It’s always good when we find something we like … and it’s free.

It’s no different when we want to find great images or vector graphics for presentations. The web has provided a bounty of images and vector graphics but there is a caveat … copyright.

Basically, it could be illegal to use that image from Google images. If the image is for commercial purposes, modification, adaptation or building upon, ensure it falls under the Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license. Better still, purchase images from stock photo agencies and follow the license terms.

When teams create slides for presentations, I’ve heard “we’re all doing things differently … headings, color, fonts … it can make us look unprofessional!”

Start where you want to finish – looking smart.

Create a style guide for presentations based on branding – theme, layout, visuals – this will ensure credibility through visual communication.

What’s the message? Your audience should know. It’s the most important takeaway from each slide.

By following some simple rules of design, your audience will retain the most information possible from your presentation.

Golden rules for successful visual communication: proximity; repetition; balance; emphasis and contrast.

An icon gets meaning across quicker than a block of text. We don’t need this to be scientifically proven because we know it is true.

Ancient peoples knew it and drew it. Our brains are wired for visual communication and we can make decisions quickly by looking at a visual representation – or we can use diagrams to lead us through the story.

Presentations now are moving away from text blocks of information – even data is being visualised for easier
digestion of the message.

When putting together slides, it healthy to represent complex ideas visually and talk through these, rather than bullet points on a slide.

Sometimes in the heat of getting important data to the client it's not good enough to just clip and just paste a chart from a PDF.

For authenticity it's more professional to re-create the chart including all the necessary details: y-axis title in units and/or currency; segment labels or a legend; bar and grand totals.

Here are a couple of quick, free resources:

http://getdata-graph-digitizer.com/index.php

Graph Digitizer uses two algorithms for automatic digitizing: Auto trace lines and Digitize area. The program allows manual digitizing using "Point capture mode", and to easily remove data points with "Eraser" tool.

https://www.quintessa.org/software/downloads-and-demos/graph-grabber-2.0

Data within Graph Grabber can either be extracted manually, by clicking on the points to extract, or can be automatically detected with minimal interaction by the user by using the prototype curve detection functionality.

 Of course it is! PowerPoint as a program has many productivity tools available to make your presentation life easier.

One of my favorites is the ability to format Master Guides. Using these on the Slide Master sets your visual communication up for consistent success across your deck.

Next is the Quick Access Toolbar. Commands in PowerPoint can be tricky to find under Home, Insert and Design tabs. Customizing the QAT is essential in making your life easier when creating PowerPoint slides.

But my favorite, and yes this is sponsored content from Davo and Trenna from Graphics (!), installing Design Toolbars add-in IS the ultimate ease-of-use productivity tool for PowerPoint!

They have all the features that consultants, analysts, and general PowerPoint users need most often – are easily accessible, promote structured thinking and problem solving – saving time and money.

With one-click, multiple objects — Titles, Boxes, Value Chain, Chevrons, Text, Bullet Lists and Images — are placed in an organized layout across your PowerPoint slide.

And, Design Toolbars come with additional PowerPoint commands already customized on the Quick Access Toolbar to use seamlessly together.

These productivity tools for PowerPoint make it second nature to save time in PowerPoint!