Your job as a presentation designer is to make ideas into
visual images. For your presentations to work, the visual
images must convey exactly what you want to say and require
the least possible effort on the part of your audience to
“get it”.The difference between a visual that works and one that fails
is good design.
To appreciate of how good design adds to the quality of our
lives, it helps to look at some examples of truly bad design
that we all deal with on an everyday basis. Bad design abounds,
and everyday our lives are a little less pleasant for it.
The really unfortunate thing about poorly designed objects
is that countless unpleasant times might have been spared
if only the designer had thought through his or her approach
a little more thoroughly. The line between good and bad design
is often fine. It can be no more than positioning a button
in a spot not easily accessed by mistake; a label placed where it could
actually be seen before the wrong action is taken; a multi-step
process where you don’t have to get to step seven before
you realize you did step three wrong; or a lever or handle
shaped more like the movement it wants you to make.
When you acquire a more developed sensitivity to design, you
begin to look at all things with questions such as, “Might
it have been better to do it this way?”, or “What
would it have taken to make it work like this?”
Then take a look at the last presentation you delivered. Do
you suppose there were elements that caused even temporary
confusion? And then when you explained the element, did they
say, “Oh I get it - but why didn’t you just say
it this way?”?
All bad designs cause the expenditure of more effort to
produce the same result. The more effort it takes to absorb
your message the less energy is available for processing the
message itself. Effort causes discomfort. In the presentation
environment, that can mean disaster because -for the very
same reason- discomfort leads to disassociation from the message.
That’s why professional trainers make certain the learning
environment is as comfortable as possible - fresh water, good
seats, frequent breaks. “The mind can only absorb what
the buttocks can endure” is old but still relevant. Bad
presentation design is a pain in the ass, and it stops message uptake just as quickly.
Now let’s step back from presentations for a few moments.
Think about the various devices - electrical, mechanical,
architectural, digital, whatever – that you use or come
in contact with on a daily or weekly basis. Keep in mind that
anything manufactured for human consumption was first designed
by a human. You know that some humans are more talented than
others. If you’re like most people, you have probably
been annoyed or frustrated with a device than was designed
by one from the less talented group.
Next time you use your hair-dryer, notice whether the high-low
switch works the way you would expect, or to affect a High
setting you need to push the switch to its Lower position.
Can you get water into and coffee out of your drip-style
coffee-maker without dripping any of either? Where does your
refrigerator spew more ice – into your glass or onto
the floor? Can your friends operate your microwave without
your showing them how?
Discussing how design affects our everyday lives is purposeful
in getting you to think very hard about how your presentation
designs affect the people you subject them too, and why it
is worth the effort to do them well. And although it is kind
and thoughtful to design in ways that enhance, rather than
detract from, the quality of your audience’s experience,
the bottom line is simple: good design goes down easier. You
need every opportunity to get your audience on your side,
and you must allow nothing in your control to discomfort the
people you’re trying to persuade. As Edward Tufte says,
“audiences are fragile; respect them”.
One last sad truth about bad design is that so many people
who are frustrated by things that don’t work think it’s
their fault! When people don’t understand what they’re
told, or audiences don’t understand what they see on
the screen, they often blame themselves – they believe that they’re
either stupid or slow or perhaps they simply learn in other
ways.
Ask yourself: Do your presentations have a less-than-evident
“operating system?” Before someone can get your
message (the function of your presentation) do they first
have to learn and comprehend your design?
Your main goal when designing a presentation should be to
keep your audience’s attention on your idea, your pitch,
your proposal-your message. They should never be distracted
by, or even really aware of, your design. Dazzling them with
bells and whistles will help them remember the bells and whistles,
not your message. You need to make your message the star so
that nothing takes their minds away from it.
Your audience has gone to some effort to let you speak your
piece. Thank them for showing up by rewarding them with good
design.
J. Douglas Jefferys is a principal at http://PublicSpeakingSkills.com,
a national consulting firm specializing in training businesses
of all sizes to communicate for maximum efficiency. The firm
spreads its unique knowledge through on-site classes, public seminars, and high-impact
videos, and can be reached through the Internet or at 888-663-7711
