Ultimate Guide to Choosing the Right Presentation Visuals.

A good presentation comprises two important elements, namely, a visually captivating presentation and good storytelling capability. Both of these can engage the audience to a certain level where they think, question, and get curious about your idea or product. It doesn’t matter if you are making a presentation for your company or just a college seminar, learning presentation skills is mandatory for everyone in the 21st century. In this article, we are going to focus on the first element of a good presentation which is adding the right visuals to your slides.

Now, before we jump into the topic one should remember that a picture always conveys a stronger message than words. So, when you need to give a hint of an idea, provide a conclusion, use a picture that conveys the same message. The human brain tends to remember and process an image more than words. Also, a visually right presentation doesn’t imply using complex images that the audience will fail to understand your message through it. Giving tips about creating and choosing the right presentation visuals and keeping it simple is the goal of this article.

How to Choose the right Visuals for your Presentation?

• Add Relevant Images:

Adding pictures in your slides doesn’t mean filling up the empty space. Your picture should be relevant to your topic of discussion and give a clear message to the audience. Your image can also describe just a key point or keyword which can be further described by you.

• One Image One Message:

The image you are using in a particular slide should focus on the key point of that slide. If you are trying to convey multiple messages using only a single picture, the audience is likely to get confused. And once your audience is distracted it becomes a difficult task to catch their attention and bring them back on track. So, don’t make your presentation very much overwhelming by using complex images.

• Cliparts Doesn’t Qualify as Images:

Remember you are not a school-going kid anymore who is trying to use different features of PowerPoint. In the professional world, content quality is the king which includes not just writing articles but infographics as well. So, to make your presentation look highly professional, use high-quality images (statistics, product photographs, etc). You can find relevant pictures on websites like Shutterstock or you can hire a photographer or designer to do the job.

• Text in Picture Format:

This is a common misconception that occurred to me as well in the past. Visuals don’t mean only a photograph without any texts. When talking about visuals to fit in your presentation it also includes adding messages in text format along with a vector. You don’t need to be a graphic designer to do this, but you should have a clear idea of what your picture is representing. The pie charts, bar graphs, etc are all part of visual infographics that enhance your presentation if used properly and consistently.

• Focus on Image Quality and Size:

Adding relevant pictures is not enough if your audience clearly doesn’t understand the content of your slides. The pictures you use should be of high quality so that when you are zooming on them to get your audience’s focus, they should look pixelated. A noisy low-quality image will overall give a negative impression of your work before the audience.

• Mention Source of the Image:

Speaking of choosing high-quality images, you are most likely to download them from the internet if you don’t have an in-house photographer or designer. So, make sure you have the proper license to use that image when downloading from any site because plagiarism is a serious crime especially in the digital era where quality content is the key to your business. And, you should also mention the source of your image in the slide.

• Choosing the Right Color Scheme:

This is a very important tip for picking up what colors and fonts to pick up for your slides. First, don’t go for multiple colors and fonts for every slide because that will make your presentation look very childish and not professional. The best way to pick out a color palette is using the colors of your company’s logo. In doing this, you are restricting yourself to using only a few chosen colors which will also be a good branding for your company. And, your company should maintain this color scheme for every presentation. This gives a strong consistency and professional outlook.

• Keep it Simple:

This is mandatory for every presentation so that you are successfully able to engage your audience and don’t intimidate them too much. Your images should raise a curiosity in them to know more about your idea or product but they shouldn’t be too complex such that they lose interest. So, keeping it smart and simple will ace your visual content in the presentation.

Also, you can refer to presentation-sharing websites to get an idea and knowledge on choosing the right presentation visuals. One of the best presentation-sharing platforms that you can refer to is SharePresentation.