USC Effective Utilization of Graphics and Images Discussion

PartOne – Answer the following with 200 words each.

1.Multimedia in Presentations:Based on your book reading, discuss the purpose of using graphics and photos in a presentation.

2. Secrets of Powerful Presentations:Based on your book reading, discuss key mistakes that are often made in the use of graphics and photos in a presentation.

Part Two – Reply to six students 100 words each.

Book Reading: Chapters 3, 4, 5, 7, & 9

Presentation Zen Design: Simple Design Principles and Techniques to Enhance Your, 2nd Edition

By: Reynolds, Garr

Multimedia in Presentations
1. Graphics and images are useful in presentations in various ways. First, they help the audience to
envision the item being talked about. For example, a salesperson will put images of the product to
show the audience what the product looks like. Furthermore, clear graphs and tables allow the
audience to visualize the data. On a deeper level, images are useful in adding to the story being
conveyed. Reynolds (2014) commented that “Powerful images plus thoughtful narration – and maybe
even a bit of text- can help you tell your story in ways that bullet points never can” (p.98). In other
words, while bullet points can summarize information, they don’t evoke emotions like images. The
pictures on pg. 99 are a good example of this. One slide says, “Worldwide fishing industry dumps an
estimated 150,000 tons of plastic into the ocean each year” (Reynolds, 2014, p. 99). This statement
by itself on the slide doesn’t evoke emotion. However, the accompanying picture showing garbage
on the beach emphasizes the point and might aid in persuading the audience to take action. In
addition, Designer John McWade advises that the audience is there to listen, not to read slides.
Therefore, replacing unnecessary text with an appropriate picture captures attention and keeps them
focused on the speaker’s message (Reynolds, 2014, p.111).
2. The effectiveness of any presentation can be significantly boosted by the inclusion of visual aids such
as photographs and illustrations. The inclusion of pictures and other types of graphics is another way
to make a presentation more appealing to the eye. Visual aids such as pictures and graphs can, in
general, make a presentation more interesting to the audience while also making it simpler for the
presenter to understand what is being communicated. The addition of graphics and pictures to a
presentation is another way to help make it more interesting and memorable for the audience. This is
because visuals are capable of a great deal more than simply looking pretty; they can also assist in
evoking feelings in your audience and provide more convincing examples.
3. One of the common themes I feel like the learning materials is constantly bringing up is what we can
do to maintain the attention of your audience and delivering content that is easily consumed and w ill
not overwhelm the person receiving the presentation. When it comes to graphics I feel like it can
sometimes feels overwhelming to be presented too much data at once and it takes a lot of thinking to
decipher what is in front of you. Graphics is a great way to reorganize data and present it in a way
that makes it easier to show the target audience what is important and make the data easier to
consume. Color theory is also an important concept when it comes to graphics because it ensures
your whole presentation is visually pleasing and looks like it maintains some type of harmony. They
say a picture is worth a thousand words and by using photos in a presentation, your allowing the
audience to not only retain the information better, but you are able to convey the feelings you would
like your audience to feel based on the imagery you choose to use. Before this class I thought using
too many photos or too little text showed a lack of trying in a presentation. But now, I am more
confident in using the less is more approach in the future.
Secrets of Powerful Presentations
4. One of the primary errors that a lot of people commit is in using too much in everything. By effectively
eliminating the negative space with the inclusion of multiple images, extremely detailed graphics, or
including videos that are too long, they are helping their audience members to get lost in a sea of
saturation. (When first starting a lot of emphasis is placed on having a lot of data/graphics/information
as a way to prove that they put in enough time/work into it, this may compound later and essentially
create an oversaturated death by powerpoint.) This can, and eventually will take away from the most
important element of the presentation, which is the orator. The focus of the audience should go from the
orator, to the carefully placed pieces of information and back to the orator. The human brain can easily
be distracted and if there are other elements that break the harmony of the presentation such as imagery
that doesn’t fit the occasion, badly pixelated/sized pictures, graphics that are out of place in a slide, they
can all serve to capture the persons attention instead of what the presenter is saying. One other mistake
that people create is in not clearly placing supplementary information close to the graphic to help ease
the audiences strain while playing connect-the-dots within a messy and cluttered slide.
5. A wonderful way to keep an audience interested and increase the presentation’s visual appeal is to
use graphics and images. However, several serious mistakes are routinely made when these parts are
used. A common mistake is to use images of mediocre quality. This could make you appear less
competent and distract from your message. Including too many visual aids, such as photos or
illustrations, can make your presentation appear chaotic and overwhelming to your audience. Finally,
if you use inappropriate or offensive images, it could reflect poorly on you and your business. Make
sure the images you use complement your message and are of high quality to avoid the pitfalls listed
below. Make sparing use of visual aids like graphics and photographs, and only include those that
are directly applicable to your target demographic. If you follow these guidelines, you can be sure
that the photos and images you include in your presentation will do more than just add visual appeal;
they will also help you keep the attention of your audience.
6.
Several key mistakes when inserting images have to do with sizing and technical errors. For example,
Reynolds (2014) points to the error of distorting the image by stretching it (p. 116). I’ve been guilty
of this because I was trying to fit the original image into the slide. Doing so can make the people in
the pictures look distorted, which makes it look distracting and unprofessional. Also, another mistake
is using an image that has a watermark (Reynolds, 2014, p. 116). I have also committed this error in
the past in high school. We would use free previews that had the watermark on it, but having such a
picture is very distracting. In addition, it shows that we may have illegally used the picture without
paying a fee to use it. Other errors take place because of choosing the wrong images to use. Reynolds
(2014) advises to avoid clip art (p. 117). I think that people use clip art to be funny or cute, but it’s
not appropriate during settings such as business meetings when we want to be taken seriously.
Finally, a mistake occurs when we choose an image that is unrelated to the topic (p.117). It would be
better to have no image than to have one that distracts from the message.