interactive presentation is

“ Information is static; stories are dynamic — they help an audience visualize what you do or what you believe. Tell a story, and people will be more engaged and receptive to the ideas you are communicating. “

With a compelling story, a presenter can easily arouse the audience’s emotions and vivid imagination, which certainly helps them understand and memorize the message.

Benefit #2: Interactive presentations boost the audience’s engagement and increase their attention span

An effective presentation is a two-way process ― it communicates a message that engages listeners, so both sides should be involved.

To achieve so, successful presenters leverage interactive elements and include stories in the presentation content to:

Furthermore, researchers are confident that storytelling is the best engagement tool.

Based on neuroscience evidence , people react differently to descriptive and non-descriptive information.

Namely, descriptive information presented in story frameworks engages with the whole brain — it triggers the sensory cortex, which is responsible for perceiving sensory experience.

On the other hand, non-descriptive information activates the part of the brain that is responsible for language processing. Thus, we simply process non-descriptive information but do not experience it.

Furthermore, keeping your audience engaged is an effective way for holding their attention.

Benefit #3: Interactive presentations help the audience understand and retain the content better

When building a presentation, we should keep in mind our primary goal — to get the point across.

Thus, we need to ensure that listeners understand and memorize the content. To accomplish that, making an interactive presentation is a key step.

As we previously mentioned, conceptualizing the topic in the form of a story is a far more effective way to present information, than relying on raw data.

According to the Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning article :

“ Storytelling helps with learning because stories are easy to remember. Organizational psychologist Peg Neuhauser found that learning that stems from a well-told story is remembered more accurately, and for far longer, than learning derived from facts and figures. ”

Therefore, storytellers are more influential presenters — along with entertaining their audience, they make a lasting impact by helping their listeners understand information better and remember it.

Moreover, studies have confirmed the positive impact of interactive digital presentations on the student’s learning process, which consequently improved their memorization.

Our contributors and experienced professionals believe better retention is the greatest benefit of the interactive presentation.

Here is what Edoardo Binda Zane , a communication and leadership expert, says about the power of interactive presentation:

“ Think of any presentation you have been given that has not involved you, and that was just a person blaring information at you. After a while, your attention fades away because you are not feeling involved or part of the presentation itself — you might as well be watching a video or listening to a podcast on the topic. Interaction turns the whole event into a dialogue where you also feel heard, and with that comes a stronger drive to pay attention and retain information. ”

Thus, an interactive presentation is an effective tool for making the audience involved, which consequently helps them to stay focused and remember important information.

Benefit #4: Interactive presentations help presenters to get valid feedback

Interactive presentations might also bring value to presenters. When you involve your audience and allow them to be heard, you learn more about their needs and points of view, so you can improve your presentation skills in the future.

Here’s what Trish Nitschke , a communication professional, said:

“ From a speaker perspective, it’s much easier to get buy-in and support from your audience when the live results validate the points you are making .”

“ A less known benefit of interactive presentations is that they can also help to build trust between the presenter and the audience. By encouraging the audience to participate and share their thoughts and opinions, the presenter demonstrates that they value the audience’s input and are open to feedback. This can help to establish a strong relationship between the presenter and the audience, which can be useful in a variety of settings — from sales presentations to educational lectures. ”

💡 Pumble Pro tip

Public speaking anxiety is one of the most common social fears. To learn how to deal with anxiety before a presentation, make sure to read our blog post:

How not to be nervous for a presentation

18 ways for making interactive and engaging presentations.

Considering all this evidence that explains the power of interactive and engaging presentations, we can modify the presentation skills that will bring us better results.

So, let’s see what the best ways for making an interactive and engaging presentation are.

Way #1: Research the audience and the topic

Research is an essential step in creating an effective presentation. To make it interactive, it’s crucial to understand your audience — how they think and what they want to know.

Try to answer these questions:

Once you’ve had these answers, making a good presentation is much easier than you thought.

Here is what Steve Gamlin , a speaker, author, and visualization coach, had to say on this topic:

“ Prior to an event, have conversations with them (or the event planners). Understand their biggest pains/challenges. Ask for examples of successes they have enjoyed, or awards they have achieved. Learn some of their ‘industry lingo’ and use it properly. Be aware of their city/town and insert local references when possible (local sports teams, big events, etc). ”

A human resource generalist at COING, Ena Popovic , is also well aware that researching a topic is essential:

“ Behind every good presentation is time invested in detailed research about the topic. ”

Thus, aside from getting familiar with the audience’s expectations and point of view, giving a great presentation means that you’re the expert in the topic.

Way #2: Use icebreakers or a round of creative personal introductions to start

An icebreaker has a role to break the ice between the presenter and the audience — it helps both sides to feel comfortable and get connected.

