Visual Communication In Presentations

In #datastorytelling, you often want a specific point to stand out or “POP” in each data scene in your data stories. I’ve developed a 💥POP💥 method that you can apply to these situations: 💥 P: Prioritize – Establish which data point is most important. 💥 O: Overstate – Use visual emphasis like color and size as a contrast.   💥 P: Point – Guide the audience to the focal point of your chart. The accompanying illustration shows the progressive steps I’ve taken to make Product A’s Q3 $6M sales bump stand out. Step 1️⃣: Add headline. One of the first things the audience will attempt to do is read the title. A descriptive chart title like “Products by quarterly sales” is too general and offers no focal point. I replaced it with an explanatory headline emphasizing the increase in Product A sales in Q3. The audience is now directed to find this data point in the chart. Step 2️⃣: Adjust color/thickness I want the audience to focus on Product A, not Product B or Product C. The other products are still useful for context but are not the main emphasis. I kept Product A’s original bold color but thickened its line. I lightened the colors of the two other products to reduce their prominence. Step 3️⃣: Add label/marker I added a marker highlighting the $6M and bolded the label font. You’ll notice I added a marker and label for the proceeding quarter. I wanted to make it easy for the audience to note the dramatic shift between the two quarters. Step 4️⃣: Add annotation You don’t always need to add annotations to every key data point, but it can be a great way to draw more attention to particular points. It also allows you to provide more context to help explain the ‘why’ or ‘so what’ behind different results. Step 5️⃣: Add graphical cue (arrow) I added a graphical cue (arrow) to emphasize the massive increase in sales between the two quarters. You can use other objects, such as reference lines, circles, or boxes, to draw attention to key features of the chart. In terms of the POP method, these steps align in the following way: 💥 Prioritize – Step 1 💥 Overstate – Step 2-3 💥 Point – Step 4-5 Because data stories are explanatory rather than exploratory, you need to be more directive with your visuals. If you don’t design your data scenes to guide the audience through your key points, they may not follow your conclusions and become confused. Using the POP method, you ensure that your key points stand out and resonate with your audience, making your data stories more than just informative but memorable, engaging, and persuasive. So next time you craft a data story, ensure your data scenes POP—and watch your insights take center stage! What other techniques do you use to make your key data points POP? 🔽 🔽 🔽 🔽 🔽 Craving more of my data storytelling, analytics, and data culture content? Sign up for my newsletter today: https://lnkd.in/gRNMYJQ7

Sweet visuals When beauty looks good enough to eat In the beauty world, visuals are never just decoration. They are emotional triggers that create desire, attraction, and sometimes even cravings. A single image can make you feel freshness, indulgence, or softness, just like food does. Think about it: a glossy serum drop that looks like honey, or a jelly cream that bounces like a dessert. These visuals don’t simply show a texture; they awaken taste memories. The brain instantly connects beauty with appetite and satisfaction, turning a product image into an emotional experience. The power of cravings When a product looks “edible,” it instantly becomes more desirable. This is why visuals that drip, melt, or shine are so effective. They don’t just showcase efficacy, they make you want to reach out, touch, and try. Cravings are not limited to food; in beauty, visuals can spark the same instinctive response. Emotion through imagery Colors reinforce this attraction. Pastel tones feel sweet and comforting, while bolder colors evoke energy and juiciness. Combined with texture, they set the emotional tone of the product before a consumer even opens the jar. By the time the product is in their hands, desire has already been created. From visual to emotional branding What makes beauty visuals powerful is not only how they look but how they feel. A perfectly captured texture, a well-lit drip, or a playful jelly bounce transforms an ingredient into an emotion. It’s not about showing what the product does, it’s about making consumers imagine the experience before they even try it. In a crowded beauty market, the brands that stand out are those that master the art of visual storytelling. Sweet visuals don’t just illustrate products; they sell indulgence, pleasure, and emotion. They remind us that in beauty, attraction often begins with the eye before it ever reaches the skin. That is the secret of sweet visuals: they don’t just present a formula —they create a craving. Featured Brands: #SweetVisuals #BeautyMarketing #SensoryDesign #PackagingDesign #EmotionalBranding #ConsumerEngagement

