Visual Communication

It’s been over 34 years since Microsoft introduced PowerPoint.

Since that time, billions of PowerPoints have been created.[1]

Consider this comparison: If each PowerPoint was an inch, there would be enough PowerPoints to extend to the moon and back...over 10 times!

That’s a lot of slides.

Despite the considerable volume of generated slide decks, the old adage “practice makes perfect” hasn’t borne out. We all regularly encounter slide decks that merely repeat spoken content—often as a string of bullet points. Like this:

This text-based slide might look okay, but it generates some significant communication problems:

First, it invites your audience to stop listening and begin reading. This shifts their attention from you to the slide, and each time your audience decouples from you, you risk losing them.

Second, the slide steals your role as the expert-in-the-room. With all of the information presented on the slide, the audience can simply stop listening to you. You become unnecessary.

Third, not only can your audience read your slide, but you may inadvertently start reading your slides to the audience. We all know how that feels.

Finally, research has shown that humans are far more successful encoding and recalling images than words.[2] This is called the picture superiority effect. In essence, people have a much easier time remembering visual content, so presenting a list of bullet-points misses a major opportunity to create “sticky content.”

Consider this visual alternative:

Does it make a stronger impression?

Of course, there isn’t bulleted content, but that’s the point. The slide exists to capture attention, engage the audience, and provide an image to which the audience can associate details—details that you, the speaker, provide.

Now, imagine that you heed this advice, reduce text, and make your slides predominantly visual. You become the star of your presentation, your audience sees your expertise, and they more easily remember your content. It’s the perfect outcome.

But then you learn that the decision-maker isn’t in the room and you need to send your presentation to bring them up to speed. What good is a collection of thematic images without the associated talk track?

We have a solution...the Note Page!

The Note Page is a feature within PowerPoint that you can access through the “View” menu. When activated, it opens a page partitioned into two sections. The top section is the visual slide and the bottom section is a text box that you can use to include any explanatory text or images. You also have the power to format the Note Page Master to reinforce your brand (font, colors, logo, etc.).

You can then print the Note Page version of the slide deck either physically or as a .pdf and deliver this version to your audience or other interested parties as a send-ahead or leave-behind.

Break free from the 34-year-old trend of using PowerPoint to display written content. Take advantage of the power of the picture superiority effect and don’t cede your expertise to a slide deck. Be visual!