A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

The phrase "a picture is worth a thousand words" has existed since the New York Post discovered the value of visuals in the news business. This remains true to this day. Simple, clear, concise visual images, briskly paced and sprinkled with attention-grabbing graphics will lend support to your spoken words. This leaves your audience with a positive attitude toward you and your product, service or proposal.

The Illegible Image

Images not clearly seen by the entire audience add confusion and distraction. If you have to say "I know you can't read this but.....," why include the visual at all? The more eagle-eyed viewers may take exception to this attack on their literacy while others are attempting to see what is on the screen. While straining to read the visual, they cannot be expected to be paying full attention to what is being said.

The Useless Image:

Images should be designed to please the mind as well as the eye of the viewer. If an image has no specific place or purpose in a presentation other than "it is pretty", it should probably be removed.

The Overly Complex Image:

More images with fewer ideas on each are better than a few images which are complicated or difficult to understand. A single idea or set of facts per image, timed to the speaker's pace will add punch and emphasis to each important idea assuring maximum retention.

Most people are easily bored, and one generally accepted rule of thumb states that if an image remains on the screen longer
than 7 to 10 seconds, you begin to lose viewer attention.

Calico or Crazy Quilt Graphics:

Keep the colors to a minimum. A single background color throughout a presentation lends an air of continuity. You can separate broad sections of a presentation by changing background colors, but keep the changes to a minimum. Unless your purpose is to shock or grab serious attention, try to keep all background colors within the same color family.

Mixed Visual Metaphors:

You should not mix your metaphors when you speak, so please don't mix them in your graphics without specific purpose.
You would not use warm colors in an image whose subject was ice hockey unless you wanted to emphasize the warm
comfortable environment of the arena.

How to pick colors for your effective presentation

Use color to support your message when you present. Your audience will have conscious and unconscious reactions to your color
selection. Take a look below for common color associations.

White

Ultimate Light: White is purity, cleanliness, and innocence. Like black, white goes well with almost any color. To the human eye, white is a brilliant color that can cause headaches for some. Too much bright white can be blinding. In most Western countries white is the color for brides. In the East, it's the color for mourning and funerals. White is often associated with hospitals, especially doctors, nurses, and dentists.

Using White: In most cases white is seen as a neutral background color and other colors, even when used in smaller proportion,
are the colors that convey the most meaning in a design. Use white to signify cleanliness or purity or softness.

Purple

Royalty and Spirituality: Purple is royalty. A mysterious color, purple is associated with both nobility and spirituality. The opposites of hot red and cool blue combine to create this intriguing color. Because purple is derived from the mixing of a strong warm and strong cool color it has both warm and cool properties. A purple room can boost a child's imagination or an artist's creativity. Too much purple, like blue, could result in moodiness.

Using Purple: Deep or bright purples suggest riches while lighter purples are more romantic and delicate. Use redder purples for a warmer color scheme or the bluer purples to cool down.

Yellow

Hope and Happiness: Yellow is sunshine. It is a warm color that, like red, has conflicting symbolism. On the one hand it denotes happiness and joy but on the other hand yellow is the color of cowardice and deceit. For years yellow ribbons were worn as a sign of hope as women waited from their men to come marching home from war. Today, they are still used to welcome home loved ones.

Using Yellow: Although it can work as the primary color, yellow often works best as a companion to other colors. Use bright yellow to create excitement when red or orange may be too strong or too dark. Yellow can be perky.

Blue

Nature of Blue: A natural color, from the blue of the sky, blue is a universal color. The cool, calming effect of blue makes time pass more quickly and it can help you sleep. Blue is a good color for bedrooms. However, too much blue could dampen spirits. Blue is calming. It can be strong and steadfast or light and friendly. Almost everyone likes some shade of the color blue. n many diverse cultures blue is significant in religious beliefs, brings peace,
or is believed to keep the bad spirits away.

Using Blue: A deep royal blue or azure conveys richness and perhaps even a touch of superiority. Navy blue is almost black and is a bit warmer than lighter blues. Combine a light and dark blue to convey trust and truthfulness ? banker's colors. Although blue is a year-round color, pastel blues, especially along with pinks and pale yellows suggest Springtime while deep blue is a colder weather color. Create a conservative but sophisticated look with subtle contrast by combining light and dark shades of blue.

Red

Nature of Red: A stimulant, red is the hottest of the warm colors. Studies show that red can have a physical effect, increasing the rate of respiration and raising blood pressure. Red is hot. It's a strong color that conjures up a range of seemingly conflicting emotions from passionate love to violence and warfare. Red is Cupid and the Devil.

Using Red: Use the color red to grab attention and to get people to take action. Use red when you don't want to sink into the background. Use red to suggest speed combined with confidence and perhaps even a dash of danger. A little bit of red goes a long way. Small doses can often be more effective than large amounts of this strong color. Multiple shades of red and even pink or orange can combine for a cheerful palette.

