The best visual aids for a business presentation are often cheap and impromptu

I have always been very much in favour of using visual aids in business presentations – there is plenty of research to indicate how powerful they can be in terms of making your message both understood and remembered – but the aids that are most effective of all are often those that are cheap and impromptu.

Possibly the best use of a visual aid that I have ever seen was in a presentation by a Fund Manager. In response to a question, he reached for a scrap of flimsy paper and drew a very simple graph with just two axes and one line. He then held the piece of paper close to his face and guided his audience through the movements on the graph using his pencil as a pointer. By doing so he created a ‘single point of focus’ - him and his graph all in one ‘tight shot’ - and he never broke eye contact, making his delivery highly compelling.

The reason he was able to hold eye contact was that the scrap of paper was so flimsy that he could see through it and therefore knew exactly where he was pointing at any given moment. What underpinned the powerful delivery technique was that it all looked as though this thought had just occurred to him and that he had drawn the graph especially for this audience to answer their specific question. In other words, it was not a carefully thought out piece of PowerPoint to be rolled out to all and sundry.

In reality, of course, the ‘graph on a scrap of paper’ was central to his regular repertoire, and an essential part of his preparation for meetings was to ensure that some scrappy paper and a pencil were close to hand. If the paper provided was too thick he would send out for something cheaper!

I am not one to advocate abandoning PowerPoint altogether – you should use whatever helps to get your point across to this particular audience on this particular occasion. But imagine how powerful some cheap and impromptu aids can be if you are using them to break away for some more sophisticated aids that are clearly pre-prepared.

It nevertheless begs the question as to how far you can or should adopt the cheap and impromptu principle. For inspiration you might like to look below at a presentation given by my advertising hero Dave Trott (Click on the link under the picture). He delivers the whole thing by doodling on an overhead projector (remember them?)!  You will soon see, however, that it suits his ‘Wise Old Cockney Geezer’ character so much better than anything that PowerPoint could ever provide.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npiqSvV_SHE

Three questions to ask yourself about the ‘Visual Aids’ in your business presentation

Before embarking on a business presentation the presenter should always review their content, asking themselves three fundamental questions about their Visual Aids. PowerPoint should certainly be included within the scrutiny; indeed that is probably where the questions need to be most probing.

1. Are my Visual Aids visual?

Without getting bogged down here in a debate about pictures vs. words, can your audience actually see the detail of your Visual Aids? How many times have you heard presenters declare: “I know you can’t really see this but….”.  Clearly it’s not visual, so it’s not aiding anyone; it may even be doing more harm than good.

Some of the business presenters I have coached remain oblivious to this point, so I end up asking them to come and join me towards the back of the room, where I ask: “Can you see anything on that screen”? 

To be sure that your Visual Aid is truly visual you therefore need to see it on the screen on which you will eventually be presenting and you need to view it from the back of the room. You may be surprised at how a Visual Aid that looked clear on your computer or the page from which you scanned it becomes quite indistinct once displayed on a big screen. 

Particular danger areas include:

• Grey print on a white background, which can become washed out.
• Maps and property plans with a level of detail that was designed to be read close up.
• Graphs with thin lines – which probably need bolding – and discreet, over-detailed or even sideways-positioned legends and axis markers.

As I say, I am not going to get into a pictures vs. words debate here, but you need to bear in mind that any bullet point loses most of its impact once it tips over into two lines. Look at the pictures below – a slide written for a business pitch; it is fine for a document, but useless for presentation. Then the same slide, edited down to work effectively as a Visual Aid.

Finally, bear in mind that you can fall foul of having too many pictures, every bit as much as you can having too many words. How many times have you been presented with a slide filled with multiple illustrations, making you think ‘where am I meant to be looking?’, with the result that you lose the thread of what is being said.

2. Who are my Visual Aids aiding?

All focus with any presentation should be on the needs of the audience. So are your Visual Aids helping the audience to understand what you are saying more clearly?  If they are simply helping you to remember what to say, they are not Visual Aids, they are prompts – and these should not be on display!

3. Are my Visual Aids actually aiding anyone?

The most effective way to select Visual Aids is to start with none whatsoever – and that means no PowerPoint. Run through what you are planning to say to this particular audience and you will achieve a natural flow, in your own style – you will not find yourself being driven by whatever Visual Aids you have compiled. At certain points you will probably find yourself struggling to describe something or taking longer than you should to do so – in which case you probably need a Visual Aid. You only really want a Visual Aid on display if it is actively helping your audience – and thereby you – at this particular moment. You might be surprised at how few you really need.

There is plenty of research to prove just how important the visual sense is to communication and in particular to ensuring that messages are retained. But too many so-called Visual Aids are neither visual nor an aid to anyone.