⛺🪵🔥 UX Storyboarding. With useful guides, templates and cheatsheets to design storyboards that visualize and explain customer’s stories ↓ ✅ Storyboarding is a visual storytelling technique. ✅ We use it to visualize and explain customer’s stories. ✅ Journey map is an extensive visualization of user’s journey. ✅ But storyboards describe only 1 fragment of the user journey. ✅ Many storyboards can explain a single fragment of the journey. ✅ Each storyboard has a scenario, persona, visuals, captions. ✅ Choose the source first: user interviews, tests, analytics. ✅ Start with a story, find characters, the setting and a plot. ✅ Then, pick scenes that show plot from start to finish. ✅ Add thought bubbles, action bursts, narration. 🚫 Don’t overcomplicate: 1 activity per frame, max 8 frames. ✅ Sketch only 1 storyboard per one path that the user takes. ✅ Emphasize user’s emotions, gestures and expressions. 🤔 Label anything that may be an assumption or question. ✅ When finished, play back the story to test how clear it is. Start with insights from journey maps and UX research. Bring designers and if possible end-users on board. Between 3–6 people works best. Focus on key scenarios that include key features of a product. Draft the storyline in sticky notes first. Then translate to a storyboard. Storyboarding might seem like a simplistic way to visualize customer’s experience. Yet because of their simplicity, storyboards are very easy to understand, memorize and relate to. Low-fidelity stick figures work well, as the goal is to form a shared understanding, not a refined artefact. Most importantly, good storyboarding is always informed by good UX research. It captures real scenarios, with real constraints and real frustrations. It creates awareness that might linger for months — and it explains and documents design decisions, albeit unintentionally. Useful resources: UX Storyboarding Kit (Figma), by Lucian Popovici https://lnkd.in/e_ScYbty Storyboarding Toolkit (PDF, Figma), by IBM, Glenn S. https://lnkd.in/e7cdqsfn https://lnkd.in/e92dxeUV Storyboarding Workshop Templates (Figjam) https://lnkd.in/e_Utv4ee https://lnkd.in/e23Eniha Storyboarding Toolkit (Miro), by Ben Crothers https://lnkd.in/emp5DqKq How To Use Storyboards To Test UX Concepts, by Chris Spalton https://lnkd.in/enPDkb4a Storyboards Help Visualize UX Ideas (+ Template), by Rachel Krause https://lnkd.in/eZfcb3pp UX Storytelling, by Mayya Azarova, Ph.D. https://lnkd.in/efNm-7gV How To Use Storytelling in UX Research, by Allison Grayce Marshall https://lnkd.in/eZ2aGwkU #ux #storyboarding

Contrived Contrast: The Fourth (of 4) Form of Contrast in Dataviz Another form of contrast in data visualization is what I refer to as contrived contrast. This type of contrast involves using boxes, callouts, annotations, and other preattentive attributes to differentiate elements in a visual. These are purposely designed techniques that draw attention to specific items. Consider implementing this approach when utilizing size, color, or shape contrast may not be feasible. A great example of the use of contrast techniques can be seen in the series of LUMAscape charts from investment bank Luma Partners. These charts organize the complex world of advertising technology ("ad tech") by grouping similar companies on one page. The size of each group represents the relative number of companies in that particular area of the ad tech industry. Different colored labels are used to separate each category. However, what makes these charts most effective is the implementation of contrived contrast through enclosures placed around each group (as well as boxes surrounding companies that have recently been acquired or closed down). This technique stands out and captures the viewer's attention. Basic Guidelines - Ensure uniform application of contrast elements across all visuals related to the same data set - Keep visuals clean and focused by avoiding the overuse of too many contrasting elements - Strive to seamlessly integrate contrived contrasts with the rest of the visualization to enhance rather than distract Pro Tips - Use contrasts to establish a hierarchy of information, helping viewers understand what's most important - Learn by studying the work of top data visualizers, taking inspiration from their successful use of contrived contrast Art+Science Analytics Institute | University of Notre Dame | University of Notre Dame - Mendoza College of Business | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | University of Chicago | D'Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern University | ELVTR | Grow with Google - Data Analytics #Analytics #DataStorytelling

