Effective communication centers around a single main idea. This advice holds regardless of the medium, be it written, oral, or visual.
Common advice given in basic writing courses in the U.S. is to write essays with one clear main idea.
In Gian-Carlo Rota’s (1991) reflective advice to young mathematicians, he stressed that lectures should contain only one main point that gets repeated.
Learning to visualize and narrate the data can also help you focus on the problem at hand rather than getting overwhelmed with the details Keep the number of elements in a graph to less than 4 to avoid cognitive overload Chartjunk is extra decoration on a chart that does not communicate information about the data Basic visual design principles facilitate understanding data charts Avoiding cognitive load helps the audience process the information. The more visual detail presented on the screen, the more likely your audience will experience cognitive overload and tune out Some properties can be interpreted differently for different cultures Narrative structure commonly has three parts, or acts Learning to visualize and narrate the data can also help you focus on the problem at hand rather than getting overwhelmed with the details Headers, chart titles, and slide titles should be direct and to the point Good communication should have multiple intermediate levels of detail