- To decide what’s too much or too little, one must know about a general nature of the message. Depending on what the point is, specific information will be either: necessary or extraneous. 
- When trying to understand information, people (mainly unconsciously) organize it into a narrative. Defining the topic and presenting a roadmap at the outset facilitates this process. 
- Graphics, audio, and videos can provide detail to illustrate relevant concept clearly. Although, oftentimes, pictures can end up being ambiguous, and labels can clarify them.

The Principle of Relevance’s Corollaries

The P.R. states that communication is done most effectively when neither too much, nor too little information is presented. It entails the search for a balance of the two. 

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Task analysis leads us to posit a third class of relevant processes. Encoding information and integrating it appropriately wouldn’t be useful if the meaning of the material wasn’t understood. In order to create meaning from the stimuli, it must be compared to previously stored information in the long-term memory. Through retrieval, we can comprehend the imported information. The follow three principles address accessing long-term memory, and relevant stored information: Appropriate Knowledge, Compatibility, and Relevance.

Accessing Long-Term Memory

Kosslyn, S. M., Kievit, R. A., Russell, A. G., & Shephard, J. M. (2012, July 17). PowerPoint® Presentation Flaws and failures: A psychological analysis. Frontiers. Retrieved September 22, 2022, from https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00230/full 

PowerPoint® Presentation Flaws and Failures: A Psychological Analysis

The P.A.K. states that communication requires prior knowledge of relevant concepts, jargon, and symbols. If a presenter relies on terminology that the audience isn’t familiar with, the audience will fail to understand and retain information. 

The Principle of Appropriate Knowledge 

The P.C. states that a message is easiest to understand if its form is compatible with its meaning. This principle is most commonly seen through the “Stroop Effect”. 

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