As a B2B creator myself, I always start by storyboarding my content. Visually outlining all the elements—shots, graphics, scripts—makes filming much smoother later. I used to jump into recording, but taking that extra planning time (usually only 30-60 minutes) pays off tremendously in better quality and fewer do-overs. Now, my average project time is down 30%, and I can reuse templates across videos. The post I'm sharing (🔗⬇️) outlines a few easy storyboard formats that organize your ideas visually: ➤ two-column scripts ➤ whiteboards ➤ video canvases I tend to whiteboard first to nail down the concepts, then document them in my Video Script Maker™. Another pro tip: If possible, build your storyboards right in your editing platform, I usually do this in Ecamm (h/t Ecamm Network, LLC). That way, you transition seamlessly from organizing to filming, as everything is right there. Storyboarding was a game changer for my process, and I've been teaching all of my clients how to do the same. If you want to improve video results and efficiency, I highly recommend checking out the post and trying it yourself! Do you have any pro tips to share? #b2bcreator #videomarketing #videocoach

We've all heard the principle of "show, don't tell," and there are two writing tools that really bring this saying to life: imagery and symbolism. Let's talk about them. Imagery grounds a reader/viewer with a sensory experience. A writer evokes what something looks like, feels like, and sounds like, and the reader's brain treats the details almost like a memory rather than information. This is why vivid detail lingers longer than something simpler. Check out the difference: "A gnarled, ancient tree" versus "An old tree." Then there's symbolism, which works one layer deeper than imagery. Symbols can be found in objects, certain actions, or details that carry a greater meaning that is more than their literal function. I always think of the Darth Vader shadow that follows young Anakin in The Phantom Menace, but there are simpler symbols, too. A dirty teddy bear could mean the loss of childhood innocence. A dying flower could symbolize neglect. A locked door could mean a missed opportunity. The list goes on. Remember that a symbol lets the reader/viewer connect the dots; it does not shout its own meaning. When we put imagery and symbolism together, they serve different purposes. Imagery engages with someone's attention, and symbolism engages with their sense of interpretation. However, both engage with someone's memory. When both are used with intention, they can subtly elevate a character, theme, or scene without a single line of blatant explanation (this excludes necessary exposition, though). Readers/viewers can feel the shift before it's fully recognized, and that's just a sliver of what great writing can do. No matter how much writing experience you have, there's a fun little exercise you can do to experiment with your imagery and symbolism. Choose a not-so-important object in your story and ask two questions: "How can this object be seen or felt?" (imagery) "Is there an emotional or thematic weight this object could carry?" (symbolism) In many cases, great writing is found in the overlap of these two questions. So play around, have fun, and root out the depth within your story. Happy writing, everyone! #WritingWednesday #WritingTips #Imagery #Symbolism #RandallWallace

This fashion campaign looks like a 5th grade craft project and that’s exactly why it works. Rains new scrapbook-inspired launch is a masterclass in modern nostalgia marketing blending analog aesthetics with emotional memory to break through today’s digital clutter. While most brands rely on polished lookbooks and sterile product drops, Rains took the risk to go tactile cut-and-paste visuals, digital stickers, and a throwback format that sparked one of the most emotionally resonant comment sections I’ve seen in a while. From “This reminds me of my childhood” to “I want this so bad,” the response proves something deeper: 1)Nostalgia is a strategic emotional trigger. 2)Playful formats = high engagement and UGC. 3)In a world chasing perfection, imperfection feels human. Why it works: → Nostalgic memory boosts emotional engagement by up to 70%. → Interactive visuals mimic Gen Z’s digital habits (phone screens, whiteboards, Pinterest boards). → Anti-perfection design stands out in a saturated scroll. What other brands can learn: → Embrace creative chaos -messy, analog styles invite curiosity and connection → Let audiences see themselves in the format (stickers, remixes, memories) → Use comment sections as live feedback-emotion = market signal #BrandStrategy #FashionMarketing #NostalgiaMarketing #ConsumerPsychology #GenZMarketing #DigitalStorytelling #CampaignBreakdown #LinkedInCreators

