We’ve all suffered through it at some point in our lives –a presentation design overloaded with text, bullet points, and extraneous data. Every slide turns into a slowly-ticking hour hand, taking countless minutes of our precious time. We all know that dull, text-saturated presentations are huge pitfalls for a company, but now we’ve got proof that excellent presentation design can actually increase attention, improve cognition, and help drive your point home. Here are a few cold hard facts that show how (and why) effective presentation design makes a difference:

1. We found that moving animation enhances product recall, perceived product values in terms of the hedonic and utilitarian dimensions, and attitude toward products that are high on the hedonic dimension,” says Yee-Lin Lai Kuan in The Effects of Moving Animation on Recal, Hedonic and Utiliatrian Perceptions and Attitude.
2. According to Judy Meyers’ “The Color of Learning” in the AP Science Database, colors aid in the process of remembering.  Color also encourages specific feelings and have particular associations.  Yellow, for example, is associated with youth.
3. Graphics make apparent the things that would take much longer to discern from heavy text or sprawling spreadsheets.
4. Based on a claim made by the U.S Department of Labor OSHA Office of Training and Education, “…retention of information three days after a meeting or other event is six times greater when information is presented by visual and oral means than when the information is presented by the spoken word alone.”
5. Animations can either augment or distract, but the difference is in how the animation is executed.  Research shows that relevant stimuli that highlight points of influence are effective, while haphazard visuals tend to create equally disorganized memories in the mind.  Long story short, animation is good, but it must be integrated strategically.