Ena Popovic adds:

“ The objective here is to get your audience’s undivided attention. By using an icebreaker or creative personal introductions at the very beginning, you set the tone for the rest of the presentation. ”

To break the ice effectively, you should know your audience and be aware of their similarities and differences. Also, bear in mind the audience size.

If you present to a small audience of 2-10 people, you can start with a word game or introduction with a twist, so everyone has to say something unusual about them.

However, when presenting to a large group of people, you should consider other types of icebreakers, such as brainstorming sessions or splitting them into smaller groups and playing a game.

To learn more about how to run effective virtual ice breaker sessions, check out our blog post:

150 Ice breaker questions for virtual meetings

Way #3: Follow the 10/20/30 rule of PowerPoint

If you want to learn more about how to prepare for a presentation and stand out with your presentation skills, check out our guide:

How to prepare for a presentation: Your 9-step guide to a successful presentation

Way #4: use the non-linear flow of your interactive presentation.

The non-linear flow of presentation allows navigation through the content without following a fixed path.

By adding hyperlinks or action buttons, you can quickly jump over the slides and make a presentation more interactive.

The non-linear style of presentation goes beyond regular structure in more ways:

Way #5: Incorporate multimedia elements

Leveraging multimedia elements is a powerful method for making interactive presentations that make your audience engaged and focused.

You can make multimedia experience using various forms such as:

As we mentioned earlier, it’s easier to remember pictures than words. Thus, make sure to take advantage of visual aids to help your listeners better understand and remember important information.

Visual data can efficiently convey a message to your audience. This is especially important when you need to explain complex concepts.

Moreover, according to research , visual aids are a powerful persuasion tool. Namely, presentations with visual elements have a greater impact on audience response.

Simply put, if you want to motivate your audience to take action, make sure to add visuals.

Additionally, we can use visual metaphors to take greater advantage of visual aids and make our messages more understandable and memorable.

So, let’s consider the following steps that make this process successful:

Step #1: Make a list of a few key messages in advance

First of all, ponder over the main ideas you want your audience to pay attention to and remember. Jot them down, and make sure to focus on them when presenting.

For instance, if you present your SEO results to the team, you probably want to outline the growth of your website on the search engine results pages for the last quarter.

Step #2: Find relevant images that fit your keyword(s)

Try to figure out what image is relevant to represent your key ideas.

In our previous example about SEO results, it could be a rocketship taking off or a man climbing stairs.

Way #6: Add something funny

Ena Popovic usually takes advantage of incorporating funny images into presentations:

“They help to make your talk not so boring. Images, videos, and even GIFs can add a visual element that will help draw attention back to your slides and give people something else to focus on.”

Thus, visual cues go beyond better retention — they can easily entertain your audience and hold their attention.

Also, Ena highlights the importance of making a positive atmosphere by using humor:

“ Showing your personality and sense of humor can lighten the mood and build good rapport with the crowd. The participants are more likely to remember you if you make them laugh and in turn remember your ideas and key points. ”

Humor ensures your presentation is memorable, so make sure to use relevant funny quotes or analogies that will engage your listeners.

Way #7: Include interactive charts or graphs to show numbers or statistics

In some presentations, numbers and statistics are the key points that the audience has to pay attention to.

Instead of presenting the raw data, try to convert them into charts or graphs that people will understand and remember better.

This way, they digest information much more easily.

Way #8: Be aware of the F-shaped pattern

A key step in creating an engaging presentation is getting familiar with what engages the brain.

Fortunately, the eye-tracking study has revealed how people typically read and consume content, which is a great help for all presenters to organize their content on slides wisely.

Namely, the evidence has shown that people read web pages in an F-shaped pattern, so they favor the top and left sides.

Therefore, presenters should avoid using bullet points, since they don’t support scanning behavior. Making things worse, bullet points may lead to your audience feeling cognitively overwhelmed and distracted from what you’re saying.

According to the Harvard Business Review article :

“ Bullet points are the least effective way to get your point across. Take Steve Jobs, considered to be one of the most extraordinary presenters of his time. He rarely showed slides with just text and bullets. He used photos and text instead. ”

So, instead of bullet points, try to deliver important information according to the F-shaped pattern.

Way #9: Turn the presentation into a story

Now that we’re confident storytelling is a powerful tool for engaging the audience, the question is: How do we incorporate it into a presentation?

First of all, no matter whether your presentation covers data-heavy content or not, it can be turned into an inspiring story.

You just need to follow the next steps that ensure your story is a good fit for your presentation:

Way #10: Set the basic structure of your story

If you’re creating an educational presentation, at the beginning of your story, make your listeners aware of the importance of the topic, and motivate them to learn more about it. On the other hand, in sales presentations, you should discuss pain points that can be solved by the product/service you’re offering.

