m62 visualcommunications, the global leader in presentation effectiveness, today urges presenters to choose the information they include in a presentation carefully, to minimise the risk of overloading their audience.

With only a certain amount of time to complete a pitch in a sales presentation, presenters can feel under pressure to include everything they wish to in order to secure the bid. However, research has shown that overloading an audience with information can have a negative effect on attention span and recall, thus meaning that a presentation with too much information can prove ineffective.

Studies have shown that working memory processes can only process a finite amount information at any one time, and that the optimum number for recall is seven plus or minus two. Any points made above this only serve to overload working memory, thus meaning that not only will the extra points fail to be remembered, but earlier points are also at risk of being forgotten.

In addition to this, the subconscious reaction to information that is difficult or impossible to process is to stop trying to understand. This means that if the audience feel overloaded, they will disengage, not only failing to remember but even failing to pay attention.

Thus, it is important for presenters to be selective when deciding what to include in a business presentation, and to prioritise only what is most vital to their message. This way, the audience will remember the key points, rather than nothing at all.

Nicholas Oulton, Founder of m62, commented: “Too many presenters make the mistake of trying to include too much in presentations, which can result in overloading the audience. This can result in the audience losing interest, and failing to remember anything from the message.

“Instead, m62 recommends choosing five key points that the presentation is to be focused upon, thus ensuring that the audience are both fully engaged and more likely to remember the message.”

m62 visualcommunications operates from offices in the UK, US and Singapore, with services ranging from slide design to PowerPoint training.

For more information about m62 visualcommunications, call +44 (0)151 259 6262 or visit m62.net.