The situations that may lead you to create a graphic are numerous. Whether it’s for a meeting, presenting your results, or even fundraising, they are often welcome. To support communication with the media, a survey, or a barometer, they facilitate understanding and presenting information. To achieve the desired impact, they must be prepared with care. If you have to present them in a video conference, they must be even more explicit, and the trend today is to communicate through online platforms. Here are 6 tips to make your graphics convincing.

1. Consider the Message You Want to Convey Before choosing any graphic to integrate into your presentation, always ask yourself these questions beforehand: What effect are you looking for, and what message do you want to convey? The graphic is not intended for purely decorative purposes. It must play a real role in your speech and convey a strong idea. If this is not the case, its presence may not be justified. It is up to you to start with the message you want to convey. Once this step is complete, choose the data you want to exploit by eliminating those that are of little or no use. Once this reflection and research are completed, you can now find graphics that perfectly match your speech. Choose carefully to make your speech synonymous with success!
2. Choose Suitable Colors For you, the color of your graphics does not represent the least importance? Error! It makes them more readable and pleasing to the eye. Your goal is to reach as many people as possible and quickly convey essential information. To overcome the different types of situations, several factors that can affect the use of color must be taken into account. Different best practices should remain in your mind, for example, the fact that nearly one in ten men is color blind, and 0.8% among women. Some may be attending your presentation! Choose colors taking this aspect into account or specify them in your presentation. Another point to note, if you are speaking to an international audience, be aware that colors do not have the same meaning from one country to another. Pay close attention to these different aspects. Another piece of advice, avoid using gradients. These can pose a comprehension problem. Clearly distinguish your diagrams and graphics.
3. Use Figures Wisely To make your message even more explicit, you have no shortage of choices when it comes to graphics. Scatter plot, histogram, or even curves can meet your needs. However, it is essential not to use them haphazardly and to carefully consider their proper use. Why? Too much repetition may cause them to lose the impact they could have and make your presentation look like a drawing class. The same goes for improper use of figures. If you want to show the evolution of something, do not opt for a pie chart, for example. Prefer curves or histograms instead. The choice is more relevant, and the graphic is much more readable. Keep in mind that the goal is to provide maximum information in minimum time. Include only the essential!
4. Present a Positive View During your presentation, do you prefer to present things in a favorable light? No problem! Nobody likes to show results that may have a negative connotation. In these conditions, lying serves no purpose and is even discouraged. You can, however, provide a more positive view by skewing people’s perception. By choosing to place numbers between 3 and 5% on the ordinate instead of 0 and 5%, for example. The slope will be steeper and give the impression of better results. You can also opt to modify the lengths of the axes to change the curve. Give your graphics the vision you want to support and convince your presentation even more.
5. Capture Attention To transmit the message you want to convey most effectively and maintain the audience’s attention, be ingenious. Do not hesitate to create breaks within your graphics! Highlight data that you find relevant to attract everyone’s attention to this point and make it stand out. For example, use a darker or lighter color compared to the rest. This way, everyone will directly focus on what interests you. Keep in mind that you should not overload your graphics to keep them as clear as possible. It’s up to you to capture the audience’s attention on what interests you!
6. Make the Presentation More Lively The presence of graphics not only makes your presentation more understandable but also more lively. To give it an even more lively aspect, do not hesitate to involve the audience. When presenting one of your visuals, ask if everyone understands and if the diagram is clear. People will feel involved, and their attention can only increase. You can also add animations to your graphics to achieve the same goal. Do your best to ensure everyone has an enjoyable time!

During a presentation, graphics play a crucial role in understanding the message you want to convey, but also in capturing attention and highlighting elements. Contrary to what one might think, they do not fit anywhere and anytime. They must bring a real plus to have an impact. It’s up to you to prepare your graphics!