Nancy Duarte calls the beginning of the story a “call to adventure” , because you call your listeners to leave their comfort zone.

She states:

“ The first turning point to occur in a presentation is the call to adventure, which triggers a significant shift in the content. The call to adventure asks the audience to jump into a situation that, unbeknownst to them, requires their attention and action. This moment sets the presentation in motion. ”

She also added:

“You can use historical information about what has been or the current state of what is, which often includes the problem you’re currently facing. You should deliver a concise formulation of what everyone agrees is true .”

When creating a compelling beginning of the story , the goal is to make your audience see the contrast between what is and what could be.

According to Nancy, in the middle of the story , the focus is on contrast. This is because a presenter has a role to make and resolve a problem through contrast. That way, the audience pays attention and stays interested.

Even though presenters typically end with a call to action , a more inspirational way to do so is to include “the picture of the potential reward”.

Way #11: Give it a personal touch

Ena Popovic pointed out that storytelling should include personal touch:

“ Personal stories have the power to connect us with others. If you are able to find a link between the information presented and your day-to-day life or experiences, take advantage of the pull that this resource can generate .”

Thus, adding a personal touch helps presenters to appear more relatable — this way, you can show your vulnerability, which helps your listeners get emotionally involved.

Way #12: Make the presentation more conversational

To encourage the presentation to be more of a dialogue, ask whether your listeners have a question before you move to the next slide.

In addition, Ena suggests encouraging your audience to participate and surprising your audience in the following way:

“Hide small pieces of interesting information within the presentation itself. It could be a video, audio, or new information. Hide it and let the audience track them.”

That way, you encourage the participants to think actively and find the answers by themselves. This practice is a good option for turning passive audiences into active participants.

Way #13: Encourage the audience to participate

You can use different strategies to make your audience participate, but Ena suggests dividing into small groups:

“ Try dividing your participants into small groups to conduct a short task, then feed back their findings into your key presentation points. This makes them feel important, builds trust, and radically increases engagement levels. ”

This way, you also encourage your audience to collaborate and exchange their ideas and thoughts.

Way #14: Add a Q&As and discussion session

According to Edoardo Binda Zane, asking questions is a powerful technique to engage the audience:

“ By far, the most effective tactic is to ask questions to the audience or involve them. Even something as simple as ‘Raise your hand if…’ can make a world of a difference. In remote communication, you can also do something similar.”

If you need to present remotely, you can take advantage of your business communication software’s video conferencing option and share your screen to communicate complex ideas clearly, so everyone is on the same page.

Way #15: Listen to feedback

Aside from engaging the participants and making them feel heard, asking questions is a great method to get feedback. This can dramatically improve the quality of your speech and presentations in the future.

Therefore, listen to the audience’s questions and comments well, and use this data when creating your next presentation.

For example, if you notice that the participants don’t understand some concepts from your presentation well, in the future, incorporate examples that will fill the gap.

Way #16: Make an eye contact

The great importance of eye contact is usually overlooked. However, this is a powerful tool for making connections with your listeners and conveying your confidence.

Plus, it helps you deliver your message effectively and facilitate your audience’s engagement.

Way #17: End on a more serious tone

Presenters have to end a presentation effectively.

Ena advises considering the two following practices:

She elaborates:

“When all is said and done, you will want the audience to remember the core concepts and keep thinking about what you have said after the presentation is over. This is why you should let things naturally calm down and end with an important idea, quote or even a question.”

Way #18: Add a reflection at the very end

A good way to end your presentation is asking reflective questions, which help your audience to think about what they just learned and how they can take advantage of that knowledge.

Here’s what Ena says about this practice:

“ Reflective questions make sure the presentation receives a good ending. A reflective question gives you an idea of the audience’s take-away from the presentation while encouraging them to share their feedback and inputs.”

You can ask your listeners the following questions:

Wrapping up: Only interactive and engaging presentations make an impact

Each presentation is a two-way process, so both the presenter and audience have major roles.

To make your audience engaged, you need to know them and be aware of the presentation objective.

Use compelling multimedia elements relevant to your content and turn the presentation into a story to make sure your listeners will understand crucial information well and memorize them.

Most importantly, listen to their questions and comments, so you can improve the quality of presentations in the future.

✉️ What about you? Do you have experience with making an interactive presentation? Or, from the audience’s perspective, what is the most effective way to make a presentation more interactive? Do you have any additional tips on how to make a presentation more engaging?

Let us know at [email protected] and we might include your input in this or future posts. If you found this article helpful, share it with someone who would also benefit from it.

