Living large: "Takahashi Method" uses king-sized text as a visual

In the Japanese language Nikkei newspaper yesterday I stumbled upon an interesting article featuring stories on people who have started small grassroots movements — however unintentional — by doing something in a unique way. One such person is Mr. Masayoshi Takahashi who has gotten a lot of people interested in his unique way of presenting, now labeled the "Takahashi Method."

Takahashi uses only text in his slides. But not just any text — really big text. Huge text. Characters of impressive proportion which rarely number more than ten, usually fewer. The goal, he says, is to use short words rather than long, complicated words and phrases. Last year Takahashi gave a presentation at a conference using the method or style that he created. People were deeply impressed by his presentation — not the content, but his slides. Over the past year, blogs across Japan have been buzzing about Takahashi and his presentation style and people began calling it the "Takahashi Method."

Why this method?
About four years ago Takahashi had to give a 5-minute presentation at a conference. He wanted a way to get his message clear and powerful in such a short time and found that his method was excellent for having people understand and remember his presentation.

Takahashi is a computer programmer who did not have software like PowerPoint (the slide above says "I don't have PowerPoint"). He says he did not have access to photos or drawing programs either. So he was stuck with text. Still, he wanted to be different. He wanted to be effective. So he started thinking very hard about how to use the best word for each slide as he took the audience through his presentation. The words or phrases resemble Japanese newspaper headlines rather than sentences which must be read. His slides, though they are all text, are visual, visual in the sense that (if you read Japanese) they are instantly understood and support his talk. As he says, if you have bullets or sentences, the audience will read those and may miss what you are saying.

Is the method applicable?
I really like aspects of Takahashi's approach (in terms of slides). Takahashi says that the method is really designed for people who are not good at presentations and who are quite nervous about the idea of presenting. This method, then, is easy to do, helps the presenter get organized during planning and keeps the presenter on track while presenting. The method provides clear visual support for the audience and helps make the content more memorable. While it may not be a perfect method or applicable in all situations, it is still far better than the method used by most business people in Japan. Most slide presentations in Japan consists of boring reams of bulleted text (used later or simultaneously as "handouts") which many people can not read since the text on screen is too small (though that rarely keeps people from trying to read the slides anyway).

The slides used in my presentations are usually a mix of full-screen, high-quality photos, some charts/graphs, and slides with single words, short phrases, or short quotations. The idea of using very, very large type on screen is a good one. And though I think photos and graphics can be most effective, when we do use text on a slide, we would be well advised to keep it large and concise.

You can see all the slides here used by Takahashi in his recent presentation on "The Takahashi Method." The sample slides I feature below were taken from his presentation slides available on-line. In Photoshop I added a background screen to give the slides context.

     
(Left) "The Takahashi Method" title slide. (Right) "Huge characters" — He stresses using large letters on slides.

     
(Left) "Easy to see." He states that small text is impossible for people in the back to see, so keep it "big." (Right) "History." Takahashi begins to talk about the background of his method.

     
(Left) "Four" main points he'd like to discuss. (Right) The "first" point is....

Comments

[polarizer]

Interesting. And the handout is to read with ease, even from some distance.

polarizer

[Marc-Oliver Teschke]

Well, I will see how that method works on Monday.

[ALGIS]

algis

[OuttaNames999]

Communications theory says the more senses in use, the greater the comprehension. McLuhan - see Verbi-Voci-Visual Explorations - says you create impact be creating an unexpected juxtiposition of sensory input - what you see is not the same as what you hear.

Some people prefer to receive information visually, some audibly. If you're visual, you may be left wanting more from Takahasi slides. While you may be able to appreciate them as works of art, you might not remember what he said. The audibles will hear every word, undistracted by the simple visuals.

[laurene]

i think that this looks really interesting and i wonder from just briefly skimming - whether there is a difference in the impact through the use of kanji. one character is much more than a letter or a word. even when he uses other scripts - the intensity of the form and the abstraction to the non-japanense reader, opens up interesting thoughts.

i have always thought less is more with powerpoint

i kind of think of them as whiteboards - what are the prompts i would write or use to help capture and focus the conversation.

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[Arnaud ZIEBA]

great intro to the Takahashi Method that's I've just discovered plus the software to use it effectively
I shall give it a shot for lectures :-)

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i think that this looks really interesting and i wonder from just briefly skimming - whether there is a difference in the impact through the use of kanji. one character is much more than a letter or a word. even when he uses other scripts - the intensity of the form and the abstraction to the non-japanense reader, opens up interesting thoughts.

[online apri]

Lessig Style Presentation의 가장 대표적인 예는 Identity 2.0이란 주제로 Dick Hardt가 OSCON 2005 Keynote Speech로 한 Presentation이다. 그는 15분동안 수백장의 slide를 사용했다. 각 slide는 Takahashi Method 처럼 한 두 단어나 짧은 quote, 이미지 등으로 만들어졌다. 대부분의 slide는 수 초동안만 보여졌다.

[hikaye]

The question I have about photography and the "Golden Mean" is this...Do photographers conciously look for these patterns, or are they just taking pretty shots?

[Virtual girl]

Thanks, interesting

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[Elia]

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[how to grow taller]

one character is much more than a letter or a word. even when he uses other scripts - the intensity of the form and the abstraction to the non-japanense reader, opens up interesting thoughts.

[how to grow taller]

Great innovate idea! i think that this looks really interesting and i wonder from just briefly skimming

[regcure review]

one character is much more than a letter or a word. even when he uses other scripts - the intensity of the form and the abstraction to the non-japanense reader, opens up interesting thoughts.

[grow taller]

think that this looks really interesting and i wonder from just briefly skimming - whether there is a difference in the impact through the use of kanji. one character is much more than a letter or a word. even when he uses other scripts - the intensity of the form and the abstraction to the non-japanense reader, opens up interesting thoughts.

[Hermes Handbags]

think that this looks really interesting and i wonder from just briefly skimming - whether there is a difference in the impact through the use of kanji. one character is much more than a letter or a word. even when he uses other scripts - the intensity of the form and the abstraction to the non-japanense reader, opens up interesting thoughts.

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Some useful links on slideware presentations, from Business Bricks, including one to an explanation of the Takahashi Method. I wish more Japanese presentations used this.

[Resveratrol Supplements]

Indeed, whether there is a difference in the impact through the use of kanji. one character is much more than a letter or a word

[Data entry jobs]

how to make visual for www.thinkingwork.com

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its a good info for me
nice post thanks

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[Laptop Lap Desk]

Wow this was interesting.

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One of the lecturers on my course at university showed page after page of typewritten text,worst feeling and seeing the number of slides counter ticking up...

[poker blog]

In japan the Nikkie newspaper released an article yesterday. The article contains the stories of the grassroots movements. The story is very interesting.

[used computers]

The method provides clear visual support for the audience and helps make the content more memorable. The idea of using very, very large type on screen is a good one. And though I think photos and graphics can be most effective, when we do use text on a slide, we would be well advised to keep it large and concise.

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[Póló]

Straight common sense.

Next stage is no Powerpoint but that can take courage in some environments.

[stateggamer]

This is still very interesting

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i like this part of the post:"In the Japanese language Nikkei newspaper yesterday I stumbled upon an interesting article featuring stories" is very good

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It's look very interesting.

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Powerpoint but that can take courage in some environments

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[full truth about abs]

The idea of using very, very large type on screen is a good one. And though I think photos and graphics can be most effective, when we do use text on a slide, we would be well advised to keep it large and concise.

[taller 4 idiots]

One of the lecturers on my course at university showed page after page of typewritten text,worst feeling and seeing the number of slides counter ticking up...