Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Create Effective Visual Support Materials Help Your Receivers Get the Picture

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Agenda Use visual displays to enhance message comprehension Make the most of your visuals Deliver your visuals with confidence and style Get feedback on your visuals

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Use Visuals to Enhance Message Comprehension Written documents Oral presentations

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Why Use Visuals People are accustomed to visual stimulation 70% of people prefer to receive information visually Visuals help receivers get the message Audiences remember up to twice as much when they both see and hear it

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Visuals Help Writers and Speakers Develop the content of their message Organize ideas and create continuity Strengthen the impact of their message Clarify important concepts Provide variety for their audiences Use fewer additional notes

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Visuals Help Listeners and Readers Clarify and digest abstract ideas Retain information Avoid boredom

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Reasons to Use Visuals Improve communication effectiveness Increase audience’s perceptions of presenter Boost speaker’s confidence

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Visuals Improve Efficiencies Decrease decision- making time 12% Spend less time in meetings Improve audience action

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill University of Minnesota/3M Study Audience likelihood to act + 43% Perceptions of presenter + 11% Information retention +10% Information comprehension + 8.5% Attention +7.5% Agreement +5.5%

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Software for Creating Visuals Microsoft’s Excel™ Microsoft’s PowerPoint ™ WordPerfect’s Presentations ™

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Make the Most of Your Visuals Use visuals for major points Apply common visual formats Check visuals for consistency Avoid the misuse of visuals Use video or audio clips Use flip charts, white boards, and chalkboards

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Visuals: Friend or Foe? Properly created visuals will reinforce your message Poorly designed visuals can distract from your message

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Use Visuals for Major Points Limit each visual to a single point Keep charts and illustrations simple Follow the 30-second rule Remove any superfluous material

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Use an Appropriate Design Concept Pay attention to the expectations of your school, organization, or company Observe what successful people are doing

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Determine Appropriateness Define your context: your situation, audience, and objectives Choose templates based on this analysis

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Apply Common Visual Formats Word charts Pie charts Line charts Bar charts Tables Flow Charts Organizational charts Props and models

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Word Charts State key ideas concisely and directly Are the simplest and most frequently used visual

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Figure 7-1

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Pie Charts Illustrate part-to-whole comparison Focus on only a few broad divisions

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Insert Sample Pie Chart Figure 7-2

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Line Charts Show trends or changes over time Illustrate simple comparisons of trends

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Our Degrees Conferred

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Bar Charts Compare one item with others Include variations to illustrate different relationships

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Varieties of Bar Charts Vertical bar charts Horizontal bar charts Segmented bar charts Grouped bar charts

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Fiscal Year Gross Sales

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Flow Charts Show step-by-step progression Simplify the audience’s understanding Provide instructions or explain solutions

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Organizational Charts Illustrate the structure of a company Show lines of authority and job responsibilities

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Marketing Department

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Props and Models

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Check for Design Consistency Background (Template) Font Structure Capitalization Spacing Illustrations

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Background and Template Use the same template for your entire set of visuals Choose a template that respects your target audience Select high-contrast colors

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill

Multicultural Communication Sherron Bienvenu, PhD Deborah Valentine, MS

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill

Fonts Use a consistent font Employ the same size and style for all titles Employ the same size and style for all body copy

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Fonts Have Personalities Tahoma Times New Roman Courier Comic Sans Bookman Old Style Arial

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Serif and Sanserif Fonts Serif Fonts Times New Roman Book Antiqua Rockwell Sanserif Fonts Tahoma Comic Sans Lucida Sans

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Limit the Number of Fonts Use only two fonts per document Choose sufficiently different fonts Avoid “busy”documents

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Font Sizes for Slides 44 point font (good for titles) 32 point font (good for body copy) 28 point font (good for body copy in some fonts) 18 point font (too small) 14 point font (ridiculous)

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Font Sizes for Written Documents Major heads - 18-point type or larger Body copy - 12 points Title fonts should be easily distinguishable Bold Italicized Larger

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Structure Break up the text using Bullet points Enumeration Use parallel structure

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Capitalization Use capital letters sparingly in visuals Present titles using a mixture uppercase and lowercase letters Capitalize only proper nouns and the first word in each bullet

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Spacing Begin all titles at the same place Start body copy on the same line Consider an alternate starting place for slides with 2-line titles Use consistent spacing between bullets Use more space between bullets than within bullets

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Illustrations or Clip Art Illustrate your points Break up your documents Help your audience focus

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Samples of Clip Art Insert figure 7-10

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Use High-contrast Visuals

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Avoid the Misuse of Visuals Communicators misuse visuals when they: Make them too complicated Overwhelm the message

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Video or Audio Clips Add impact by using video or audio clips Choose clips with motion and sound Create your own clips

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Flip Charts Are especially useful in problem-solving meetings Record ideas shared in a group Allow group to react to input May be posted for easy reference

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill White and Chalk Boards Exist in many meeting rooms and class rooms Provide a large space to write

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Deliver your Visuals with Confidence and Style Double check your visuals Leave the lights on Use a remote control Face the audience - not the image Limit number of slides Minimize the number of transition types Turn off projectors when not in use

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Get Feedback on Your Visuals While designing your visuals During delivery After your presentation

Bienvenu and Timm, Business Communication: Discovering Strategy, Developing Skill Remember: Visuals Enhance Message Comprehension Use visuals to enhance your message Plan visuals based on audience needs Create consistent visuals Avoid over-complicating your visuals Check your presentation visuals before your presentation