I’ve never been a fan of plain jane bulleted PowerPoint presentations. Text bullet points which are read aloud seem like they are really for the speakers benefit and do nothing to help the audience. Instead the speaker should keep bullet points where they belong - on note cards. Instead they should offer the audience additional information on the screen not the same exact information.

Now there is research which suggests that not only is this method an ineffective tool to communicate information, it may actually cause the audience to learn less from what you are saying.

Researchers in Australia have found that when the same information is presented verbally AND visually at the same time, it causes a mental overload which keeps us from learning as much as from one source alone. Instead the researchers favor speaking to information presented on screen not reading it verbatim. Some examples of more effective communication would be showing a graph or photo which inform a particular point you are making.

Sydney Morning Herald article

Professor John Sweller’s Research at the University of New South Wales