“Great presentation. You are a rock star!”
That’s what you want to hear after you step down from the podium.
Getting to that point can be painful for many professionals though. Most people create presentations by trial and error, often co-mingling clear and concise copy with complex graphics that yield no benefit to the audience. As in creating any communications piece, attention to clear mechanics, simple style and artistry is key to designing good information graphics. Yet 99 percent of presenters make charts and graphics on the fly, right before show time.
As a result, many presenters lose their audiences in slide after slide of complex charts and graphs that muddy the message they’re trying to deliver.
Working at Siegel+Gale, a brand consultancy and pioneer in simplified communications, I’ve combined my training in information design with simplified communications techniques to help an array of audiences communicate their messages clearly. Whether it’s reporting financial information, creating a client presentation, interactive communication, or customer document, understanding how to design information graphics that complement the message is key to business success.
In my new book, The Wall Street Journal Guide to Information Graphics, I begin with the basics – the data content – that drives all graphics. You will learn to make the right choices about filtering and displaying your data. For example, plotting a stock index in actual values versus plotting the percentage change will yield two different pictures. By charting the same data in a different framework, you provide a new reference point for your audience. When you supply the reference point, you control the message.
The book goes on to cover how to use colors to your advantage, how to manage costs and resources through the use of graphics, and many other practical applications through numerous dos and don’ts.
The great feedback that I’ve gotten from reviewers shows that graphics sensibility is an essential ingredient of effective business communications today. After reading the examples from the book, you will never look at any communications piece the same way.