We didn’t have time for a CGI. It was a tight pitch, and we needed a way to sell the vision of a hospitality space—not just where the bar and seating would go, but how it would feel to be there. So we tried something different. Instead of forcing a half-finished visual, we used Mental Canvas—a tool from set design that lets you build sketch-based 3D scenes. It wasn’t about mimicking a CGI. It was about showing the energy of a place through moments in time: 🍸 A couple deep in conversation at the bar 🎷 A band band playing in the background 🚶♂️ A guest stepping into a quiet meeting space beyond Storyboarding in architecture isn’t new, but this felt different—fluid, immersive. Each scene could flow into the next, unfolding like a memory. We don’t recall places as still images but as fleeting moments—light on a glass, the hum of conversation, movement between spaces. Mental Canvas helped capture this, shifting focus between moments as the camera moved through the scene—showing how a space could be experienced, not just seen. Sometimes, the best way to explain an idea isn’t the most obvious one. The right tool depends on the story you’re telling. How many other tools exist outside architecture that could help us tell better stories?

GPT Image 2.0 was released yesterday. While everyone else is generating single images, I’ve already tested how to craft a coherent narrative across 9 frames. Here’s what I’ve learned. I generated two advertising storyboards: Nutella Biscuits and San Carlo. Identical setup: 9 frames, a narrative arc (doubt → discovery → euphoria), consistent character, and visually integrated copywriting. The approach: structure the prompt as a director’s brief. • Character blueprint (posture, emotions, specific attire) • Narrative arc with clear emotional states • Precise product placement • Defined color palette • Visual scripting (copy is part of the composition, not superimposed) Result: two consistent storyboards. The character remains consistent. The packaging is legible. The narrative arc works. What sets this apart: Image 2.0 isn’t random if you use the prompt as a directing tool. It specifies the detail (how the eyes narrow), and the model traces it across the 9 frames. Consistency as a consequence of architecture, not luck. Same principle I use for videos (Seedance, Runway): they aren’t machines for creating out of thin air. They are machines for realizing a structured vision. 👉🏻👉🏻👉🏻Disclaimer: exploratory test, not for commercial purposes. Prototypes to understand how to control narrative orchestration with Image 2.0.

How Emmanuelle Moureaux's 100 Colors No.50 Serpenti installation influences consumer psychology? 💫 Color psychology: Emmanuelle Moureaux’s use of bold colors in the installation triggers emotional responses, which influences how luxury is perceived by consumers. Colors like vibrant reds and golds evoke excitement, exclusivity, and sophistication. 💫 Spatial design: The layout creates an immersive environment, making the space feel expansive and exclusive. This prompts consumers to feel a stronger emotional connection to the brand. 💫 Cognitive engagement: Complex elements, such as the Roman numerals, activate the brain's curiosity centers, prompting visitors to engage more deeply with the experience. 💫 Memory and recall: The dynamic use of color and intricate details, combined with spatial design, makes the installation memorable. It enhances recall, making consumers more likely to associate positive emotions and luxury with the Serpenti brand. 💫 Emotional resonance: Moureaux’s thoughtful design creates an emotional connection with the brand, influencing consumer decisions. It drives feelings of trust, desire, and connection, all of which are key psychological factors in shaping purchasing behavior. This installation showcases how a well-executed design can influence consumer perceptions, behaviors, and emotions, creating a lasting luxury experience. #ConsumerPsychology #Design #Luxury #EmmanuelleMoureaux