How to select and create an effective visual for your business presentation

Why is it so difficult for most business

professionals to break away from the

standard bullet point lists and basic

graphs in their presentations?

I think there are four main reasons.

Second, they don’t

have a process to

use when selecting a

visual. They often

ask, “Which visual

should I use?”

Finally, they think they need to be a designer

or graphic artist to create effective visuals.

You don’t need to be an artist

What you do need is:

1. A process that you can follow

2. A library of visuals to select from, and

3. The skills to create the visuals using

the tools you already use.

How do I know this will work?

Because it has worked for me.

My name is Dave Paradi, and I am a

presentation expert. I have authored

seven books and I am one of only

thirteen people in North America

recognized by Microsoft with the

PowerPoint Most Valuable Professional

Award. I don’t have a design

background. I have a degree in

Chemical Engineering and an MBA.

Over the last 15 years I have figured out

how business professionals like you and

I can create effective visuals for our

presentations. They may not be as

fancy as a high end designer, but they

effectively communicate the important

messages we are presenting. And that

is what matters most.

Let me share what I have learned.

Here is the process I use.

Have a

Clear

Message

Select

Message

Category

Select

the Visual

Create

the Visual

Let’s start with the first step.

You must be clear on the

message you want the

audience to understand from

this slide. Without clarity, the

next steps won’t work.

Write a headline for the slide,

like a newspaper writes a

headline for an article.

Keep it to one single message.

If you have multiple messages,

create multiple slides.

Now comes the tough part for most

business professionals.

Selecting the visual.

I start by selecting which category of

message I am communicating.

Here are the six categories of visuals that I

use (with some sub-categories):

$62K

56%

A relationship between

numbers/value/size

A relationship of

sequence

A relationship

over time

A relationship between

entities

A person, place,

or object

An example

Sub-categories for

numbers/value/size:

• Comparing values to a

desired state

• Comparing values to

each other

• Showing components of

a total/whole

• Showing a trend

Use the previous breakdown to

determine which category your

message falls into.

Now I’ll show you some visuals for each

category and some tips on creating

those visuals.

Examples of visuals that communicate comparing

values to a desired state

Tips & techniques for creating visuals that

communicate comparing values to a desired state

A dashed line on a graph is easier to understand than

columns or bars side-by-side.

Graphs can be created in Excel or PowerPoint (if you use

Excel, sign up to receive my e-book on presenting Excel data to

executives).

If you are using a stoplight dashboard, add a letter to

indicate the color to help color blind people understand

the visual.

Examples of visuals that communicate comparing

values to each other

Tips & techniques for creating visuals that

communicate comparing values to each other

You can create graphs in Excel or PowerPoint. To

create a graph in PowerPoint, watch this video. To

clean up the default graph in Excel or PowerPoint,

watch this video.

To create proportional shape comparisons, use this

calculator to determine how big each shape should be.

A bullet graph (the bottom right visual on the previous

slide), is a clustered column graph with the column in

front set to appear on a second axis.

Examples of visuals that communicate showing

components of a total/whole

Tips & techniques for creating visuals that show

components of a total/whole

A waterfall graph is a stacked column graph that has

one segment invisible. For tips on creating this visual

and making the calculations easier, use this calculator.

A diverging stacked bar chart (the lower left visual on

the previous slide) allows the viewer to compare the

relative size of two groups of related data. This

calculator helps you create this type of visual.

Treemaps (the lower right visual on the previous slide)

are an alternative to pie charts. This calculator will

make sizing the rectangles easier.

Examples of visuals that communicate showing a

trend

Tips & techniques for creating visuals that show a

trend

A line graph is a much better choice than a stacked

column graph for showing the trend of multiple related

data series. Add text box labels for each line in the

same color as the line instead of using the legend.

A dual axis graph should only be used to show the

correlation (or lack of correlation) between related data

series. It should not be used to put unrelated data

together to save space. Use another slide if there are

two messages to communicate.

Examples of visuals that communicate a relationship

of sequence

Tips & techniques for creating visuals that

communicate a relationship of sequence

In almost all cases, it is easier to draw a diagram using

the shape tools in PowerPoint instead of the SmartArt

tool. It creates a more flexible diagram that is exactly

what you wanted to create.

To make objects on the slide perfectly align with each

other, use the technique in this video.

The Shift key is a great time saver. Hold it while

drawing a line to keep it perfectly horizontal or vertical.

Hold it while drawing an oval to keep it a circle and

while drawing a rectangle to keep it a square. Hold it

while rotating a shape to get it a multiple of 90 degrees.

Examples of visuals that communicate a relationship

over time

Tips & techniques for creating visuals that

communicate a relationship over time

To quickly create an evenly spaced timeline, use the

technique shown in this video.

When using side-by-side graphs, make sure they are

the same size so that the comparison is valid.

An easy way to create a calendar visual is to insert a

table in PowerPoint. Add labels for the days, months or

date numbers as needed.

Examples of visuals that communicate a relationship

between entities

Tips & techniques for creating visuals that

communicate a relationship between entities

When using a table to show a relationship, use the left

column for the criteria, and each of the other columns

show how each option/element measures on the

criteria.

Text slides are in this category. Don’t think that you can

only use bullet point text. Use text points separated by

space, text in shapes, and text in columns. This video

shows some text formatting techniques.

Hierarchical diagrams are best created using the

drawing shapes and text boxes in PowerPoint. It is a

more flexible approach than the SmartArt tool.

Examples of visuals that communicate a person,

place, or object

Tips & techniques for creating visuals that

communicate a person, place, or object

When using a screen capture or any image, crop the

portions that are not important for your message. This

keeps the audience focused on the point you want

them to remember from this visual.

To place text on top of an image and have it easily

seen, add an outline and glow to the text in a

contrasting color (ie. white text with a black outline).

Use the snapshot tool in Acrobat to copy images from

PDF files. This video shows how.

This video shows two screen capture techniques in

Windows.

Examples of visuals that communicate an example

Tips & techniques for creating visuals that

communicate an example

To highlight text in a quote, use the technique in this

video.

When using audio or video clips, make sure they are

short (30 seconds or less), of good quality, and are

edited to only provide support for the one point you are

making on this slide.

Case studies should have four parts: the problem that

was faced, what it was costing, the solution that was

implemented, and what benefit the solution brought.

Hopefully I just increased your visual

inventory with the examples in the

previous slides.

You also have tips for creating these

visuals and links to videos or other

resources to help when creating the

visuals.

I have more resources on my website:

Articles on creating effective

presentations

PowerPoint Tutorial Videos

My free bi-weekly newsletter

and more

Later this year I am planning to release

a resource that will be a very extensive

library of visuals (over 80 types), along

with more best practices for creating

effective visuals.

If you want priority notice of when this

resource is released, just add your

name and email address to the list

here.

©2014 Dave Paradi

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