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Visual Storytelling: How Stories are Told in Pictures

Are pictures really worth a thousand words? Let’s take a look at some facts.

According to a whitepaper published by NewCred and Getty Images, the following statistics are proof:

  • 40% of people will respond better to information presented visually
  • 83% of human learning is visual
  • 44% of users are more likely to engage with brands on social platforms if they post pictures
  • Articles and blog posts that contain images get 94% more views than those without

Aside from all that, there’s also proof in the way our mind works. The human brain can process visuals 60,000 times faster than information presented through text. In fact, we’re all highly attuned to our sense of sight. According to Dr. John Medina, vision trumps all of our other senses.

With these facts laid out, it’s easy to see why images are important to pitch decks and marketing materials. Through visual storytelling, you can use pictures to create stronger emotional impact. Pictures can tell a story that immediately allows your audience to connect with the message you’re sharing.

So whether you’re delivering a pitch or revamping your social media profiles, visual storytelling is the best way to go. When selecting pictures to use, try to keep in mind the four key characteristics of visual storytelling:

Authentic

The best stories come from candid moments. It’s why photo sharing has become so prevalent in the age of social media. Replacing the super-polished stock photos are snapshots that allow others to see the world through a more personal perspective. Take, for example, Dove’s Real Beauty campaign. Instead of featuring models that are photoshopped to perfection, Dove featured everyday women and challenged today’s absurd beauty standards.

To find images that are more authentic to your story, focus on what your brand stands for. Look for images that convey your identity and experiences as a brand. Next, look for something that will resonate with your audience. Think about the people you’re addressing and what might be authentic for them.

Relevant

Visual storytelling should also take into account what’s happening in the world. After all, your message doesn’t exist in a bubble. It’s contextualized in a milieu—a world where billions of individuals are discovering new things every single day. Make sure your visual stories are relatable and relevant to the audience you want to target. Consider what Oreo did to make the most out of a blackout that interrupted the Super Bowl. For your own visual story, choose images that evoke a sense of time and culture.

Sensory

The only thing better than a picture is the real thing. But since you can’t have real situations on a pitch deck slide, you’re going to have to settle for the next best thing. Visual storytelling thrives on imagery that can heighten emotions and senses.

Close-up and macro shots are great for showing textures that audiences can almost touch. On the other hand, a long shot can also take your audience into a particular scene, allowing them to experience it through a wider perspective.

Archetypal

Lastly, the best of visual storytelling alludes to narratives that are practically as old as time. If you think about it, you’ll notice that all your favorite stories are tied together by recurring themes and archetypes. These are universal symbols—called such because they can be found across many different countries and cultures. For your visual stories to be a success, you need to take these symbols and turn it into your own.

Find an archetype that relates to your brand and make it your own. Get to know your own new character and find images that correspond to this new version of a well-loved symbol.
Visual storytelling is great technique to use in pitch decks and marketing efforts.  By weaving imagery together, you can create a story that speaks volumes about your core message.

READ MORE: The Power of Visual Storytelling – NewsCred + Getty Images (Whitepaper)

Featured Image: Ravinder M A via Flickr

Business Pitches: Give Your Audience a Memorable Experience

When you think of business pitches, the first images that come to mind are probably bleak. After all, you’ve had to sit through your fair share of monotonous meetings and discussions. You’ve had to squint your eyes in order to read the lengthy paragraphs projected on the screen. You’ve had to stop yourself from falling asleep in a darkened room. You’ve had to patiently wait for the speaker to get to the point.

Despite all these negative scenarios, there are still occasions when you were able to watch a memorable business pitch. The slides were concise and well-designed, the points quickly and clearly made. In particular, they all have a few characteristics in common. Take note of the following and apply them to your business pitches as well:

Authentic

Business pitches are often devoid of any emotion. Presenters believe that they need to focus on the hard facts. While data is important in building your credibility, your pitch will need a more “human” element in order to create a connection. This doesn’t mean that you have to move your colleagues to tears. One way to make your business pitches memorable is by creating a more authentic experience. Instead of drowning your audience in a sea of spreadsheets, try to focus on telling a story instead.

