13 Ways to Make Your Visuals More Riveting

Want to keep your audience from taking a snooze while you make your next presentation?  Give them something they're not expecting.  Give them better visuals.

With stronger visuals to reinforce your message you'll keep your listeners tuned in and energized.  Plus studies show

Skeptical?  Dont' take my word for it.  ebay recently reported that auctions which feature a picture of the item up for sale yield a 400% increase in bidding.  Let's face it.  We're visual creatures and we want to see what we're buying.

So here are 13 ways to make your visual aids more riveting.

1. Use more pictures.  Your audience can't get enough of them.  Words are forgotten, but pictures linger.
2. Delete clip art from your computer.  These images are overused and often cheesy.  You can do better.
3. Use unexpected images.  Strive to find relevant, creative pictures...for instance, use a picture of stampeding wild horses to illustrate market forces that your business can no longer deny.
4. Take your own pictures.  You'd be amazed at the cool things right in front of your eyes, like the FedEx drop box in my local U.S. Post Office.  Strange bedfellows indeed.  How many points could a picture like this make in a presentation?
5. Go low tech.  Draw your visuals on a flip chart.  When you actively create a picture on a flip chart it's kinetic and it draws in your audience.  And you don't have to be a Picasso, just keep your images simple.
6. Use more graphs and charts.  The only thing you have to remember here is to be sure to match up the right kind of chart/graph with the information you're trying to convey.  For more on this, check out Gene Zelazny's classic "Say It with Charts."
7. Write and draw on top of your Powerpoint slides.  In slide show mode, you can turn your cursor into a pen by pressing Cntl+P.  Then you're free to circle key words, "x" out a number you'd like to change or compare two parts of a graph.
8. Use props and demonstrations.  Slice up an apple to show budget allocations or roll a pair of dice to illustrate a potentially risky move or smash a cheap watch to reinforce wasted time. 
9. Paint a picture in the minds of your audience.  There's a Chinese proverb that says "the mind paints what the eye cannot see."  Remember "The Blair Witch Project" from the mid-90s?  Part of what made the movie so scary was the fact that the director never showed the witch on screen.  Our mental image of what the witch might look like was immeasurably more frightening than anything Hollywood could have showed us.
10. Use color in your PowerPoint bullet slides.  Call out key words and phrases with color to focus your audience's attention on the ideas you want to drive home.
11. Use the pre-set graphics in PowerPoint to jazz up your text.  For example, show a 3-step process in three boxes with arrows or illustrate the importance of your customers by putting them at the hub of a wheel with key attributes as spokes.  You get the idea.
12. Use video.  We live in a YouTube world.  Let video enhance your ideas.
13. Don't use PowerPoint at all.  (Gasp!)  This would be a really unexpected move.  And, it would force your audience to focus only on you and your message.  That's a good thing.  You'll connect more deeply with them and have a better chance of success.

Try out some of these and see what reaction you get.  Don't be surprised if members of your audience come up and embrace you openly.

Happy speaking,

Steve Hughes

Speaker - Trainer - Kodak Guy

Presentation Lessons from the 2007 Masters

31-year old Zach Johnson made golf history on Sunday by fighting off Tiger Woods to win the 2007 Masters. There are two interesting things about his win. He posted a final score of 1-over 289, the highest winning score in the tournament's 71 year history. It wasn't pretty, but he won. And, he "settled" for birdies (and got them) on the par 5's while others were trying for eagles (and failing).

So what does this have to do with presentations?

Good question.

The first thing is that a good presentation must have a game plan. It doesn't have to be flashy, just effective. Last week at the Masters the conditions were horrible and Zach Johnson had the best game plan to take the top spot. If fact, his approach probably would not have been as successful in previous years. But this was 2007.

He didn't drive the ball the farthest, but he was accurate. He didn't try to reach the green in two on the par 5's like everyone else. His strategy was to not to fight the wind, but take what the course would give him and use it to his advantage. He was content with birdies.

Shorter drives + more accuracy = green jacket.

Good presenters also recognize that they must have a plan going into a presentation. What do you want the audience to do or think as a result of your speech? More importantly, why? Why should they care? Why should they act? Answer these questions and you'll be well on your way to a successful outcome.

The other thing good presenters do is they aren't afraid to make mid-course corrections. What always worked in the past may not be as effective today. Assess the conditions and adjust accordingly.

Now it's time to Hit Your Stride...

Your Turn #1: What is everyone else doing in presentations that you shouldn't be? Do your co-workers always use PowerPoint? Next time consider shaking things up by presenting without it. I guarantee you'll be remembered.

Your Turn #2: In your next presentation how can you stay within yourself to get more than you expected? Don't try to be like someone else. Don't try to do too much. Focus on one thing and nail it.

Happy speaking,

Steve Hughes
Speaker - Trainer - The Presentation Guy
www.hityourstride.com