The Proper Role of Graphics in a Presentation

Jerry Weissman

Think about a time when you were in the audience at a presentation and the graphics didn’t work. What was the problem? These are the most common answers my business clients give:

• “The graphics were cluttered.”

• “There was too much on the slide.”

• “The slide looked like an eye chart.”

• “The slide was a Data Dump.”

Now flip the lens and take the point of view of an Audience Advocate. What’s the effect on you? Odds are that it’s another case of the dreaded MEGO (Mine Eyes Glaze Over) syndrome: the same cause and effect as when a story is unloaded on you as a Data Dump.

The main reason this happens is that presenters fail to distinguish between a document and a presentation. They treat ...