Hi there
Imagine you're in the monthly management meeting on Teams or Zoom.
Tom from Finance is halfway through a 47-slide PowerPoint deck, gesticulating as he talks over* a slide enticingly titled 'FY25 vs FY24'. (*Never talk over slides, by the way.)
And you're completely, utterly lost.
You make another attempt to focus and fathom what on earth he's going on about. 'Come on,' you say to yourself. 'You can do this.'
But it's no good. So you glance at the gallery view, only to be greeted by a grid of glazed expressions and muted cameras.
OK. Not just you then.
Squinting at rainbows
His charts are a riot of colour. The 3D effects are dazzling.
Yet Tariq is squinting at the rainbow of pie slices. Does he think that chart is as confusing as you do?
Holly looks like she's also wondering if those two different shades of green are significant.
(Teal or mint? Didn't your grandmother have a tea set in that colour?)
It's no good. You're gone. Your attention span has given up the will to live. Time of death: 2.13pm - barely 10 minutes after Tom started talking.
Frown test
The tragedy is that Tom probably spent hours on those graphics.
He was on the right track when he decided not to rely exclusively on text. Reading is hard work. So anything that breaks up a wall of words is usually a good thing.
Usually.
The trouble is that a poorly constructed chart is the quickest way to lose your audience. A frown often gives that away in seconds.
So how can you save your brilliant insights from getting lost in a fog of visual noise?
Find out as Gary Woodward takes a deep dive in our Knowledge Hub. And discover how to dazzle with data and not make your audience doze off.
