Minnesota School of Management Studies the Importance of Visuals in Presentations

Did you know that visuals and visual aids in PowerPoint are more effective than simple text presentations? Visuals and Graphics improve learning and retention. It is also much easier to explain complex processes and ideas when the presenter uses graphics to depict them.

A study sponsored by 3M at the University Of Minnesota School of Management on the topic of “Persuasion and the Role of Visual Presentation Support”. The full PDF of the study on importance of visual aids in presentation is available here.
The study has found that Presentations that used visual aids were found to be “43% MORE PERSUASIVE than unaided presentations”. The study also concluded that “presentation support in color is more persuasive than that in black and white”. Additional research at 3M has shown that “we process visuals 60,000 times faster than text”.

When presenters are in a hurry, they can end up choosing the wrong graphic or visual. This does not help, as the visuals are only effective when they are relevant to the topic discussed. The study found that “Image enhanced graphics are effective only when used selectively and carefully”.
Luckily, with ready-to-use graphics and visual enhancers, none of us need worry about plain text presentations shorn of visual stimulants. If you are in a hurry, don’t be complacent. Just select some graphics here – they can be used as-is or quickly edited to fit you presentation.