Creating the right balance in a deck may be a little tricky but it is not impossible. You just need to understand the audience and deliver the content keeping them in mind, throughout. You need not be a professional designer or hire one, to create a jazzy and engaging presentation. A few simple tips can work wonders for your deck. One of the key elements in a presentation is the how successful were you in using visuals to highlight your point of view. In this article, let’s focus on the role of images in PowerPoint or a video presentation and how you can use them to your benefit.
Why bother using images in a video presentation?
Before you select the images for your video presentation or deck, keep in mind that slides are there to support the audience and not you as a presenter. It may guide you through your speech, but the slides are really there to help your audience to understand the content better.
If you are not sure whether to use visuals in your presentation or avoid it, then use RICE as a pointer to decide. RICE is acronym for Reinforce, Illustrate, Clarify, and Explain.
Ask yourself. Will using an image help you:
- reinforce that point in the audience’s mind?
- illustrate the point and help the audience understand it better?
- clarify the concept?
- explain the concept better?
If the answer to any of the questions above is Yes, then go ahead and use appropriate images to create an awesome presentation. Images play an integral part in any presentation.
Top seven best practices to leverage visuals for a mind-blowing presentation
Choosing the right graphics can make any presentation highly engaging and interesting for the audience. Here are top seven best practices to use visuals to their best of ability in your presentation.
Best practice #1: Use high-quality images.
Will you wear your comfortable home pyjamas to office? Of course not! So, why put up a lazily searched, low resolution, or pixelated visual for the audience? It does not help your professional credibility. There are several stock photographs available on the web – paid as well as non-copyrighted. Put in some time and effort to use the most crisp one that will add value to your slides. However, it is best to use high quality authentic images of your product or services, behind the scenes images, and so on.
Best practice #2: Choose consistent images.
Your presentation may focus on a single idea or multiple ones. You may need several images to put your point across. Just like your message, your images should be consistent too. Ensure that they are similar in style, color, formatting, and so on. Are they shot in similar environments? Are they using the same or complementary color palettes? Repetition and consistency demonstrate uniformity. The audience are more prone to retain information if they see similar aesthetics throughout the presentation.
Best practice #3: Utilize visuals that connect.
You should never use a visual just because it looks good. Every image and text you use on the slides must enhance understanding for your audience. The visuals should strongly connect to the topic and the audience and drive action. Avoid tacky clipart. They are dated and boring. Also avoid cliches. No one wants to see yet another pretty model shaking hands or a diverse workforce in a fake meeting room. Use powerful visuals the drive home a point with your audience. It is highly recommended that you use authentic images unique to you, your brand, your team, your product, and your services.
Best practice #4: Ensure lot of white space.
Use visuals that are not very busy and has a lot of white space. White space is the empty place on your slide. It can be white or any other color, for that matter. This empty space is essential in any design as it helps highlight the important elements of the slide.
Best practice #6: Position the visuals based on the Rule of Thirds.
The Rule of Thirds is a benchmark for composition that encourages to place key visual elements along lines which divide your image into thirds, or at the intersections of those lines. Look for visuals that obey this rule. If the image you like is too large, then scale or crop them to create a more pleasing view. You can even consider using images with text placed on the slide based on the rule.
Best practice #6: Encourage using data visualization.
Visuals may not only be photos. It can also include charts, infographics, data analysis and the likes. These data visualization tools are great for explaining an indicator or trend quickly. Just don’t go overboard on the complexity. Clean and simple charts are far more effective.
Best practice #7: Research copyright issues before using the visual.
You cannot use images from the web just as-is. Each visual is protected by copyright laws. You will need permission to use them. The easiest way is to buy the visuals from a photo library. You will still need to follow the terms and conditions of the agency's license agreement to legally use these visual. Even if you own the image, you may not be able to edit or modify it. Then there are images with Creative Commons license that you can use without having to pay. But read the license thoroughly to understand the terms and conditions and what is permitted. Creative Commons images may have an expiry date too. Keep all factors in mind before picking them.
Humans are mostly visual beings. We can grasp the content and retain the information in our memory quite fast by looking at an image or illustration. So, why not use that to our advantage while communicating? Usually, presentations have a time limit. People lose focus after a few initial minutes. Visuals help you explain your points faster and better.
Need help in spicing up your video presentation?
With the BIGVU online video maker you can add and style your video presentations and make it stand out from the rest. You can also brand your videos with customized colors and fonts. The zoom in animation feature makes your clips to make your video more alive!
If you need extra images, search them inside the composer using the Pixabay Feature.
All the Images are copy right free!! How cool is that?
Pick the best video format from vertical, horizontal or square to maximize your reach.
Square videos work best on mobile, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter newsfeeds. While horizontal videos are best for YouTube and emails.
With BIGVU, you can compose your video in a snap. There’s no need for expensive equipment or a video editor. No need to spend hours splicing clips on video editing software.