There are several key graphical elements of presentations that are used in strategic consulting. These key elements are used widely in most of the materials and handouts distributed or shown at strategic meetings. At the same time, it is crucial that each of these elements is used in the proper place and contribute to a better understanding of the ideas and concepts that are presented.
Images
There are two main purposes pictures or images are mostly used in presentations:
- for creating an emotional background for the presentation when you need to create some feeling or emotion supporting the main topic (it is important to notice that nowadays the tendency is not to use background images on every page of a presentation);
- in a quite straightforward way to show something or someone whether it is a picture of a person or a picture of a production process or an idea.
It is okay to use photos and drawings from the internet. A picture representing a typical fact or concept can be taken from a Wikipedia page or some other popular website. For those images that create an emotion or some understanding the emotional understanding of the presentation, online libraries or repositories are usually extremely helpful. There are both paid subscription and free-to-use variants to surf through online.
Block charts and schemes
Block charts or schemes are the central part of strategic consulting presentations design. They carry the most weight in designing strategic processes and explaining the concepts normally discussed at strategic meetings. Examples of these include organizational charts, process flow charts, process creation charts, etc. Mostly, these are not created from scratch. Usually, block charts are created using some templates. There are a few online libraries that have templates for professional-looking block schemes and process charts.
Charts and graphs
Charts are mostly graphs and other representations of the data. There are many ways on how to use charts in your presentation. Normally, they are employed to provide a more analytical and at the same time easier to grasp view of the data. Instead of complex tables or intricate rows of data a tendency or some important point can be drawn on a chart.
Icons
Icons are intended to make your presentations look more lively. It has become quite an important part of the presentation design recently. In many cases icons also make a presentation look much more professional. There are many online icon libraries to find a suitable variant for each of your ideas. Usually, icons are used in several ways:
- instead of bullet signs in the bullet points in lists with each icon related to the text next to it;
- to depict some key concepts in a short and, at the same time, understandable way (basically employing the ideas that were laid in hieroglyphics);
- trademarks or trade icons are used to represent companies (these can normally be found on the companies’ websites in several graphical formats that can be most efficiently used in your presentation – just go to the company’s website and find the type you need).
Color palettes
An important part of any chart design is a color palette. Palettes distinguish the corporate style as well as a professionally-looking design. The main aspects of palettes include matching colors, outlining key ideas, and highlighting critical elements. Besides the default palettes available as a part of virtually every software there are many examples that can be found on the internet.
In conclusion, these are the most important graphical elements of presentations used in strategic consulting. Most of them are used extensively in any presentation. However, there is an appropriate use for all of them, so that the viewer is not overwhelmed with the ubiquity of the graphical design elements.