Meticulous

A lot of business pitches also suffer from information overload. Without a clear goal, presenters tend to detail too much of their content and end up sharing things that may be unnecessary or repetitive. They end up confusing their audience even more. To solve this dilemma, you will need to identify your main objective and meticulously curate your content. Make sure each slide and sentence contribute to driving home your main point. If you have data to present, include only the ones that are most important to your message. You should also prepare a loose script to keep your speech on the right track.

Visually Stimulating

More than having concise slides, business pitch decks also need to be visually stimulating. As we’ve mentioned in the earlier scenario, too often presenters commit pitch mistakes that overshadow their core message. Aside from carefully picking and choosing which content to include, presenters all so need to make pitch decks that speak to the visual senses of the audience. A striking color palette, plus the use of high-quality images can make a huge difference in your slide design.

Compelling

The impact of a business pitch also rests on the power of delivery. For people to listen, you will need to create an engaging and compelling atmosphere. When you face an audience, you must demand their attention through the way you speak and carry yourself. Speak clearly and loudly. Exuding confidence in your words is one of the key ways to build credibility. You should also be mindful of your body language. Avoid gestures that make you seem closed off or aloof.

Featured Image: Sebastiaan ter Burg via Flickr

9 Simple Rules for an Effective Sales Pitch

There’s a lot at stake when delivering a sales pitch. After cold calls and endless follow-ups, you now have the opportunity to meet with prospects and have a worthwhile discussion with them. You get to showcase the service or product you’re offering and all the benefits attached to it.

In order to succeed, you can’t just throw a pitch deck together and deliver a haphazard pitch. Instead, you need to be mindful of the correct techniques, making use of your creativity to leave a lasting impression.

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Here are 9 simple rules to make sure your pitch goes according to plan:

1.) Keep it short and simple

It’s easy to lose interest in a pitch that seems to go on forever. Even with an extremely engaging topic, most audiences have a hard time focusing their attention for more than a couple of minutes.

The first step to improving your sales pitch is by cutting down the content. Focus only on the points that are crucial to the message you’re delivering.

2.) Hook the audience with a story

There’s nothing more compelling than a good story. Instead of presenting your pitch in a traditional, matter-of-fact way, you can spin it into a narrative. Following the dramatic arc of ancient Greek plays, or use the AIDA method as a guide.

With a specific and structured narrative, you can easily determine which points are crucial to your message, and which ones feel excessive or unnecessary. This technique can also lead to a stronger connection between you and your audience.

3.) Create tension by identifying challenges

All the best stories are able to build tension for conflict and suspense. The same thing should be true for your sales pitch. Briefly show your prospects just how crucial your product or service is. Let them know that you’re aware of the problems they encounter. Describe a scenario that enumerates the challenges they face. Aside from making your pitch more compelling, this will let your prospects see how much you understand their current situation.

4.) Release tension by detailing your solution

Of course, you’ll need to do more than talk about the problems. Too much suspense can also kill engagement, so balance your story out by bringing attention to positive details as well. Delve into the features of your product or service, and focus on the opportunities it can give your prospects. Show them how your solution is the best way to overcome their challenges.

5.) Showcase your accomplishments, expertise, and experience

Another thing you can’t miss is to showcase the value of your brand and company. Build audience trust by enumerating your key accomplishments and relevant industry experience. Let your prospects understand the culture and logic behind your product or service, but don’t spend too much time blowing your own horn. Majority of your sales pitch should be spent on connecting with your prospect and showcasing the benefits of your offer.

6.) Emphasize your message with slides that incorporate your brand

Your brand encapsulates your entire company identity. By creating a pitch deck that mirrors your brand, you can help your pitch become more unique and distinguishable. The easiest way to go about this is by using a color palette that’s similar to your logo. You can also incorporate the overall theme of your product into your design. These examples can serve as inspiration.

7.) Prepare for the difficult questions

You can never tell how the audience will react to your pitches. Your prospect might ask you questions that are difficult to answer. They could also bring up points you weren’t made aware of in your previous conversations. For situations like this, it’s always better to be prepared. Get ready to improvise. It will also help if you list down and answer all the possible questions that your audience might ask. Consult your colleagues and other members of your team to expand your list.