Visnja is a communication author and researcher at Pumble, applying her knowledge about psychology to writing blog posts on business communication and remote work. She is passionate about understanding the ways communication influences organizational behavior, employee satisfaction, and productivity. When she's not writing, she's probably researching various industrial-organizational psychology topics.

How to pitch an idea in 6 key steps (+ practical tips)

How to start a presentation (+ useful phrases)

Presentation types and styles explained

Self-advocacy at work: 7 tips to help you become a better self-advocate

How not to be nervous for a presentation

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How to Make an Interactive Presentation

Creating an interactive presentation is easier than you might think..

Read time: 11 min

If prepared well, your presentation can bring in clients , but if it’s disorganized or flat out boring, it will make you lose sales instead.

To be successful in sales, your pitch must strike an immediate connection with potential clients, you must attract and maintain interest throughout the presentation.

1- engage your client interactively right away.

Imagine you are attending a sales presentation. The presenter comes in, begins the presentation, and starts reading plain text from an overcrowded slide. You are barely a few seconds into the presentation but you are already starting to be bored and disengaged.

Letting clients choose the direction is a good way to make your presentation interactive.

It’s important to create a connection with your potential clients right from the start. This can be as easy as introducing yourself and asking the clients to introduce themselves. You can also ask them what elements of your presentation they want to cover first, showing them that the presentation is a dialogue rather than a monologue. Your presentation doesn’t have to be linear either. Letting clients choose the direction is a good way to make your presentation interactive. The clients will enjoy the option and the first impression will be positive. Now that you have started on the right foot, the next tips help you maintain this level of interactivity throughout the presentation.

2- Use slide and content navigation features to make a more interactive presentation

Static presentations with plain text on a plain background might have worked in 2000, but they no longer do. If your presentation uses that style, your potential clients will likely have an immediate negative bias. Nowadays, online tools offer many design features that let you create a beautiful and interactive presentation with a consistent theme. Those options exist because the human eye is inevitably attracted to interactive elements. Online tools offer features to make a presentation interactive and easier to follow by adding visual supports and efficient slide and content navigation features.

A picture is worth a thousand words

Add images, diagrams, or graphs to your pitch to illustrate concepts efficiently

A video is like inviting a guest speaker

Use videos, clips, or animations from your library or the web to add a compelling visual support

A successful pitch is as much about content as it is about delivery.

Additionally, when you move to a new slide, you don’t have to show all its content right away. Doing so can be confusing and your clients might be distracted by all the new content instead of listening to you. Play with the options you have to control the way your content appears on each slide. This lets you show new content only when it’s time, ensuring the clients concentrate on your explanation rather than on the slide itself. If you can’t keep the attention of your potential clients, your content will not come across, no matter how relevant it is.

3- It’s story time: include a story in your presentation

Do you remember when we were kids and our parents read us stories? Most of us were captivated from the start and hung on every word. While we are no longer attracted to the same tales, stories in general still attract our attention more than we think . Stories in pitches are an excellent way to present information or data in a concrete and tangible way using situations, scenarios, or companies we know. They allow us to create a connection and increase our ability to relate to them and remember them.

You can also integrate a tracking feature to your presentation to keep a record of all interactions made during the meeting.

4- an interactive presentation allows you to answer any questions.

Plan time during your pitch to take questions. This has many benefits as it:

Engages your clients and keeps them involved

Keeps them involved in an interactive exchange

Reviews part of the material covered

Maintains your clients’ attention

It can be very useful to adjust your pitch for subsequent meetings based in the comments. You can also bait clients into participating by asking for their opinion, starting an open-ended discussion based on the material covered, or asking them a question you thought might have come up.

5- Show your value through customer cases

There’s nothing better and more interactive than covering real cases to make clients participate and understand better. It’s also an excellent way of showing how your product works in reality, not just with theoretical examples. These cases will be particularly interesting to keep your prospective clients focused and engaged as they try to figure how they can benefit from the product themselves.

An example could be; client A has used product A in 70 meetings and have doubled their revenue in the process. They have doubled their meetings per week and their entire process is now more effective as a result of using product A.

Real cases are more compelling and impactful than theoretical cases.

This way your clients can see the value your product or service can potentially bring them. Using real customer cases is also a good way to give clients confidence. It shows that your product has clients, has performed positively and can do it again in other circumstances. It can make clients think that their situation can become a success story that you will one day present in other pitches. Real cases are more compelling and impactful than theoretical cases.

6- Use impact calculators to convey your value

In sales pitches, you will surely talk about numbers. The challenge is talking about numbers in a way that is not boring. Are you thinking spreadsheets? That’s not very interesting: many tables with small numbers or navigating through cells and sheets are not appealing. Instead of relying on spreadsheets, consider using an interactive calculator.

