5 Tips to Designing an Engaging Visual Aid (Sarah Clements Expert Advice)

Does your visual aid enhance your presentation and engage your audience? Do you use images to represent your ideas? Did you know that 65 percent of the population are visual learners? There are many tools for creating visual aids, but the key word when developing them is the word “visual.” Visual aids are for the audience to follow along and stay connected with your presentation.

In a study done by researchers from the Management Information Systems Research Center at the University of Minnesota and 3M Corp., presentations using visual aids were found to be about 43 percent more persuasive. For a visual aid to work, your images must connect with your message. For example, to persuade your audience to vacation in Hot Springs, show them pictures of the lakes, spa resorts, horse races or restaurants. Text on a screen would not be as persuasive as an image of someone on a boat enjoying the sun.

In fact, when there is text on a screen, you begin to lose your audience’s attention. As Terri Sjodin, principal and founder of Sjodin Communications in Newport Beach, California, explains: “PowerPoint is not the enemy, but the way people execute from the PowerPoint is.”

Your audience wants to listen to you speak. As you develop a visual aid, keep the following five tips in mind:

♦ Keep it simple. The background needs to be simple and consistent throughout the slides. Creating your own design is suggested since you choose the colors and images that most connect with your topic.

♦ Apply color. Pick three to four colors to use. Think about your topic and try to identify a color that may connect with your ideas. If you are speaking about Wal-Mart, then use blue and gold with one or two other colors. Remember that some colors darken on the screen when projected.

♦ Use SmartArt. Make your bullet points more appealing using SmartArt. Found in Microsoft Office products, SmartArt adds color and images within your art. There are many layout options when selecting your design: list, process, cycle, hierarchy, relationships and more.

♦ Display data. To explain data, it is important to think about how the audience will process the information. Displaying data using charts, graphs or images will help the audience understand the information. Make sure the font is at least 20 point, especially on graphs and images.

♦ Edit and proofread. Evaluate each slide and ask yourself if it is for you or your audience. If the slide is for you, either delete the slide or redesign the information. Keep text to six words per bullet point or SmartArt element, and ensure your fonts are large enough to read. Check your images or graphs to make sure they are clear and detailed.

Keep Sjodin’s words in mind as you develop your next visual aid: “You are the star and the visual aid is the bit player. If your visual aid upstages you, then you lose control of the presentation.”

When you design a visual aid, remember it is for your audience and not for you to use as speaking notes. Make your audience remember your visual aid, but listen to you as well.

Sarah Clements is an instructor of business information systems in the College of Business at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Email her at SJClements@UALR.edu.