8.) Close with a specific Call-to-Action

The Call-to-Action (CTA) is perhaps the most crucial part of your sales pitch. It summarizes the purpose of your pitch in a bold statement that urges your prospects to take positive action. In other words, the CTA puts the ball on their side of the court. To be effective, a CTA needs to be direct, precise, and straight to the point.

9.) Don’t forget to follow up

Your work doesn’t stop even after your sales pitch ends with positive feedback. You can’t assume that your prospects will immediately act on your pitch. The people in your audience, especially the key decision makers, often have busy schedules. To make sure the impact of your sales pitch doesn’t dwindle, send an email to your prospects and reiterate your points.

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READ MORE: What Makes a Sales Pitch, As Told by Mad Men’s Don Draper

Featured Image: Ted Eytan via Flickr

Your Quick 7-Step Plan for Better Pitch Deck Design

The success of your pitch relies so much on how well you prepare. That’s why the days leading up to a big speech can be quite stressful. There’s just so much to accomplish in order to deliver an engaging pitch deck. First, you’ll need brainstorm and figure out everything you have to say. After drafting your ideas, you have to carefully choose which points are the most significant to your core message. And after all that, there’s still the challenge of designing a memorable pitch deck.

If you’re running the last mile of pitch preparation, we’re here to make things easier for you. Here’s the pitch deck design process condensed to 7 quick steps:

1. The Internet is the best source for inspiration

If you’re not sure how you want your slides to look like, you can find some inspiration by browsing through these links:

  • Top SlideShares – Browse through pitch decks that were featured in SlideShare’s homepage
  • Prezi Staff Picks – Look at the uploads curated by the Prezi staff
  • Note & Point – Find inspiration in a gallery of user-uploaded pitch deck and Keynote presentations

2. Pitch deck experts have great ideas to share

You can also read the advice of pitch deck design experts. Read these blog entries for a creativity booster:

3. Figure out a general style for your slides

Once you’ve absorbed the best pitch ideas, it’s time to decide what pitch deck design style to use. You can go for a minimalist design, which focuses on the use of typography and white space. On the other hand, you can choose to have a more image-based pitch deck. Learn more about design basics by reading our Design 101 posts here and here.

4. Start with an analog approach

Take the time to sketch out how you want each slide to look. It doesn’t have to be neat. Just draft out where you want to place different elements to see if everything works nicely. In other words, create a rough storyboard first.

5. Think of what your audience wants

You should also consider what your audience wants to see. Try to look at your pitch deck through the eyes of the audience by asking these four questions.

6. Focus on a single task at a time

You might think multitasking is an efficient way to finish your pitch deck, but it’s not. When designing your slides, focus on one thing at a time. If you have to look for images, do it before typing your content and arranging the layout.

7. Remove any distraction

Aim for an uninterrupted pitching session. The less you bother with other things, the faster you’ll finish designing your slides. But since you’re working on your computer, distraction is easy to access. Stop yourself from checking your email or social media accounts. Switch off your phone if you can. If you need extra help, you can make use of tools like StayFocused to block distracting websites.

You can ensure a great outcome if you take the time to prepare all the details of your pitch deck. Follow these 7 tips to create pitch deck designs that are effective and memorable. You can also work with a pitch deck design expert to get the best results.

Featured Image: UVF Graphic and Digital Design program via Flickr

PowerPoint Karaoke: Have Fun and Improve Your Pitching Skills

I’m sure you’ve tried karaoke to wind down with colleagues after a long day of work. But have you ever thought to give PowerPoint Karaoke a try?

In PowerPoint Karaoke, participants are challenged to take the stage and deliver a pitch based on slides they’ve never seen before. The rules are pretty simple. Instead of singing power ballads, participants will need to make sense of random slides, and connect it to an assigned theme. They will also be restricted by a time limit. The results are usually pretty crazy and absurd. To give you a clue, here are some slides from a PowerPoint Karaoke event held in Seattle last 2012:

As you can probably imagine, PowerPoint Karaoke can lead to some pretty hilarious situations. The best speakers are those who are willing to step out of their comfort zone, ready to have fun while practicing their improvisation skills. It’s the perfect game for anyone looking to deliver better and more engaging pitches.

