The Presentation Lab — Stop Losing the Room
4
The Presentation Lab

Four tools.
One great
presentation.

Use them in order, or jump straight to the one you need. Each one does a specific job — together, they do all of it.

Built on
30 years in
the room.

Three decades of teaching, designing, and studying what actually works — distilled into a course that grounds you in the theory and then puts the tools straight in your hands.

Cognitive load is the enemy of memory.

When you overload a slide — too many points, too much text, too many ideas — the working memory fills up and nothing sticks. The brain doesn't process overflow. It discards it.

Module 1.4 — Visual overload
Memory isn't random. It's completely predictable.

People reliably remember what comes first, what comes last, and what gets repeated. That's not a theory — it's a pattern that holds across virtually every audience. Once you know it, you design your presentation completely differently than you'd write a paper or a report.

Module 1.2 — How memory works
Structure isn't just tidy. It's how memory works.

The brain organises information into schemas — patterns it already knows. If your presentation has a clear shape, the brain files it. If it doesn't, the brain drops it.

Module 1.3 — Organisation and recall
The eye and the ear fight each other.

When people read text on a slide, they stop listening. The brain can't process the same information in two different channels simultaneously. Most slides sabotage the presenter speaking them.

Module 1.4 — The redundancy effect

Four tools.
One great presentation.

Use them in order for a complete build — or jump to whichever stage you're at. Hover over each to see it in action.

01 — Pages Calculator
How long
should this be?
Enter your speaking time and get a solid estimate of how many pages your presentation needs. Reduce the guesswork. Stop the overload.
12 pages
02 — Objective Framer
What are you
really trying to say?
Write one clear sentence that defines what your audience should think, feel, or do differently. Everything else follows from this.
Bytheend,my audiencewill
understandwhythismatters
andactonit.
03 — First Draft Space
Get it out of
your head first.
A low-pressure workspace to dump everything before you worry about order, logic, or slides. Messy is the point — then it tidies itself into structure.
Opening
Context
Detail
Close
04 — Design Studio
Make it look
like you want it.
Design your presentation and watch your slides take shape as you work — in a template built to keep them disciplined, focused, and free of text overload.
Your content
Your slide
Join The Lab

Your next presentation
could be easier
to design and deliver.

The course, the experiments, and all four tools — ready to use on your
next presentation, and every one after that.

Start the Course Now  →

Opens in Rise 360  ·  Works on any device  ·  Self-paced

© 2026 The Presentation Lab. All rights reserved.

Hosted in Rise 360  ·  Access via membership

The Presentation Lab — Stop Losing the Room
4
The Presentation Lab

Four tools.
One great
presentation.

Use them in order, or jump straight to the one you need. Each one does a specific job — together, they do all of it.

Join The Lab  →
Scroll to explore

Built on
30 years in
the room.

Three decades of teaching, designing, and studying what actually works — distilled into a course that grounds you in the theory and then puts the tools straight in your hands.

Cognitive load is the enemy of memory.

When you overload a slide — too many points, too much text, too many ideas — the working memory fills up and nothing sticks. The brain doesn't process overflow. It discards it.

Module 1.4 — Visual overload
Memory isn't random. It's completely predictable.

People reliably remember what comes first, what comes last, and what gets repeated. That's not a theory — it's a pattern that holds across virtually every audience. Once you know it, you design your presentation completely differently than you'd write a paper or a report.

Module 1.2 — How memory works
Structure isn't just tidy. It's how memory works.

The brain organises information into schemas — patterns it already knows. If your presentation has a clear shape, the brain files it. If it doesn't, the brain drops it.

Module 1.3 — Organisation and recall
The eye and the ear fight each other.

When people read text on a slide, they stop listening. The brain can't process the same information in two different channels simultaneously. Most slides sabotage the presenter speaking them.

Module 1.4 — The redundancy effect

Four tools.
One great presentation.

Use them in order for a complete build — or jump to whichever stage you're at. Hover over each to see it in action.

01 — Pages Calculator
How long
should this be?
Enter your speaking time and get a solid estimate of how many pages your presentation needs. Reduce the guesswork. Stop the overload.
12 pages
02 — Objective Framer
What are you
really trying to say?
Write one clear sentence that defines what your audience should think, feel, or do differently. Everything else follows from this.
Bytheend,my audiencewill
understandwhythismatters
andactonit.
03 — First Draft Space
Get it out of
your head first.
A low-pressure workspace to dump everything before you worry about order, logic, or slides. Messy is the point — then it tidies itself into structure.
Opening
Context
Detail
Close
04 — Design Studio
Make it look
like you want it.
Design your presentation and watch your slides take shape as you work — in a template built to keep them disciplined, focused, and free of text overload.
Your content
Your slide
Join The Lab

Your next presentation
could be easier
to design and deliver.

The course, the experiments, and all four tools — ready to use on your
next presentation, and every one after that.

Start the Course Now  →

Opens in Rise 360  ·  Works on any device  ·  Self-paced

© 2026 The Presentation Lab. All rights reserved.

Hosted in Rise 360  ·  Access via membership