal Stresses Between Substrate and Copper Stripes With
Different Widths, presentation (Blacksburg, VA: ECE Department, Virginia Tech, 2 May 2003).
 An argument is more persuasive if the audience
knows the claims and warrants

The research question is whether the dunlins of Claim:

Iceland and the Baltic Sea are different subspecies assertion

©Lars Erik Johannessen

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/polar.html

Warrant:
If so, because the population of the Baltic dunlins is declining, key background
it may be a threatened subspecies

[Toulmin, 2003] [Marthinsen et al., 2004]

The research question is whether the dunlins of

Iceland and the Baltic Sea are different subspecies

©Lars Erik Johannessen

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/polar.html

If so, because the population of the Baltic dunlins is declining,

22
it may be a threatened subspecies

Marthinsen, Gunnhild, Jan T. Lifjeld, and Liv Wennerberg, “Population Differentiation in Dunlins Calidris
alpina in Northern Europe” (Oslo, Norway: Zoological Museum, University of Oslo, 6 June 2004).

Toulmin, Stephen E., The Uses of Argument (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2003).
 In summary, this slide design gives a much higher
starting point than PowerPoint’s default design

Fillets reduce leading edge vortices in nature

more readily
and in engineering understood

Fillet
Fillet on dorsal fin
of shark
[Rader, 1997]
more memorable

Fillet
Fillet on Seawolf
submarine

[Devenport et al., 1991]

more persuasive
[Zess and Thole, 2001]

Templates: http://writing.eng.vt.edu/slides.html

References

Alley, Michael, The Craft of Scientific Presentations (New York: Springer-Verlag, 2003), chap 4.
Alley, Michael, and Kathryn A. Neeley, "Rethinking the Design of Presentation Slides: A Case for Sentence
Headlines and Visual Evidence," Technical Communication, vol. 52, no. 4 (November 2005), pp. 417-426.
Alley, Michael, Madeline Schreiber, Katrina Ramsdell, and John Muffo, "How the Design of Headlines in
Presentation Slides Affects Audience Retention," Technical Communication, vol. 53, no. 2 (May 2006), pp.
225-234.
Gottlieb, Larry, “How I Leaped Almost Overnight from Traditional Tech Writer to Marcom Guy to Hybrid—in
a Tad More Than Four Decades," Proceedings of the 49th Annual Conference for the Society of Technical
Communication (Nashville, TN: Society for Technical Communication, 2002).
Marthinsen, Gunnhild, Jan T. Lifjeld, and Liv Wennerberg, “Population Differentiation in Dunlins Calidris
alpina in Northern Europe” (Oslo, Norway: Zoological Museum, University of Oslo, 6 June 2004).
Robertshaw, Harry, “Class Period 15: Signals and Systems,” classroom presentation (Blacksburg, VA: ME
4005, 16 March 2004).
Schmidt, Cynthia, “Methods to Reduce Sulfur Dioxide Emissions from Coal-Fired Power Plants,” presentation
(Austin, Texas: University of Texas December 1999).
Shaw, Gordon, Robert Brown, and Philip Bromiley, “Strategic Stories: How 3M Is Rewriting Business
Planning,” Harvard Business Review (May–June, 1998), pp. 41–50.
Toulmin, Stephen E., The Uses of Argument (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2003).
Zess, Gary, and Karen Thole, “Computational Design and Experimental Evaluation of Using a Leading Edge
Fillet on a Gas Turbine Vane, Proceedings of the ASME Turbo Exposition, 2001-GT-404 (New Orleans:
IGTI, 5 June 2001).
Zhu, Julie, “IDEAS Simulation of Thermal Stresses Between Substrate and Copper Stripes with Different
Widths, presentation (Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Tech, 2 May 2003).