Getting started:

If you’re ready to throw your own PowerPoint Karaoke party, here are some tips to help you get started:

  • Build your pitch decks beforehand. Be creative and go for slides that will challenge the participants. If you want, you can find pitch decks online and edit them for your use. Five to seven slides per deck will do.
  • At the event, let the participants draw for their speaking order and assigned theme. This will give everyone an even playing field, and prevent people settling for topics they’re familiar with.
  • You can decide whether you want speakers to control their own deck, or have the slides auto advance.
  • Set a time limit that’s no more than 5 minutes.
  • Decide on a winner by letting the audience vote. You can prepare forms, or just ask them to choose their favorites by show of hands.
PowerPoint Karaoke is a great activity to try with your colleagues. Gather a small group in a room and start having fun. Urge everyone to test their improvisation abilities and improve their pitching skills.

Featured Image: Simon Law via Flickr

Prezi Feature of the Week: Present the Big Picture with a Mind Map

When presenting, it’s important to show the big picture, as well as its minute details. For this week’s “Prezi Feature”, learn how you can create a mind map to do just that.

Ideas usually come to us in clusters, and it’s hard to separate one from the other. When we’re brainstorming, we can come up with a whole web of ideas from just a single concept. One idea will branch out to a new one, and two more will branch out from that. Before you know it, you have a complicated map of interlocking chains of thought. It’s usually chaotic, but it also perfectly shows how ideas are related to each other.

chaotic mind map sample
A chaotic end to brainstorming. (Image: Flickr/Tim Regan)

When it’s time to turn your ideas into a pitch deck, it can be hard to trim the big picture. Do you focus on a single line of thought? Which one? What happens when an idea overlaps with something else? How do you turn creative chaos into a neat, linear narrative? Sometimes, you don’t have to. Visualize how a single topic can branch out into a web of ideas by creating a mind map with Prezi.

Finding order in the chaos

The challenge to mind mapping is that complex topics can easily turn into a huge, dizzying mess. To create some order, you’ll need to practice a bit of discipline. Your main goal is to make sure your mind map remains concise, while keeping all the important details. In other words, you’ll need to do some revisions.

As you would when building a slide deck, start with an analogue approach. Grab a notepad and draft your mind map first. Start by writing down your main topic, and then let your ideas branch out across the page. Once you’ve written everything down, condense each idea into key concepts. This step is similar to how you’d create a pitch deck storyboard. Let the ideas flow freely first, and then edit out excessive and repetitive details.

Creating a mind map in the Prezi canvas

Once you’ve condensed your draft, it’s time to turn your ideas into a free-flowing pitch deck. Mind mapping involves combining colors, shapes, and images, plus the strategic arrangement of all these elements. Prezi is the perfect canvas for that. You’re free to move around each element and create a layout that suits the flow of your ideas. To accurately visualize your topic, take note of these tips when arranging your mind map:

1.) Use different frame types to organize your mind map
prezi mind map tutorial 01

You can make use of different frame types to show how your ideas progress into different “levels”. In this example, the main topic is contained inside a rectangle frame. The two diverging ideas that branch out from there are inside a circle frame.

2.) Create hierarchy by manipulating frame size and changing arrow width
prezi mind map tutorial 02

You can also represent  hierarchy in your mind map by manipulating the size of your frames. The farther you are from the center, the smaller your frames should be. Do the same thing with your arrows. Decrease thickness as you branch out across the canvas.

3.) Group specific parts or branches with an invisible frame
prezi mind map tutorial 03

prezi mind map tutorial 04

Add an invisible frame to group certain parts of your mind map together. This is useful if you want to focus on a specific branch before discussing each idea.

4.) Set the path carefully
prezi mind map tutorial 06

The final look will depend on how you set the path. Once you’ve completed building the mind map, set a path that will allow the audience to see how everything works together. Give the full view at the start of your pitch deck, then make use of the zoom tool to focus on specific details. To illustrate, click here to view a mind map of a previous blog post called “3 Ways to Creativity”.

