Most people use PowerPoint these days, although some use the tried and trusted overhead projector (OHP).
Regardless of the delivery means, the critical things your visuals need to be are:
- Clear and easy to read, and
- Interesting and stimulating (sometimes humorous)
Clear and easy to read
Have you ever sat in an audience and heard the presenter apologise for the quality or readability of their visual? Do you ever wonder why they used it in the first place? I do. If you know a visual is poor, why use it? There is no point and you should never put yourself in the position where you feel you have to apologise for any element of your presentation.
Ever heard a presenter say, “You probably can’t read this down the back? Or even, “I realise you can’t read this but it’s just to give you an idea.” An idea of what? How unprepared the presentation is? It seems so obvious that you would never use a poor quality visual, and yet it is one of the most common flaws in presentations.
Tip:
- Dark backgrounds work best on PowerPoint.
- Light backgrounds work best on OHPs.
Regardless of the background colour, be sure that any text can be seen clearly. Some colours that appear clear on your computer screen are difficult to read when projected. When using a dark background, text colours should be light. Conversely, text colours should be dark when using a light background Eg. Yellow can look great on a background of black or dark blue, but cannot be seen on a light background, while dark blue is great on a white background, but impossible to read on a purple background.
Font size varies with font type, however a good guide is an absolute minimum of 18. Try to keep font size 24 or above for most font types. Be careful to check and ask yourself how clear the text is. Some font styles require much larger font sizes. Remember, the visual must be easy to read from the back of the room.
Interesting and stimulating
Visuals should not contain lots of text. Sometimes people make the mistake of putting their entire presentation on visuals. This is not why you use visuals.
Golden Rule:
- Do not read from your visuals.
- Your presentation should be enhanced by visuals, not rely on them.
If you need to read from your visuals as a reminder, it is an indication that you have not prepared properly.
Visuals should incorporate pictures wherever possible. Some examples are photos, graphs, diagrams, logos, maps and cartoons. As the old saying goes, ‘A picture is worth a thousand words’ and it applies very much so when it comes to creating visuals for a presentation. Have a good think about how you can improve a visual and you will usually come up with something. Here are some ideas for a few situations that clients I have coached at first thought difficult:
- Using a quotation
Many people use a quotation or inspirational phrase as a basis for a point they are making, or as a reinforcer, and have the text on a visual. This can be O.K. however it will be a more interesting visual if you use a photo of the person and the text inserted in a callout shape.
- Describing a number of steps
Often you will see steps numbered, say 1 to 5 etc. Again, this is O.K. however if you use an image of a set of stairs and put point number 1 at the bottom, number 2 on the next step up etc. the slide becomes much more interesting to follow.
- Using statistics
Boring––right? A graph is an obvious way to jazz things up a bit and can be used to good effect. An even better way is to use a picture. Eg. A client needed to mention some statistics relating to various geographic areas. An aerial photo with the statistics overlayed on each location made the visual far more interesting.
PowerPoint Sounds and Effects
Generally speaking, sounds and multiple screen effects should be avoided, unless you’re doing a presentation as a school assignment. The audience needs to be impressed by the quality of the information rather than how much you know about PowerPoint. For a professional presentation, minimise slide transitions and animation effects.
Visuals are a critical part of any presentation and when done well will make you look like a professional. With today’s technology and all the resources available on the internet, there really is no excuse for poor visuals. Have a good think about your visuals and critique each one after you’ve created it.