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From realistic examples to story-based knowledge checks to branching scenarios, I’m always looking for opportunities to thoughtfully incorporate storytelling in learning experience design. To learn why, you can read my blog post on the ELB Learning website: Harnessing the Power of Storytelling for Effective Learning.

This post was originally written for the ePath Learning website.

Microsoft PowerPoint is a quick and relatively easy tool for building eLearning presentations. But are PowerPoint courses really effective? They can be, if you take the time to step back and consider them from a learner’s perspective.

Let’s consider what happens when you learn something for the first time. Imagine that you’re learning a new language. You will probably start with some basic building blocks (common phrases, basic vocabulary, letters, and numbers). You won’t remember everything right away—but the next time you hear the language, you may recognize a few keywords. The more you study and practice, the more you’ll remember. This gradual learning process reflects how our brain filters and stores new information.

So how does that apply to a PowerPoint course? In order to maximize long-term memory, a well-designed course should help learners identify, store and practice key information. With that in mind, here are some questions to ask yourself to improve your PowerPoint (or any eLearning) course.

Is all of the content necessary? When you have the learner’s attention, it can be tempting to add as many details or tips as you can. But the human brain can only process seven (plus or minus two) items at a time (Miller’s Law).

• Define goals up front, and make sure that the course content is directly tied to them. Remove anything that is not critical to achieving your goals.
• Break longer content into multiple pages or interactions.
• If a course is very long, consider a microlearning approach, job aids or even a follow-on course.

Is the content well-organized? When learners review a course, they are often focused on one screen at a time. They need help connecting everything together. You can help by directing their attention, and carefully organizing and structuring the content.

• Guide learners on a journey from the beginning (here’s what you’re going to learn), through the middle (here’s how this relates to what we learned earlier), to the end (here’s how everything ties together).
• Use advance organizers or graphic menus to visually organize and structure content.

Is the information relevant? Adult learners are more likely to identify content as “important” if it seems relevant and meaningful to them.

• Use language that is appropriate to your learners’ jobs or roles.
• Add real-life examples, anecdotes or scenarios.
• Include familiar images and photographs.

Are your screens balanced?  Even after you’ve streamlined and structured the content, some of your screens might be text-heavy. This makes it difficult for learners to identify key points, and they may feel overwhelmed by the amount of content they need to review.

• Use bold judiciously, to clearly identify key points.
• Consider adding tables, headings, graphics or bulleted lists to organize content and increase white space.
• Move some content into pop-up text interactions to increase engagement and allow learners to build knowledge incrementally.

Is there an opportunity to practice? Practice is key to long-term retention. Consider adding opportunities for students to test out what they have learned.

• Embed a few reflection exercises or knowledge check questions throughout the course.
• If you use a learning management system (LMS), you can add quizzes, homework assignments or on-the-job activities for learners to complete when they finish the course.
• Use another eLearning development tool (such as Articulate Storyline) to build an interactive scenario, game or practice exercise that engages learners to apply the concepts they learned in your PowerPoint course.