Conclusion

The flexibility of Prezi’s canvas allows you to create pitch decks that defy the usual one-track narratives. You can present the big picture and pan through the entire landscape.

Show your audience how the core message relates to your main points by creating a mind map.

Featured Image: Featured Image: Death to the Stock Photo / Prezi logo via Wikimedia Commons

Maintaining Audience Attention in Your Pitch Decks

The British bank Lloyds TSB conducted a study on the cause of careless household accidents, and the results they gathered have some pretty broad implications. As quoted by Fortune.com, the average adult attention span has plunged from 12 minutes in 1998 to 5 minutes in 2008. Participants attributed their short attention span to stress and decision overload, both unavoidable in our fast-paced lifestyles.

With the advent of technology and the distraction of multiple screens — from our work laptops to our smartphones — holding one’s attention for longer than the usual is nearly impossible. That is, if you’re bored by the topic.

Considering this information, it seems that presenting to a huge audience has never been more difficult. Five minutes is barely enough time to make a positive impression. This is a huge challenge that presenters need to over come. Here are 3 key strategies to keep in mind:

Condense your slides

Try to present more information orally to reduce overloading your slides with too much text and data. The people in your audience can read much faster than they can listen to you talking. As we’ve discussed time and again, an effective pitch deck acts as a visual aid. It doesn’t contain every sentence you want to share. Instead, it perfectly illustrates your main points through the use of images and other multimedia elements. Instead of packing your slides with a bunch of facts and figures, spend more time illustrating and articulating your points.

An emotional and physical connection might be more effective in capturing the audience’s imagination. This bond calls the attention of people whose minds were wandering off in the crowd, and engages those who are beginning to invest in what you’re saying.

Follow an intriguing narrative structure

Structure your pitch deck in a way that will surely engage your audience. There’s a reason why we can sit motionless in a movie theater for two hours, completely enamored by what we’re watching. Movies follow a great story arc that build suspense and intrigue. Effective storytellers know how to create anticipation that keeps viewers looking forward to what happens next. Following their example, your pitch deck can also work the same way.

Craft your pitch deck in a way that presents a problem (“what is), and slowly build your way towards a solution (“what could be”). The problem-tension-solution pattern roughly mimics the structure of classical Greek dramas, which research has found to be effective in eliciting powerful emotional response.

Create “soft breaks” 

According to presentation expert Carmine Gallo, the best way to re-engage the short attention spans of your audience is by creating “soft breaks” within your pitch deck. After every 10 minutes or so, give your audience some moments to pause by incorporating videos, activities, and demonstrations. You can also encourage audience participation by posing a question they can answer through a show of hands. If your pitch allows it, you can also call up other speakers from your team to offer the audience a fresh new perspective.

The Final Word

Capturing people’s attention can be a bit of a challenge, especially during a time when attention spans are beginning to drop, and people are constantly busy. But that doesn’t mean you have to make a plain, uninteresting pitch deck.

Engage people’s senses by keeping your pitch short and sweet, weaving a narrative around your pitch deck, and giving soft breaks in between. Follow these tips and you might just win new business!

Featured Image: Oliver Tacke via Flickr

Visual Simplicity is Captivating in Pitch Deck

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” —Leonardo Da Vinci

When it comes to pitch decks, less is always more. We’re living in a fast-paced environment that calls for our attention from one thing to the next. As a result, our attention spans have grown shorter and shorter in recent years.

For presenters, the best way to solve this problem is by removing clutter. Particularly, you’ll need to cut back on slides packed with lengthy paragraphs, incomprehensible charts, and dizzying slide transitions. By streamlining your pitch deck, the audience can shift their focus on what you’re saying. They can concentrate on the core message without being distracted by too much information.

Have you ever seen a ballerina dance by herself on stage? When she takes center stage, the focus is centered on how she moves to convey powerful emotions. In the same way, visual simplicity gives your audience the opportunity to concentrate on the ideas you’re sharing.