This tool is a fast, easy, and compelling way to present numbers and show how your customer’s perceived value can evolve based on different factors. Your clients will follow your pitch more easily and remain attentive when the focus is on them, not generic numbers or cases. In addition to saving you time and making your part on numbers more interesting, this tool increases the interactivity of your presentation and lets clients explore other scenarios easily by simply asking you to type different numbers. It’s better to adapt your pitch to your clients than to expect your clients to adapt to your pitch.

7- Add personal elements to connect with clients

You should consider adding personal elements related to your sales pitch if you can and if they are relevant. They can help your prospective clients connect with you as you are no longer an orator or presenter, but rather become the trusted advisor, speaking from experience. Expanding on tip #3, you could also consider telling personal stories. If your clients can relate to a story, imagine the connection you can create if you are the protagonist of your story. You are sure to attract and maintain everyone’s attention as you share your knowledge acquired through first-hand experiences.

Success stories and accounts of failures will take a whole other meaning with your prospective clients when they are based on your experience.

8- keep your interactive presentation simple.

In sales presentations, keep your slides simple. Only include key images, concepts, and keywords, and present them in a simple and effective way. You should also limit to one slide per idea. Use layers too. Remember that your presentation is not a teleprompter or a book. It is merely one of many visual aids you can leverage to help you drive your point. The last thing you want to do is bore your potential clients.

If you do not support your message with visuals, 3 days later you will only remember 10 percent.

To your prospective clients, your presentation should be an element that helps identify your main ideas. If you have too much text on your slides, they will likely try to read it all and run the risk of missing your key explanations. Clear and simple slides are better and more efficient.

9- Include visual images in your presentation

When creating an interactive presentation, it is very important to include visual images that are connected to the value you are trying to convey. If you do not support your message with visuals, 3 days later you will only remember 10 percent. However, if you DO support your message with visuals, three days later you will remember 65 percent – Brain Rules.

10- Prepare your presentation

Our last tip is an obvious one that is often overlooked or ignored altogether. The core of your presentation is your preparation. Doing thorough research on your client as well as asking the right questions in a needs discovery will get you along way.

Do you know how to convey your value and do you know where the value is for your client?

Are you understanding your client’s needs and pain points?

A proper Sales Enablement tool will even help prepare much of your presentation for you, so you can focus on your client.

Final thoughts.

Remember that preparing a successful pitch takes time and organization. Follow our tips on how to make your presentation interactive. They will help you keep your prospective clients’ attention and make them more receptive to your message. This will increase your capacity to convert pitches into sales.

Want to learn more?

If you want to learn more about how sales enablement can transform your sales, then join our sales enablement webinars.

The Sales Enablement Tool that your sales team will thank you for

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Interactive presentation: What it is & how to use it

An interactive presentation includes components that the spectators can examine and entitles them to feel belonging through participation. Prevent your dialogues from being predictable; with an interactive presentation, there is always something overlooked waiting to be noticed.

Workplaces, schools, and organizations have turned to remote working and learning models in response to the ongoing global crisis. We’ve been challenged to communicate through screens without proper preparation, leaving plenty of room for miscommunication.

Clear and effective communication strategies are vital for the proper development of society from learning centers to the workplace, and presentations are often the perfect tool to acquire the wanted effect on our audience.

The success of a presentation depends on the ability to organize and present it well; having a clear idea of your presentation options and how to get the most out of each of them will be the decisive factor.

What is an interactive presentation?

An interactive presentation is a more dynamic way of presenting than the traditional way, by connecting with an audience through sounds and visual tools that amplify the chances for the topic to impact the participants and gain audience engagement significantly.

These presentations allow communication between an audience and their expositor in a dynamic way, enabling interaction through real-time mutual communication. Dynamics of this type are helpful to connect with clients, students, co-workers, or even remote family members.

The importance of audience engagement

The obvious goal whenever preparing a presentation is to successfully engage our audience by delivering the topic in a clear and significant way, as it’s known that the attention span of a standard audience lasts approximately 7 minutes. If the subject is particularly intriguing, it might take up to 10 minutes.

The lack of interaction with the public is the main reason why audience engagement is not acquired in a traditional presentation setting. If the participants don’t identify themselves as relevant to the topic or the experience, the chances are they won’t pay enough attention.

Interactive presentation Tips for audience engagement

We witness an interactive presentation when the presenter can interact with the audience in a back and forth conversation. Whenever you’re the one in front of a stated audience, you can for sure use some of these ideas and tips we’ve gathered for you.

In addition to keeping your audience engaged during a presentation by following these tips, it’s crucial to have the right tools.

