Why Diagrams Are Useful Tools In Business Presentations

If you are giving a presentation, you may have thought about using diagrams as well as preparing what you are going to say. Diagrams are a useful tool in business presentations and here are some of the reasons why.

They Are Clear

Using a diagram can save you a lot of text. You will probably still talk through the diagram in your presentation, but it means that people can look at what the figures you are quoting represent rather than just having numbers thrown at them. They are fantastic for statistical information because the audience can see the point you are making at a glance. For example, using a diagram maker enables the audience to see the correlation between two groups of people. Without a diagram, this would be very wordy to explain.

It Helps People to Digest Information

Many people prefer to see things written down in a simple way because it helps them to remember important points. This is called visual learning and it is popular in the world of teaching and presentation giving. Many educators use this alongside other ways of learning such as aural and kinetic, to make sure that their students understand what is being said. This works well for adults as well as children, which is why it is so effective in business presentations.

A Picture Can Say More Than Words

A picture speaks 1,000 words, according to Fred R. Barnard, and he wasn’t wrong. You can get a lot of information from a picture. You might be talking to your audience about some statistics, but they could perhaps be used to show a subtext too. For example, your Venn diagram can show you a correlation, but it will also show you some differences. You might not be giving a presentation on the differences, but it can still be useful information for marketing.

It Saves Time

If you have time constraints and a lot of information to convey to your audience, then this will put you under additional pressure. However, as diagrams are easier to read than text, it can shorten your presentation time if you offer the information in the form of a diagram rather than being too wordy. This means that you can convey the information speedily and go on to talk about other things.

A Diagram Is Attention-Grabbing

Nothing grabs the attention like a diagram. The brain wakes up and takes notice of visuals much more than it does words. If your audience is tired, bored, or thinking about something else then they will let your words wash over them and may not be listening. However, showing a diagram forces the audience to interact and the brain kicks into gear. It is a great idea to plan a diagram for the points of your presentation where you think your audience may lose focus.

A Diagram Is Interesting

Nothing is more boring than someone talking at you for an hour or two. People like to be interactive, and you are going to lose your audience if you spend all your time talking. However, diagrams help them to switch their minds and to be back in the moment, even if they were drifting off to sleep.

They Are Easy to Rework

A diagram is easy to rework so you can use the same one for multiple presentations. For example, if you are reporting to a different client or you are talking about the next quarter’s sales figures, you can often keep the basic layout of the diagram the same and just change the figures or some of the wording.  This works well with graphs. Reworking can save you a lot of time and energy.

They Are Easy to Review

Try as you might, an audience will only retain a certain amount of information during a presentation. You may decide to give them a handout to help them to remember the important points or send them an e-mail afterward. If you can show them some diagrams, they can use the information as a quick reference guide and they are likely to find it considerably more useful than having to trawl through reams of text to refresh their memories.

Visuals are an incredibly useful tool to use when you are giving a business presentation. As long as you are concise, they can be a lot easier to understand than spoken statistics, and they are likely to stay in the audience’s mind for longer. Don’t forget to include these in your next presentation.