The Right Way to Craft Visuals in Your Keynote or Presentation

We've been hitting a gamut of communication topics. Now, if you've been following me, there were three major buckets that we would spend time around. The first bucket was around this idea of delivery, physically, how you come across the second bucket was around crafting content, your message, your presentation, your keynote speech, and the third was around interaction.

[00:02:05] Today. I want to take us deep into this idea of the way we use our visuals. I am not going to spend a lot of time giving you tips and tricks on how to create your PowerPoint slide. I'm going to give you a high-level overview of that, but where I want to spend the heart of my time with you is how we use our visuals.

[00:02:27] Not how do we create our visuals? The University of Illinois did a study on the use of visual AIDS. Guys. They found that someone who uses visual AIDS is 85%. They are 85% more effective than someone who doesn't use their visual AIDS. So the question you and I have to ask ourselves is not whether I can use visuals for my presentation, my meeting, my talk, my virtual webcast, my zoom session.

[00:02:58] That's not the question. The question becomes, how do I use them in such a manner that I stay the center of attention. Guys, just from my experience of helping folks for over the last 30 years, it is critical, no matter what communication channel that you're using, that you stay the center of attention.

[00:03:20] I want you to remember that people buy you before they buy visual AIDS. I want you to remember that people buy from people that they like, and I want you to remember that people buy from people. They don't buy from companies. So when we slap up a bunch of slides, and you thought you have the ability to sell your company, your solution, tool, or product, you're missing the Mark.

[00:03:45] They're going to buy you first. And then they're going to get your visuals. Now, those visuals could be PowerPoint, a whiteboard, a chalkboard, or a handout. It could be a prop, whatever you decide to bring to the table. As we walked through this brief session today, I'd like you to do two things for me.

[00:04:03] I want you to take two paradigms shifts, a paradigm shift. Number one, I want you to think differently about how you craft a slide and paradigm shift. Number two, I want you to think differently about how you use the visual. Now, if you'll do those two things for me, here's what I think you're going to find.

[00:04:24] Number one, you stay the center of attention. You stay at the focal point. Number two, you're going to find that engagement goes through the ceiling when you make these paradigm shifts. And most importantly, in my mind, you'll increase your ability to influence people. Now want you to remember something. John Maxwell said that leadership is nothing more, nothing less than pure influence, guys.

[00:04:50] What we do when we use our visuals when communicating, we are influencing people. We are taking them from point a to point B. We're taking them from a place where they are uncertain to a place where they are searching. And I want you to remember primarily right to sound now for me, that the purpose of the visual aid is to enhance your content period, visual laser, not your notes, but that's how most people end up using their visuals.

[00:05:22] Now, in our segment today, I'm going to break it into two major buckets. The first bucket I'm going to cover just some tips and tricks that may help you craft your slides. These are very simple ideas that will keep you the center of attention. Then I'm going to spend the majority of our time together, really talking about how to use those visual AIDS in such a manner that you stay the center of attention.

[00:05:46] You keep your audience engaged, and you keep this idea that it's a conversation. Let's look at the first idea that I want to share with you around crafting your slides: idea number one, one idea per visual. So if I'm looking at your slide, if you're crafting a slide that should communicate one idea, you could have five bullet points on there.

[00:06:12] Six bullet points, whatever you decide. You're going to have a cartoon. You can have a quote at the bottom, but as long as all those things on that one slide communicate one idea. Then your wedding. The second one, I call the golden rule. The title must convey the essence of the slide. I should be able to read the title of your slide guys and know exactly what you're talking about.

[00:06:39] So many times, I see people bring up a slide and you read the title, and when you're trying to make a connection to what's in the body of the slide. And there's no connection. You should be able to look at the title of that slide and know exactly what I'm going to be talking about. Now, I want to make an application with that idea to a whiteboard.

[00:06:59] How many times have you walked into a business meeting, maybe you walked in late, and there's a bunch of things on the whiteboard, and there is no title on that whiteboard, and you sit down, and you're trying to catch up, but you have no idea what that person's discussing. If you will put a title on your whiteboard and then put underneath it, whatever you want if you will put 

[00:07:20] a 

[00:07:20] Bart Queen: title on your flip chart, title on your chalkboard, I don't care what you're doing up there.

[00:07:24] If you're handwriting, put a title and then put everything in it. The principle applies one idea per visual. So whatever you put up on that whiteboard, you've got a title, and then everything underneath it should be communicating around that single idea, goals, and rule number three, no more than seven words in a title.

[00:07:47] Now I know as you're thinking, Bart, that's a lot of words in a title. Yes. I'm trying to think maximum here for you, especially for those folks of you who are in technology. When you need several words, now, seven in the title can include an, a, or XY. So you may need those kinds of simple words.

[00:08:07] And that's why I'm allowing you to expand and did that total idea of seven words per title. So let's look at what I've given you. One idea for visual, the title. It must convey the essence of the slide and no more than seven words in a title. So let's look at the next golden rule. I want you to think about this.

[00:08:31] One is critical, and this is where I get the biggest pushback. Pictures are better than text. Pictures are better than text, or you've heard the old saying that one. 

[00:08:42] picture 

[00:08:43] Bart Queen: is worth a thousand words. So I'm going to ask you a question. When you think of someone in the marketplace that you said, do a tremendous job with pictures in what I would call their presentations, who comes to mind.

[00:09:01]the person that comes to my mind was Steven jobs. Think about when he launched a new Apple product; he was in his teens, black uniform, black t-shirt, black turtleneck, black jeans, black shoes up on stage, age, very conversational behind him, when he launched a product, typically a bunch of pictures.

[00:09:23] Cause he knew that you would identify with the picture, glance to it, and stay focused on him. The other brilliant thing that he did was he would put music behind it. So you and I both know that when you see a picture, and you hear some type of music, you get an emotional connection. Steven's jobs were brilliant at the principal.

[00:09:46] That people buy with emotion, and they verify with facts, and he drov...