In my last post I established the importance of developing visuals and handouts that fulfill their unique purposes in our presentations. More specific, visuals – the images we project on the screen – must help the audience digest our spoken words better and more quickly, while our handouts – the physical document we provide our audience – serve as a future, stand-alone reference.
Most presenters I speak with, after some reflection, accept this logic. Yet they continue to follow the more traditional approach of using one, information-dense document as both their visuals and handout. Why??
There are a number of common reasons.
First is the issue of time. We can’t afford the time to write one document, let alone two, right? I understand these are busy times, but if our presentation is at all important, how can we NOT find the time to do it right? There’s no magic formula for managing time, but we can all do better.
Second is the matter of expectations. We assume our audience expects our visuals and handouts to match, so they can follow along. Perhaps, but while our visuals and handouts won’t match, they will align. Seeing the connection between the two isn’t difficult. And in the best of presentations, our audience isn’t following our handout, they’re following us, the presenter.
Third are the constraints imposed by corporate templates or bosses: “We must do it this way.” OK. But have we ever respectfully challenged these constraints? Preferably by demonstrating a better approach? This takes time. And courage. So we take the easy route: the status quo.
Fourth is the issue of content. We assume our material doesn’t lend itself to simplified, image-driven visuals. After all, we’re serious business professionals! And our audience needs to see our information in all its gory detail!! I used to fall back on this one all the time. But eventually I came to realize this wasn’t the case at all – you can tell ANY story with simple visuals. What was really holding me back was courage – or more accurately, a lack there of. I didn’t have the courage to remove all my notes from the screen. I didn’t have the courage to focus the audience’s full attention on me. I didn’t have the courage to truly engage my audience. I didn’t have the courage to BE DIFFERENT. As a result, my presentations – and audiences – suffered unnecessarily.
All of these reasons are understandable. But none are justifiable.
So why do you use the visuals you do?