Visuals to use in presentation
It’s commonplace these days to have some kind of imagery in your presentation. After all, you have to be an excellent speaker to command your audience’s attention without something visual to anchor their interest.
Did you know that 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual? This means that visual aids are incredibly important if you want to deliver an engaging presentation. Not only do visual aids make your presentations interesting, but it makes the information more digestible for the audience.
There are plenty of visual aid benefits, which make using them in your presentation worthwhile; for example, good visual aids will:
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- Make your presentation more engaging
- Make your presentation easier to understand
- Create a memorable presentation
- Increase your authority
However, not all visual aids are made the same! Visuals in a good presentation are very different to visuals in a bad presentation. So, how to make a good visual presentation? Effective visual presentations can be accomplished if you use the right visual aids.
To help you ace your next presentation, in this post we will be going through the top 5 types of visuals for a presentation. In addition to the visual presentation examples, we will provide some helpful visual presentation tips to make your presentation a memorable one.
Photography
Every visual aid PowerPoint example list will include photos, and for a good reason! When you are speaking about any topic, it takes a certain level of rhetorical skill to set the scene for the audience. You have to be specific in your descriptions to help your audience visualise what you are saying. This can be a challenge.
Even if you are a great orator, why not use the shortcut of a photo which shows exactly what you are talking about? Using a photo as a visual aid to your speech takes away the need for the audience to imagine what you are talking about, as they can instantly visualise it. This makes your speech far more comprehensive. For example, if you’re speaking about the environment, by showing images of pollution, people can not only hear about, but see the impact with their own eyes, which makes them far more likely to be moved by the presentation – and take the desired actions you are promoting.
Photos can be used as part of any presentation. If you are speaking about personal experiences, having photos of said experiences really give the audience a chance to connect with you on a more personal level. Photography can be very emotive, so it is a great way to help your audience feel something by showing them the right image.
If you’re giving a sales pitch, bombarding your potential buyers with information about your product or services can generate some interest – but showing photos of the product will make more of an impact. Again, they can see how good your product is with their own eyes – rather than having to take your word for it.
Videography
Videos are also very important presentation visuals. Videos are very beneficial to presenters as it gives you a chance to take a break and let your audience watch a video that explains your presentation topic. Other engaging visual assets include diagrams using flowchart symbols conveying relationships, hierarchies and workflows. The advent of YouTube has allowed many people to embed videos into their presentations, to back up what they are saying, add some interest or humour, or show someone else’s opinion and critique it.
Using someone else’s video is useful, but in some cases, it may be worthwhile to create a custom video. It has been proven that storytelling has a lasting effect on human memory. Telling a story in a video will be more memorable for your audience, and can create an emotional impact on them, too.
Your own video would also be useful in a demonstration speech, as a pre-recorded video demonstrating how to use your product or how to perform a task is far more convenient and clear than having to demonstrate it live. This is especially useful if you have to give multiple presentations, as you have a pre-prepared demo video ready to go. Videos are very visually interesting to audiences, and some good editing can make your video very attention-grabbing.
Infographics
Infographics are a great visual aid to help communicate complicated information. According to Forbes, infographics are a highly engaging method for presenting your content to your target audience. Infographics are increasingly being used as part of educational materials, presentations, and marketing strategies as the blend of imagery and data makes it easy for audiences to understand the facts and figures.
As we all know, statistics are incredibly important and effective – but infographics are even more comprehensive than bullet-pointed statistics on a PowerPoint slide. Using infographics is far more visually interesting and memorable, as well as comprehensive.
Data visualisations
Data visualisation is any kind of imagery that visually shows data; this includes graphs, charts, or diagrams. The purpose of using charts, graphs, and diagrams is the same as with infographics. Providing factual evidence is a highly important part of a presentation, but there are more interesting ways of doing it than just reciting the statistics or showing written reports on a screen.
Showing the information as a chart or graph will make it easier for your audience to understand, and remember, as well as simply looking much more attractive. Remember that 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual and seeing data as a graph will help your audience to quickly process the information, rather than just hearing it. As storytelling makes information more memorable, telling a story about the data can also help your audience to remember it.
Iconography and illustrations
Iconography consists of symbols that convey concepts and ideas to your audience. Icons can be used as visual shorthand to indicate what you are saying. For instance, if you are speaking about a subject with a positive association you can show a tick mark, a green traffic light, or a ‘thumbs up’ on screen. Likewise, if you are discouraging something to your audience you can show a stop sign, a ‘thumbs down’, or a sad face.
Illustrations fall into this category of visual shorthand. You can use an illustration to show a situation visually to make it easier for the audience to understand. Sometimes you cannot find a relevant photo so using an illustration is a better alternative.
Illustrations as part of your presentation might mean a spider diagram to show ideas, or it could be illustrations that are part of your branding that contributes to the aesthetic of the presentation. Graphic design elements are important parts of a presentation, so make sure that illustrations, icons, logos, motion graphics, and fonts are also used to enhance the look and feel of your presentation.
Now that you know everything you need to know about visual presentations, you can blow your audience away with amazing visuals.
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