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You’ve probably heard the phrase “dress for success”. Certainly, the term can be applied to most presentations whether the presentation is designed for a corporate board room, a classroom, or the next membership meeting of your local club or organisation. Indeed, what you say is crucial, but how you say it can go a long way in determining the impression that is left on your audience.

To follow are five design approaches that can help make your presentation more impressive:

Use pictures wherever possible

Everyone is familiar with the cliché “a picture is worth a thousand words” and, in the case of presentations, this can be especially true. If you’re using slides that describe a new product, be sure to actually show the product itself. If you’re creating a written presentation that talks about new people who are joining your team, try your best to include their photographs in your document. Another benefit of pictures is that if you are presenting to an international audience, and language may be a barrier, images will communicate universally for you.

Include graphics, diagrams and tables

If you’ve ever picked up and browsed through an annual report, you’ll probably have noticed several pie charts, bar graphs and tabular formations that quickly communicate essential data in a way that makes it stand apart from text. Other examples of graphic devices that can add to the effectiveness of your presentation are: flow charts, timelines and organisational charts.

Animate

Most presentation software packages, PowerPoint for example, include animation features that transform one-dimensional slides into moving images. You can build up the key points, one by one, and reveal sections at a time to emphasise your messages. Other features include fade-in and fade-out, as well as wipe and box-out animations that can add instant interest to slide presentations.

Colour your world

Adding colour to presentation slides immediately emphasises essential ideas. However, do not use too many different colours. And, much like good fashion, be aware that colours must complement, rather than clash with each other. If you’re creating a business presentation, it’s usually a good idea to use your company’s corporate colours wherever possible. If your company has a graphic design department, they can help make sure you use the right colour schemes.

Make your presentation felt

In written presentations, one of the surest ways to impress the reader is to use a designer paper (such as linen stock or cotton-laid textured stock). These elegant types of paper can help to communicate a high quality image for yourself and your company.

In addition, linen report covers and presentation folders will do the same thing. The use of presentation products enables you to customise your name, your customer’s name or any message you want through your desktop computer printer. These presentation products are great for preparing last-minute presentations. Personalising presentations for individual customers can really impress them.