Let audience distraction become a thing of the past with QuestionPro LivePolls! Create presentations that look and feel like the best experience for your audience to stay engaged. Stop them from getting glassy-eyed by breaking the monotony.

LivePolls 2.0 is entirely FREE, and we have tons of new features coming your way. Claim your Free account now!

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How fake sugars sneak into foods and disrupt metabolic health

Artificial sweeteners and other sugar substitutes sweeten foods without extra calories. but studies show the ingredients can affect gut and heart health..

Many people are cutting back on their sugar intake for health reasons. But the food industry has found another way to give consumers their sweet fix.

It is quietly replacing the sugar in many packaged foods with sucralose , stevia , allulose, erythritol and a wide variety of other artificial sweeteners and sugar substitutes .

Low and zero-calorie sweeteners have been used in diet soft drinks for decades. But now food companies are adding them to a growing number of packaged foods, including many that might surprise you!

These include bread , yogurt , oatmeal , muffins , canned soups , salad dressings, condiments and snack bars .

The number of food products containing low or no-calorie sugar substitutes has surged in the past five years, according to an analysis by Mintel, the market research firm.

The food industry says sugar substitutes help people manage their weight and reduce intake of added sugars. But studies suggest that fake sugars can also have unexpected effects on your gut and metabolic health and even promote food cravings and insulin resistance, a precursor to type 2 diabetes.

Making foods even sweeter

Table sugar, or sucrose, is still the dominant sweetener in the food supply. But the number of new food products containing it has fallen by 16 percent in the last five years. Use of high fructose corn syrup and agave syrup also have declined.

“These low-calorie sweeteners are ubiquitous in the food supply, and so people often aren’t even aware that they’re consuming them,” said Allison Sylvetsky, an associate professor in the department of exercise and nutrition sciences at George Washington University.

Many sugar substitutes are known as high-intensity sweeteners because they’re often hundreds of times sweeter than table sugar. Some are synthetic, like sucralose, aspartame, and saccharin, while others, like allulose, stevia and monk fruit extract, are referred to as “natural” because they’re derived from plants.

Popular sweeteners

compared to table sugar

“Natural”

Monk fruit extract

Source: U.S. Food & Drug Administration

Sugar substitutes can be found in ingredient lists on food packages, often with names that many consumers don’t recognize, like adventame, neotame, and acesulfame potassium. Foods that claim “no artificial sweeteners” often are sweetened with stevia and other so-called “natural” sugar substitutes.

A variety of these sweeteners are turning up cereals, juices and other packaged foods marketed to kids — even though public health groups have discouraged their use among children .

“When I started thirty-something years ago I never saw low-calorie sweeteners in pediatric products,” said Julie Mennella, a developmental biopsychologist who studies children’s taste preferences at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia. “Now, they’re everywhere.”

Sucralose and acesulfame-k, are regularly used in Greek yogurts, tortilla wraps and other foods served in school meals. Schools in some states have experimented with serving chocolate milk sweetened with a blend of sugar and monk fruit extract.

A new incentive to add fake sugar

Under a proposal from the Food and Drug Administration , companies will no longer be able to label a food “healthy” unless it adheres to strict new limits on added sugars. One way companies can adhere to the proposed rules is to replace the added sugars in their processed foods with artificial sweeteners.

“When companies reformulate their foods to contain less sugar it leads them to use more non-nutritive sweeteners,” said Jotham Suez, an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health who studies artificial sweeteners and other sugar substitutes.

Studies show that when other countries, including Chile and Australia, instituted policies to reduce sugar consumption, the result was an increase in artificially-sweetened foods and beverages.

How fake sugars affect your health

Scientists used to think that non-nutritive sweeteners were largely inert, activating the sweet receptors on our tongues and then passing through our bodies without causing metabolic changes. But the health effects of consuming large amounts of these ingredients aren’t clear.

The World Health Organization cautioned people to limit their intake of sugar substitutes because of their potential for “undesirable" long-term effects, including detrimental effects on gut and metabolic health.

Robert Rankin, the executive director of the Calorie Control Council, an industry group, pushed back against claims that sugar substitutes come with health risks. “Evidence shows that low- and no- calorie sweeteners are a safe and effective alternative to added sugars and can be used as part of a balanced diet to help consumers achieve dietary goals, whether it be managing weight or diabetes, reducing the consumption of added sugars, or reducing total caloric intake,” he said.

But one rigorous study led by Suez and carried out at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel last year looked at what happened when people were given aspartame, saccharin, stevia, or sucralose in amounts well below the F.D.A.’s daily allowances. The study found that these sweeteners caused changes in both the function and composition of the participants’ gut microbiomes, the communities of bacteria, viruses and fungi that live in the intestines.

