When you get up in front of an audience to make a presentation, you aren’t just imparting information: you’re trying to engage people in a vision for something, even if that something is just an onboarding procedure or a product description.
The best presenters have always understood that information, on its own, isn’t worth very much. It is only when that information becomes part of a narrative that it becomes useful. This is one of the reasons giving a presentation can be so challenging — how do you reduce complex and technical data into a series of points people can actually act on?
Visuals are one of the most intuitive tools for doing this: a graph, chart, diagram, or explainer video helps people synthesize large amounts of data in a memorable way, freeing the presenter up to move from the “what” question to the more important “so what?” question.
Getting visuals that clearly make the point you need them to make can take a bit of work, though, which is why investing in outsourcing them to a PowerPoint presentation designer who specializes in custom graphics can be worthwhile.
The Right Picture Really is Worth a Thousand Words
Have you ever tried to put together a piece of furniture based solely on a written description? It’s not easy — which is why Ikea and other flat-pack furniture companies use clear, well-marked diagrams instead.
Most presenters understand the importance of including visual content in their PowerPoint slides, but “visual content” for its own sake won’t help very much: the question is which visual content you include, how you integrate it, and whether or not it brings the audience closer to grasping the key takeaways.
Custom graphics help you distil a large amount of complex information into intuitive images and data visualizations that enhance your narrative and meet the needs of all types of learners. And because these graphics are designed specifically for your products or services, they can be tweaked to reinforce your particular brand and values.
What Does Custom Graphic Design Involve?
The custom graphics package you will want to look for depends to a certain degree on your particular needs. But the best way to get high-quality visuals that will help your presentation pop is to approach a presentation company that has its own in-house design team.
For example, presentation companies like Stinson Design offer a comprehensive suite of options, including:
- Demo videos
- Explainer videos
- Video infographics
- Technical and scientific illustrations
- Iconography
- Free-form drawings
In addition to bringing data to life, choosing to outsource custom graphics to a presentation design company means you will also get support with the entire PowerPoint slideshow. This in turn will give you consistency across your entire presentation or across multiple presentations, and help you create a coherent brand aesthetic and underscoring your professionalism.
There are many things that go into a good presentation, and many skills that you can develop to help you become a better presenter. But one sure-fire way to guarantee that your presentation runs smoothly and accomplishes its stated goals is to incorporate well-designed and easily-digested custom graphics.
