I think to be effective a good visual must focus on only a few points.
It’s important not to have too much information on one slide or transparency.
Slide overload is bad because people will then spend time reading the slide
rather than listening to the presenter. I normally use bullet points to structure
information - I never write complete sentences. Headlines are important too.
Keith Sallis, Real Estate Manager
In my opinion the presenter is the focus of the presentation - not
the visuals. The key purpose for using a visual aid is to help the audience
understand the topic better. So the visuals should only be used to support
the presenter’s message. A process-flowchart slide, for example, helps
people understand visually what you are describing verbally. If a visual
distracts the audience’s attention from what you’re saying, it’s useless.
Susan Liu, Export Manager
Above all, a slide or an overhead must be readable. If the audience
can’t read the slide, they will soon give up. That’s why font size is very
important. It should be as large as possible, I’d say at least 24. And
sometimes it’s also a good idea to use different colours to highlight
some points. Using many different colours can be confusing though.
Barbara james, Market Researcher
What you say and what you show should always go together 100%.
So when you’re not talking about the slide, it shouldn’t be visible. I always
switch off the display when I’m talking about something that has nothing to do
with the slide. If people are busy looking at the slide, they aren’t listening to
what you’re saying. It’s better to use the В-key to return to a black screen or
replace the slide with some form o f ‘wallpaper’ such as a company logo.
Javier Sanchez, Financial Analyst
For me it’s very important that the presenter speaks to the
audience and doesn’t read to them! The speaker must make eyecontact
and not watch the monitor or screen while he or she is
talking. I think it’s extremely boring when someone just reads
slides word for word as if it were an essay or something.
O V E R T O Y O U
What kinds of tools and visuals do you normally use in your presentations?
What tips can you think of for using visuals effectively?
Tony Benetti, Media Consultant
It’s called ‘Death by PowerPoint* when people use so many sound
effects and animations that the audience’s attention is completely
taken away from the delivery of the message. I think PowerPoint is
a fantastic tool, but just because it has so many effects you don’t
have to use them all. Overuse is overkill here.