The microbes in your gut play many important roles: One is that they transform the food you eat into enzymes, hormones and vitamins.

When you eat nutritious fiber-rich foods like fruits, vegetables and nuts, your gut microbes produce compounds that can reduce inflammation and have other beneficial effects on your overall health.

But Suez and his colleagues found that artificial sweeteners and sugar substitutes can alter your microbiome in ways that are detrimental to your metabolic health.

Two sweeteners in particular, saccharin and stevia, worsened the participants’ blood sugar control. Some participants had more dramatic responses to the sweeteners than others, suggesting that these compounds may have different effects in different people.

Other laboratory studies have shown that drinking beverages made with sucralose can promote insulin resistance , a precursor to diabetes.

Here’s what that means. Normally, food that is eaten is turned into glucose .

The pancreas then releases insulin into your blood.

Insulin tells your cells to store or use the glucose for energy .

But some studies have found that regularly consuming sugar substitutes can disrupt that process, causing your cells to stop responding properly to insulin and leading to chronically elevated blood sugar levels.

Scientists have also uncovered surprising effects of artificial sweeteners on our brains and appetites.

Sweet taste receptors on your tongue tell your brain that you’re eating something sweet. This sends a signal to your brain and your body that an influx of calories is coming.

But because these sweeteners are more potent than normal sugar with few or none of the calories, they can confuse your brain and your taste receptors.

One potential consequence of this, studies have found , is that you might develop stronger sugar cravings and end up eating more sugar and sweetened foods.

In addition to confusing the brain and taste receptors, some sweeteners, like allulose, can also cause gastrointestinal discomfort when consumed in large amounts.

Powerful effects on the brain

In a clinical trial published in JAMA Network Open , researchers found that drinking beverages that contained sucralose increased food cravings in women and people with obesity and led women to eat larger amounts of food at their next meals.

At the same time, research in animals suggests that sweet flavors, whether from sugar or from artificial sweeteners, can have powerful effects on the brain’s reward center. When given a choice between cocaine or water sweetened with saccharin, rats will almost always choose the artificially sweetened beverage.

Studies suggest that our taste receptors and willpower can be easily overwhelmed by intensely sweet flavors — even if those flavors come from fake sugar.

Effects on weight and cardiovascular health

Scientists say it’s hard to fully understand the health effects of all these sugar substitutes. One reason is that there are so many of them. At least six artificial sweeteners have been approved by the FDA: Saccharin, sucralose, aspartame, acesulfame potassium, neotame and advantame. Companies are also allowed to use other non-nutritive sweeteners that the agency deems “generally recognized as safe,” which means they don’t have to undergo rigorous FDA safety reviews.

Observational studies suggest that people who consume a lot of low-calorie sweeteners have higher rates of obesity and weight gain. But that may be a case of reverse causality , since people who are at risk of obesity are more likely to choose diet foods and beverages. The most rigorous clinical trials show that when people replace sugary drinks with artificially sweetened beverages like Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi it helps them avoid gaining excess weight.

For many years, artificial sweeteners were plagued by concerns that they could cause cancer, largely stemming from early research in rodents. But the American Cancer Society says that there is “no clear evidence that these sweeteners, at the levels typically consumed in human diets, cause cancer.”

They can however have other concerning effects. A large study published in the BMJ found that a high intake of artificial sweeteners increased the risk of cardiovascular problems like strokes and coronary heart disease.

Another study published in Nature Medicine linked the sugar substitute erythritol to higher rates of heart attacks and strokes. The researchers found that when people consumed erythritol in amounts commonly found in processed foods it stayed in their systems for days and had the potential to promote blood clots.

The Calorie Control Council challenged the study results , saying they are “contrary to decades of scientific research.”

Detecting the hidden sugar substitutes

The American Academy of Pediatrics says the FDA should require food companies to list the amounts of any non-nutritive sweeteners on the nutrition facts panel, alongside things like fat, carbohydrates and added sugar. Some consumer groups called for new labeling rules to make it easier to know when sugar substitutes are used in packaged foods.

One particularly vocal critic is the sugar industry. The Sugar Association, an industry trade and lobbying group, in 2020 submitted a lengthy petition to the FDA pointing out that packaged foods that carry label claims like “reduced sugar” and “no added sugars” are often sweetened with sugar substitutes.

The group argued that consumers are being “misled” because these products are frequently marketed as healthier, even though they’re often “higher in calories or contain alternative sweeteners that consumers are not familiar with.”

Some examples of foods the sugar industry called out include:

Rankin, from the sugar-substitute industry group, said that current food labels give people sufficient information to identify products that contain both caloric sweeteners as well as sugar substitutes.

