Friday, January 02, 2009
The Top 5 Reasons Why You Love Bullet Points
So nobody likes bullet point presentations anymore.
Really?
Horse hockey.
Then why do some of the most popular headlines today read:
Why, we read the bullet point articles!
We are seduced by this type of headline. We click on 'em. We pick up magazines with "magic number" headlines on the cover, knowing full well they will lead us to an article filled with bullet points or a numbered list!
Bullet points and numbered list presentations are particularly popular this time of year. End-of-the-year countdowns and top predictions are usually cheap and easy to produce.
And people seem hypnotized by the magnetic "magic number" headline.
Many blog readers cannot help but click on these "Top 10" type headlines when they see them on Digg or on Twitter or in their favorite blog reader. TV viewers cannot seem to resist watching cheaply produced countdown shows on cable channels that begin "The Top 100 Name-Something-Here."
After reading the article or watching the TV show with a headline that promises a bullet point presentation of information, you might feel content or vaguely satisfied. The bullet-point article didn't make you think too much. It was fun & easy to digest. Maybe it confirmed something you already knew. Or maybe you learned some concept, so that you can share your new found knowledge with others.
So why do we love bullet point articles and clip TV shows --
while claiming to hate PowerPoint bullet points?
In a 2006 Copyblogger post titled Little Known Ways to Write Fascinating Bullet Points, Brian Clark writes, "Bullet points are maligned because most people don’t know how to write them."
So why not learn the techniques behind writing compelling headlines? And why not learn to write scrumptious bullet points that are every bit as addictive as a Letterman Top 10 list?
Done well, bullet points can be effective, persuasive, and even entertaining!
So nobody likes bullet point presentations anymore.
Really?
Horse hockey.
Then why do some of the most popular headlines today read:
- "25 ways to..."
- "Ten Reasons Why..."
- "Three Secrets of..."
- "The Top 100..."
- and so forth?
Why, we read the bullet point articles!
We are seduced by this type of headline. We click on 'em. We pick up magazines with "magic number" headlines on the cover, knowing full well they will lead us to an article filled with bullet points or a numbered list!
Bullet points and numbered list presentations are particularly popular this time of year. End-of-the-year countdowns and top predictions are usually cheap and easy to produce.
And people seem hypnotized by the magnetic "magic number" headline.
Many blog readers cannot help but click on these "Top 10" type headlines when they see them on Digg or on Twitter or in their favorite blog reader. TV viewers cannot seem to resist watching cheaply produced countdown shows on cable channels that begin "The Top 100 Name-Something-Here."
After reading the article or watching the TV show with a headline that promises a bullet point presentation of information, you might feel content or vaguely satisfied. The bullet-point article didn't make you think too much. It was fun & easy to digest. Maybe it confirmed something you already knew. Or maybe you learned some concept, so that you can share your new found knowledge with others.
So why do we love bullet point articles and clip TV shows --
while claiming to hate PowerPoint bullet points?
So why not learn the techniques behind writing compelling headlines? And why not learn to write scrumptious bullet points that are every bit as addictive as a Letterman Top 10 list?
Done well, bullet points can be effective, persuasive, and even entertaining!
Happy 2009! It's the beginning of a new year! Audit yourself: how many "Bullet Point" shows and articles will you read this year? (How many have you already consumed?)
And how will you use the beloved PowerPoint bullet point to better engage and persuade your audience?
And how will you use the beloved PowerPoint bullet point to better engage and persuade your audience?
Labels: PowerPoint Presentation, Presentation
¶ 1/02/2009 04:23:00 PM
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So why do we love bullet point articles and clip TV shows --
while claiming to hate PowerPoint bullet points?"
Because one is written to cater to the web reading crowd who prefer to scan, while the other is didactic and often read to us as an audience who expects more from a speaker.
One approach, different mediums, different results.
while claiming to hate PowerPoint bullet points?"
Because one is written to cater to the web reading crowd who prefer to scan, while the other is didactic and often read to us as an audience who expects more from a speaker.
One approach, different mediums, different results.
Hi Laura
There's a big difference between written bullet points that you read yourself on your computer screen - and bullet points on a datashow screen that are accompanied by the presenter talking. Yes, we are attracted to Top 10 lists - and we'd probably enjoy a presentation that was constructed in that way too. One slide per list item would be great, or even one or two slides with all 10. But the way most people construct bullet-point presentations it's probably more like 100 bullet-points per presentation. So I don't think you can directly compare Top 10 lists with bullet-point presentations.
Olivia
There's a big difference between written bullet points that you read yourself on your computer screen - and bullet points on a datashow screen that are accompanied by the presenter talking. Yes, we are attracted to Top 10 lists - and we'd probably enjoy a presentation that was constructed in that way too. One slide per list item would be great, or even one or two slides with all 10. But the way most people construct bullet-point presentations it's probably more like 100 bullet-points per presentation. So I don't think you can directly compare Top 10 lists with bullet-point presentations.
Olivia
The reason that number-style headlines are often used in lead-generating materials like reports is that they help inspire a reader's interest. The reader wonders what the X-number points are, and how many of them they might know, which encourages them to read the piece. In essence, it creates a kind of riddle.
Here's a sample:
http://www.coremessageanalysis.com/report/
The same strategy works for article headlines and inspires click-throughs to the content.
David
Here's a sample:
http://www.coremessageanalysis.com/report/
The same strategy works for article headlines and inspires click-throughs to the content.
David
If you craft and deliver a bulleted PowerPoint presentation with respect to the best rules of chunking, exposition, narrative, and advance organizer methodologies -- it can be enormously effective and persuasive!
Of course articles are different -- we skim or read them. No conflicting auditory channel.
But as for PowerPoint & TV: we need to respect cognitive load when we use visual bullets with an auditory channel.
Watch the way TV programs use chunking, narrative, exposition, etc. when they create very popular "Top 10's" and "Countdowns" -- you can use these same techniques for your own persuasive PowerPoint presentations!
Of course articles are different -- we skim or read them. No conflicting auditory channel.
But as for PowerPoint & TV: we need to respect cognitive load when we use visual bullets with an auditory channel.
Watch the way TV programs use chunking, narrative, exposition, etc. when they create very popular "Top 10's" and "Countdowns" -- you can use these same techniques for your own persuasive PowerPoint presentations!
Being one who avoids using bullet points in a presentation at all costs, I have also tried to avoid using them in a blogging environment. Yet my last post was a top ten list and one of my more highly read blogs. (Guilty!!)
They are addictive. I think part of the attraction is the promise of getting information quickly. (in a top ## list) We have short attention spans and many of us do not want to spend hours reading to discover that one morsel of information that is new to us.
Thanks for the link to Brian's article. Good reading!
Cheers, M.J.
They are addictive. I think part of the attraction is the promise of getting information quickly. (in a top ## list) We have short attention spans and many of us do not want to spend hours reading to discover that one morsel of information that is new to us.
Thanks for the link to Brian's article. Good reading!
Cheers, M.J.
MJ - I think bullet-points are fine in the blogging context. It's a totally different environment. If you were converting your Top 10 post to a presentation - you might have each point on a separate slide - expressed as a clear and succinct assertion teemed with a memorable image. Olivia
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