Can visual design on a slide help in presentation delivery?
Tell us more. Tom: I look at “design” from a non-artistic perspective first. The first thing I look at is the amount of clutter. If the visual is “busy” then it requires attention from the audience. If a presenter seeks attention and a slide seeks attention, then they compete. Competing for attention makes presenting more difficult. For example, suppose a bullet point on a visual reads like a full sentence (possibly wrapping to a second line). The viewer must assign attention in order to “read” and interpret the words, while, at the same time, a presenter is speaking. It is difficult to read and listen at the same time. Some presenters will try to adapt to the design and read the exact words on the visual to the audience. This is of no value to those who already know how to read. The design must be adapted to the presenter. If the bullet point contains a few key words, the audience will not “read”, but will “listen” to the speaker interpret the key words in the context of the presentat