These four tips will help you achieve visual simplicity in pitch deck design:

Start with the basics

To prepare for a pitch, most people start by creating  their slides. While this method saves you time, it’s one of the main reasons why slides easily become overwhelming. Starting from scratch, you’re never sure which direction you want the pitch to go. Instead of focusing on one line of argument, you end up branching out to different topics. Your slides are complicated because your content is complicated, as well.

Keep your pitch deck contained by starting with the basics. Sit on your desk with a pen and notepad. Scribble down your ideas and identify the main points you want to make. Create a rough outline and turn it into a pitch deck storyboard.

Work with images

In the business world, pitch deck slides with long paragraphs is a common occurrence. Sometimes, slides are filled with so many words that the audience needs to squint in order to read them. To avoid this scenario, it’s better to illustrate your points with images.

A ballet dancer can portray love and longing simply by the way she moves. In the same way, you can also emphasize key concepts and ideas through carefully curated images. As the old saying goes, “a picture paints a thousand words.”

Cut back on data and tell a story

No matter how complicated, data can always tell a story. Instead of listing down numbers or creating complex graphs, focus on what they mean instead. Why is a five percent increase important to your discussion? What about it is important for your audience to know? Why is this spreadsheet crucial to the points you’re trying to make?  What is it about and what is it trying to say? Trim down your data and share what’s only important to your discussion.

Find the perfect color palette

According to color psychology, colors can influence how we view the world. It can affect our moods, emotions, and behaviors. Instead of using complicated animations, you can add dimension to your visuals by simply choosing the right colors.

Find the color palette that suits your pitch deck by looking elsewhere for inspiration. For a pitch deck, you might want to use the colors of your brand logo. You can also head to sites like COLOURlovers and Adobe Kuler to find and experiment with different combinations. Color plays an important role in a seamless visual experience, so choose your palette wisely.

Conclusion

Visuals shouldn’t distract your audience from the core of your pitch. The slides you design should help your message stand out.

By cutting back on all unnecessary elements, you will be able to present something more memorable and captivating.

Featured Image: Scudamore’s Punting Cambridge via Flickr

Lost Impact: 4 Words to Avoid in Pitch Deck Delivery

Remember the saying, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me?”

It might be true for the playground, but not for your pitch decks.

As powerful as language is, there are certain words that seem to have lost their impact through constant use. We’ve been using them far too much in our everyday, casual conversations that they lose power once delivered on stage. Here are 4 low-impact words that you should avoid when you’re delivering your next pitch deck:

1. Really

We commonly use the word “really” to emphasize certain points. Casually, we might say something like, “I saw this really good movie the other day”.

But in formal settings such as business pitches, there’s often a lot at stake. If you want to emphasize something, it’s better to offer an accurate description.

Instead of saying “our new product is really revolutionary,” you can share a concrete example or supporting evidence instead. “Our new product has proven results and made plenty of sales in the past year” would sound more impressive than giving a vague suggestion of how good your product really is.

2. Amazing

You often hear the word “amazing” when describing something high-quality. For example, you might have heard it casually used in sentences like, “the new iPhone 6 is amazing.”

Again, it’s better to offer your audience something more descriptive. Let them deduce that what you’re presenting is amazing for themselves. Help them come to that realization by showing them specific details and examples. In our given instance, you could give the features of an iPhone that other phones wouldn’t be able to compare with. This would certainly be more impressing than simply saying it’s amazing.

3. Maybe

You don’t want to seem uncertain in front of your audience. To deliver a memorable pitch, you need to exude knowledge and confidence.

Words like “perhaps” and “maybe” leave the opposite impression, making you seem completely unsure and unprepared. Stop hedging and go straight to the point with active and urgent language.

4. Stuff

This word offers no real description. It’s a vague way to refer to something that’s crucial to your pitch deck. Instead of using this, look for a word that actively describes what you’re trying to say. If you can’t think of one, go for a descriptive phrase. Be specific with everything you say to allow your audience the opportunity to recall and internalize your main points.

Get rid of the “fluff” and make your pitches stronger. Achieve that goal by making use of words that are tangible and concrete. Avoid these 4 words and give your audience information that’s more meaningful and memorable.

Featured Image: marc falardeau via Flickr