So what should you do?

Experts say it’s clear that consuming a lot of sugar is bad for your health. But Suez and others say you should be cautious about replacing sugary foods with sugar substitutes. It’s best to consume any kind of low-calorie sweetener in moderation. Pay attention to ingredient lists. Another simple measure is to reduce your intake of highly processed foods, which tend to contain a lot of sweeteners and other additives.

“If you can reduce these sweeteners without replacing them with sugar, which we know beyond any doubt is damaging to health, then from a cautious perspective that’s probably best,” Suez added.

Do you have a question about healthy eating? Email [email protected] .

Paradox Announcement Show 2023: Everything Announced

Here's everything from today's show, including our first tease of cities: skylines 2..

Cities: Skylines and Crusader Kings publisher Paradox Interactive held a showcase today, showing off updates on previously-announced games and some entirely brand new titles. From the newly-revealed Cities: Skylines II to a new expansion revealed for Crusader Kings III, read on to learn everything announced at today's event.

Colossal Order Reveals Cities: Skylines II

Cities: Skylines II is coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC later this year . The reveal promised the most realistic city simulation ever created, with transportation and economy systems, construction and customization options, and more modding capabilities. This sequel to the 2015 original will let players build any type of city they want, from a tiny village to a huge metropolis.

Crusader Kings III: Tours & Tournaments Expansion Revealed

Crusader Kings III is getting a new PC expansion titled Tours & Tournaments. This expansion to Paradox's strategy RPG will let players tour their monarch's realm to check in on vassals, host or fight in grand tournaments, and plan royal weddings.

The Lamplighters League Is a New Tactical Turn-Based Strategy Game

Paradox revealed a new turn-based strategy game from Harebrained Schemes, the studio behind the Shadowrun Trilogy. The game is called The Lamplighters League, and it's a stylish pulp adventure set in an alternate 1933. In addition to strategy combat, players will also make choices that will directly determine the world's fate.

Europa Universalis IV: Domination Expansion Revealed

Paradox revealed a new expansion for its strategy game Europa Universalis IV titled Domination. This expansion has new mission trees for the Ottoman Empire, Ming China, France, Russia, and more, which change the types of alternate histories available. There are also new military units for several nations, political Estates to manage, and dozens of added historical events.

Surviving the Aftermath: Rebirth Expansion Reveal

Paradox revealed a new expansion for Iceflake Studios' Surviving the Aftermath. Titled Rebirth, this expansion introduces terraforming for players to modify and revitalize the environment.

Paradox Arc Shows Off Two Titles and an Expansion

We got a look at Knights of Pen & Paper 3, the next entry in Paradox's pop-culture infused turn-based RPG series. We also saw Mechabellum, a sci-fi auto-battler where players compete with armies of mechs, robots, and heavy weapons. Finally, Across the Obelisk: The Wolf Wars is the first expansion for last year's deckbuilding RPG, which introduces a new zone and character.

Stellaris: Overlord and Stellaris: First Contact Release Date Revealed

Paradox revealed the release dates for its pair of Stellaris expansions. Stellaris: Overlord adds empire management features, and it's coming to consoles on March 8. Stellaris: First Contact adds new civilizations and cloaking technology, and is coming to PC on March 14.

Paradox Tectonic Project, Life By You, Teased

Paradox Tectonic was founded in 2019, and the studio is finally teasing its debut project. It's called Life By You, and the full reveal will happen on Monday, March 20. The project is led by Rod Humble, who is best known for his work on The Sims and Second Life.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over six years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

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Paradox Interactive and Paradox Tectonic announce life simulation game Life by You

Publisher Paradox Interactive and developer Paradox Tectonic have announced life simulation game Life by You . Platforms and a release date were not announced.

A formal announcement event will be held on March 20 at 9:00 a.m. PT / 12:00 p.m. ET . You will be able to watch it on YouTube .

The game is headed by Rod Humble, an industry veteran known for his roles in creating The Sims and Second Life .

Watch the announcement trailer below. View the first screenshots at the gallery .

Announce Teaser Trailer

Screenshots

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What is an interactive presentation? An interactive presentation is a more dynamic way of presenting than the traditional way, by connecting with an audience through sounds and visual tools that amplify the chances for the topic to impact the participants and gain audience engagement significantly.
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Artificial sweeteners and other sugar substitutes sweeten foods without extra calories. But studies show the ingredients can affect gut and heart health. March 7 at 6:14 a.m. Many people are ...
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Sal Romano. Mar 6 2023 / 12:18 PM EST. 1. Publisher Paradox Interactive and developer Paradox Tectonic have announced life simulation game Life by You. Platforms and a release date were not ...