PowerPoint presentations naturally gravitate towards providing facts and information. Not all slides need to deliver facts though. Making a memorable impact is a critical presentation goal. The audience needs memory aids to retain key ideas after the presentation.
A good analogy can accomplish this goal. It's even better if there can be a touch of humor involved.
For example, Ratey (2001, p. 31) makes a key point that maintaining brain circuits is like the saying "Use it or lose it." Neurons or muscles that go unused tend to waste away. This makes a nice connection between an academic concept and a common saying.
For my class, it can be taken a step further. An important learning topic is long-term potentiation (LTP): Enhanced responding when neurons are repeatedly stimulated. The opposite is long-term depression (LTD). The sayings "practice makes perfect" and "use it or lose it" are everyday expressions of these principles. Connecting the academic concept to the familiar sayings helps to make it memorable.
A slide was made to be explicit about this point. Making ideas memorable is the aim of this slide. It's worthwhile to take time out from the delivery of facts to discuss this connection. The images might help to spark some discussion too.
Source: Ratey, J.J. (2001). A User's Guide to the Brain: Perception, Attention, and the Four Theaters of the Brain, Vintage Books, New York
Photo credit to public license images Runners Couch potatoes
