Finding the right balance between pictures and text is an important aspect of your PowerPoint presentation. In this blog we’ll explain the effect pictures have in PowerPoints and why you should likely add more of them.
First, you need to ask yourself what the goal of your presentation is. Are you hoping to entertain your audience or would you rather them retain the information you present? The two aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive, but you have to decide which one you’re focusing on.
If your goal is to have your audience retain the content, then you should add more pictures. According to a recent Forbes article, retention increases dramatically when you add pictures to the presentation:
“The secret to bringing “old school” PowerPoint into the new age of presentation can be found in the concept of “picture superiority.” Information is easier to retain and more robustly processed by a person’s brain if it is presented in text and pictures. Deliver information verbally and your audience might retain 10 percent of the information. Add a picture and retention soars to 65 percent.?
Now you need to ask yourself what kind of pictures you’ll add. Some presentations use images to complement their text. By doing this, you’re catering to both visual and auditory learners.
You can also create custom images which contain information. An example of this is an infograph, which is a hybrid of text and images. Infographs are great for changing things up during your presentation and they’re very effective in terms of informing and engaging your audience.
After you know which pictures you want to add, you can go into ever greater detail. Now you have to think about things like where you’ll place your pictures, in which slides they’ll have the biggest effect, and if they’re playing a role in retention. These factors are what separates good presentations from great ones.