Presentation visuals are one of the most compelling parts of a presentation. Some presenters underestimate the importance of a visual presentation and decide to only speak, or use text slides to back up what they’re saying.
This is a huge mistake – effective visual presentations can have a massive positive impact on your viewers. Almost all information transmitted to the brain is visual (see below), which underlines the effectiveness of visuals in a good presentation.
Here, we will go over the top 10 benefits of using visual content to help you deliver an engaging and memorable presentation.
1. Visuals save you time in preparing your presentation
We understand that creating a great presentation is a demanding and time-consuming process! Why spend hours transcribing your notes onto a PowerPoint presentation when you could use effective visuals that communicate your message better and save you a lot of preparation time? Besides, it’s unlikely audience members will be trying to read a lot of text as they will be focussing on what you are saying. And if they are reading large text slides, they will your speaking. Visuals make it easy for your listeners to follow along and hear you at the same time.
2. Visuals make your presentation more interesting
Everyone has had a bad presentation experience, and it might be said that we’re all suffering from PowerPoint presentation fatigue, to an extent. To avoid casting your audience’s mind back to the experience of fighting to stay awake in a particularly dry university lecture, use photography and video content to keep them hooked. Visuals used correctly can make your presentation a lively and engaging affair.
3. Visuals grab the audience’s attention
The bottom line is, visuals are more likely to grab your audience’s attention. Presentations can be difficult to follow, especially when the information being presented is unfamiliar or challenging. According to the Visual Teaching Alliance, visuals transmit information faster than spoken or written words; we can get the sense of a visual scene in less than 1/10 of a second, and visuals are processed 60,000 times faster in the brain than text. With people processing images at lightning speed, it is a mistake to miss out on visuals in your presentation.
4. Visuals help the audience to understand your presentation
Not only is visual content attention-grabbing, but it is a powerful tool for helping your audience to understand your content. The majority of us are visual learners. According to Forbes, 65% of us are visual learners. Considering that much of public speaking is conjuring an image in the audience’s mind by painting a picture with your words – why not cut out the middle man, and use a literal image? Visuals are much more likely to be effective in communicating your message, given that 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual.
5. The audience is more likely to remember the content with visuals
The average person only remembers about a fifth of what they hear, and visual aids can improve learning by 400%. Furthermore, a study conducted by Georgia State University found that imagery is an effective way to enhance memory. If you want your audience to remember your presentation once it’s finished, use visual content to embed the information in their mind.
6. Visuals make you an effective communicator
Not everyone is skilled in the art of oratory and that’s okay. You don’t need to have elocution lessons to deliver the perfect presentation. Public speaking is just one element of presentations. as we have already seen, visual content is incredibly important in helping you deliver your speech. If public speaking isn’t your best asset, we have some good news for you. Photographs, infographics, and videos can all be used to help deliver your message and make an engaging and informative presentation.
7. Visuals can be emotive
Sometimes you can describe an emotive scene to someone, and they can acknowledge the emotions but they don’t feel them. Seeing an image is much more evocative than hearing someone describe it. Sometimes, the emotions just don’t register until you can see them with your own eyes. If you want to get your audience to feel something, use photos and videos to make your audience members feel happy, excited, amused, empathetic, sad, or inspired.
8. Visual presentations are more inclusive
Many presenters fall into the trap of assuming everyone in the audience thinks in the same way. When we assume everyone thinks the same way as us, we are discounting the fact that audiences are linguistically diverse, culturally diverse, and neuro-diverse. Because not everyone operates at the same level of comprehension, some of your speech is likely to go over the heads of members of your audience. To help deliver a useful and engaging presentation for everyone, use effective visuals which are more likely to get through to them.
9. Impressive visuals increase your credibility
Using polished, well-constructed photos, videos and infographics is a sure-fire way to increase your credibility. Linking to someone else’s YouTube video or using a generic stock photo doesn’t rouse the same admiration and respect as using your custom-made visual content. Professionally made visuals upgrade the overall look and feel of your presentation as well as sending a message of professionalism and trustworthiness in you and your brand.
10. Unique visuals make your presentation stand out
If you want to deliver a truly memorable and unique presentation you cannot use the same tired formula. One of the best ways to enhance your presentation to an outstanding quality is to use unique visuals. Custom photography and videography allow you complete creative control over your presentation, which means it will be unique to you and your cause. For maximum personalisation, create your visual content the way you see fit.
We hope you enjoyed our top 10 reasons why you need good presentation visuals!
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