Gray

Elegant Neutral: Gray is a neutral, balanced color. It is a cool, conservative color that seldom evokes strong emotion although it can be seen as a cloudy or moody color. Like black, gray is used as a color of mourning as well as a color of formality. Along with blue suits, gray suits are part of the uniform of the corporate world. Dark, charcoal gray carries with it some of the strength and mystery of black.

Using Gray: All shades of gray can be good, neutral background colors. Use lighter grays in place of white and darker gray in place of black. Taupe, a grayish brown neutral is a conservative, slightly earthy, warm shade of gray.

Ivory

Relaxing Neutral: Ivory is a soft neutral color that isn't quite white and has some of the earthiness of light browns. Ivory represents quiet, pleasantness with a touch of luster. The ivory tusks of elephants have long been prized and used in jewelry and the decoration of house wares and furniture.

Using Ivory: The color ivory provides a calming effect. Use it to set a relaxed tone of understated elegance.

Brown

Nature of Brown: Brown is a warm neutral color that can stimulate the appetite. It is found extensively in nature in both living
and non-living materials. Brown is a natural, down-to-earth neutral color. It is found in earth, wood, and stone. While it might be considered a little on the dull side, it also represents steadfastness, simplicity, friendliness, dependability, and health.

Pink

Nature of Pink: While red stirs up passion and action, studies have shown that large amounts of pink can create physical weakness in people. Pink is a softer, less violent red. Pink is the sweet side of red. It's cotton candy and bubble gum and babies, especially little girls. In some cultures, such as the US, pink is the color of little girls. It represents sugar and spice and everything nice. Pink for men goes in and out of style. Most people still think of pink as a
feminine, delicate color.

Using Pink: Both red and pink denote love but while red is hot passion, pink is romantic and charming. Use pink to convey playfulness (hot pink flamingoes) and tenderness (pastel pinks). Multiple shades of pink and light purple or other pastels used together maintain the soft, delicate, and playful nature of pink. Add strength with darker shades of pinks and purple and burgundy.

Lavender

Graceful and Feminine: Lavender has long been a favorite flower and color of genteel ladies. This shade of purple suggests refinement along with grace, elegance, and something special. While purple is the color of royalty, lavender is the color of femininity. It's a grown up pink.

Using Lavender: Use the color lavender to suggest something unique or extremely special but without the deeper mystery of purple. Lavender may be a good choice when you are targeting women and want to invoke feelings of nostalgia or romance.

Green

Life and Renewal: Green is life. Abundant in nature, green signifies growth, renewal, health, and environment. On the flip side, green is jealousy or envy (green-eyed monster) and inexperience. Green is a restful color with some of the same calming attributes of blue. Like blue, time moves faster in a green room.

Using Green: With both a warming and cooling effect, the color green denotes balance, harmony, and stability. Use several shades of green for a fresh, Springtime feel. Olive green, also called olive drab, is a not so drab summery green that may have military overtones for some people.

Beige

Dependable and Flexible: Beige is a chameleon, taking on some of the attributes of stronger warm or cool colors it accompanies. On its own, the color beige is a calm neutral background. Beige is a neutral color with a bit of the warmth of brown and the crisp, coolness of white. It is sometimes seen as dull and boring unless coupled with other colors. It can be a relaxing color for a room.

Using Beige: Use the color beige to provide a calm, relaxing background. Small doses of beige might be added to separate two dark colors to help each stand out.

Turquoise

Refreshing and Sophisticated: A mix of blue and green, turquoise has a sweet feminine feel while the darker teal shades add lively sophistication.

Using Turquoise: Create feminine appeal with the lighter shades of turquoise. Some shades of turquoise have an old-fashioned 50s and 60s retro feel. Teal has a darker, somewhat more sophisticated look. Like the mineral, turquoise shades range from almost sky blue to deep Black

Ultimate Dark:

Considered the negation of color, black is conservative, goes well with almost any color except the very dark.

It also has conflicting connotations. It can be serious and conventional. The color black can also be mysterious, sexy, and sophisticated. In most Western countries black is the color of mourning. Among young people, black is often seen as a color of rebellion. Black is both positive and negative. It is the color for little boys in China.

Using Black: Use the color black to convey elegance, sophistication, or perhaps a touch of mystery. Dark charcoal gray and very dark brown can sometimes stand in for black. The researchers found that blue was favored overwhelmingly by men and women. Limited in the number of colors studied and the number of study participants, the four colors were, in order of preference, blue, yellow, red, green. Personal preference was the main criteria in choosing a color from the choices offered, but context (background colors, adjacent colors, and symbolism) and to a lesser extent readability also played a role in choosing colors.