Visual Abstract-Saying More With Less.

Source: Mike Edmond- HAI Controversies Blog

Why do we habitually pack so much information in dense power point slides or poorly designed posters? The end result is often challenging to follow and even more difficult to retain.

During our weekly staff meeting, we recently discussed the pitfalls of power point as outlined by Edward Tufte in Beautiful Evidence . We also discussed strategies for optimizing presentations as championed by Chip and Dan and Heath in Made to Stick.

In our profession the visual abstract is the way to go. Simply, a visual abstract is a visual summary of the information contained within an abstract with particular attention to the key findings. An excellent example, by my friend and colleague Mike Edmond, is embedded in this blog. Note: the findings are neatly summarized and succinctly explained.

For a cool listing of visual abstracts check out this twitter link #visualabstract.

Here  is a informative primer on visual abstracts for the uninitiated.

I strongly feel that scientific presentations should be analytical, concise, simple yet granular and most importantly, persuasive.