LEGAL PRACTICE TIPS Creating Effective Visual Presentations A Better Way By Kelly L. Andersen soft’s PowerPoint; Reynolds has the larg- est presentation blog in the world; Ham- lin was a preeminent communications expert for more than a quarter century; Atkinson created the slides in the Vioxx case that helped inspire a jury to award over $250,000,000 for a single plaintiff; and Gallo teaches CEOs of international corporations how to give better presenta- tions, based upon his careful study of hun- dreds of talks given at TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) conferences. iStock Flawed Presentations A while ago two young MBA trained professionals asked me to preview a PowerPoint presentation they would be giving to a medical group on the subject of financial planning. They could not have asked at a better time, since I had just finished studying several books on the subject of visual presentations. These books included: Cliff Atkinson’s best-seller, Beyond Bullet Points; Sanya Hamlin’s buoyant tome, Now What Makes Juries Listen; Garr Reynolds’s eye for the beautiful, Presentation Zen and Presentation Zen Design; and Nancy Duarte’s insights about what distinguishes great presenta- tions from poor ones, Resonate and Har- vard Business Review Guide to Persuasive Presentations. More recently I have stud- ied Carmine Gallo’s spritely written Talk Like TED and Stephen M. Kosslyn’s ana- lytical sleeper Clear and to the Point. These authors are international rock stars in the field of visual presentations. Duarte designed the graphics for Micro- 30 OREGON STATE BAR BULLETIN • MAY 2016 As I watched the PowerPoint presen- tation of my young MBA friends, I real- ized that while they probably were doing what they had been taught in business school, their visual presentation was ter- ribly flawed. Each of their slides included their business logo (consuming about tion went well, but the odds of full success were deeply stacked against them. Their use of PowerPoint probably diminished rather than enhanced their presentation. They likely would have done better with handouts and no slides at all. As I have carefully listened to and watched state and national CLE speak- ers — and have reviewed my own slides of past CLE presentations I have made — I have sadly concluded that my own work has been terribly deficient and that other attorneys are not faring any better. I write to suggest a better way. All of us have occasions to present, whether to a jury, a school board, a planning commis- sion, or some other church or civil organi- zation. Many times no visuals are needed. Indeed, in some instances PowerPoint (or Keynote for Apple users) would posi- tively be bad, such as in very small groups When visual aids are helpful in making the message more clear and memorable, it is best to understand some basic “do’s” and “don’ts” of how to use visuals. 25 percent of slide space). Most of their slides had bullet points and vast amounts of text. They had no cohesive story tying all the slides to one central theme, and they routinely turned their back to me (their audience) to view their slides as they read what was written on the screen. I voiced my concerns. They politely listened, but I sensed that my comments ran against what they had been taught — and probably graded upon — in busi- ness school. I hope their later presenta- where a conversation and a sharing of written handouts often work better. But when visual aids are helpful in making the message more clear and memorable, it is best to understand some basic “do’s” and “don’ts” of how to use visuals. I have 10 suggestions. They are based upon my good (and not-so-good) experi- ences and upon the helpful literature now available. 1. Avoid Bullet Points Although visual communications ex-