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Simplification Strategies – How
To Simplify New Concepts For Wider Audiences
Bright
innovators often can benefit from simplifying their presentations. Key is how to not overload the listener’s
brain. Reduce over loading your listener
with certain types of information. There is more to it than just weeding out
less essential information. Here’s a checklist of methods that can help reduce
the listener’s cognitive overloading.
Check List For
Simplifying Your Explanations:
Main Points:
Memory Load:
Reduce the amount of short-term memory the listener needs to use. Limit to 5-7
pieces of new info.
Chunk
Down Information: Break info into smaller bits. Creating bullets helps.
Working
Memory Overload: Give only five to
seven pieces of info at a time to minimize WM overload.
Balance
Verbal & Visual Presentation Modes:
• Include
Picture: Reduces extraneous load because multimodal presentation uses both the
visual and auditory processors of working memory
More Important Points:
Processing
Time: give time between each chunk. Instruct at listener’s pace.
Avoid Distractions:
Avoid explaining while the listener is otherwise engaged such as driving. Get
their full attention.
Coherence
effect: Peoples’ learning is hindered when extraneous sound, pictures, and words
are used in teaching.
User
Interest Sweet Spot: Find the sweet spot of interest for your audience.
Aligning:
Place printed words near corresponding parts of graphics to reduce need for
visual scanning.
Synchronizing: Present narration and corresponding
animation simultaneously
Repetition
Can Overload:
• When
presenting info on a screen, better not directly narrate the on-screen text, as
this can overload listeners.
Give
Context: Teach about basics behind the subject matter.
• Example:
Attorneys can teach jurors about the relevant law before they hear about the
facts of the court case. Then jurors will be in a deliberative mindset; which helps
jurors consider many different possibilities, instead of trying to fit the law
into the story they already created about the court case. Such a deliberative
mindset will reduce jurors’ cognitive load and free up their cognitive
resources. Jurors can better focus on learning the law, then next apply that
law to the facts they see in the trial.
Listeners
That Are Upset: Have less cognitive space for taking in new information.
Listeners upset at the speaker may also have more bias.
Animated
videos: Helps to provide the script in text form as well.
• Provide
spoken text in written form.
Engage
Listeners:
• Having
them practice what they learned helps them understand and remember. Answering
questions often helps but limit the scope of the questions to avoid cognitive
overload.
• Student
to self explain what they learned. Listeners to take notes.
Integrate
The Information:
• This
helps eliminate the need for learners to have to mentally integrate that
information which increases the load on working memory.
Listener
To Be Free Of Goals: Explain first without giving the goal. Listeners are using
more cognitive load by simultaneously thinking about the goal and the
explanation. Goal state of mind comes later.
• People’s
motivations and goals influence how they perceive, attend to, and interpret
information.
• Requesting
a specific performance goal places too much cognitive demand and distracts
attention from knowledge acquisition.
• If
problems are “goal free” ie “find what you can”, then a problem solver has
little option but to focus on the information provided (the given data) and to
use it where ever possible. This automatically induces a forwards working
solution path similar to those generated by expert problem solvers. Such
forward working solutions impose very low levels of cognitive load and
facilitate learning.
Give
Worked Out Examples:
• Reduces
extraneous load caused by weak-method problem solving. Show how problems were
worked out.
• Provide
Partial Solutions: Reduces extraneous load because giving part of the solution
reduces the size of the problem space
• Give
examples in an alternative sequence, such as: type 1, practice type 1, example
type 2, practice type 2. This strategy is highly effective for teaching math
based content.
Limit
Information Sources: Avoid Split Attention: • Reduces extraneous load
because there is no need to mentally integrate the information sources. Reduces
cognitive load factor.
• Additional
backup can be left buried in the details section.
Free
discussion groups at Inventor’s Cooperative ™. Cognitive overloading is part of
the weekly web communications discussion and networking group’s focus. Innovation
Institute, LLC. www.Innovation-Institute.Net
Wednesdays Noon to 12:45PM located near Napa, between San Francisco and
Sacramento near highway I-80.
