Top 7 Best Practices in Data Visualization for Businesses in 2021
Imagine having to look at a PowerPoint presentation full of text. The presenter has to do everything within his power to make it easy to understand.
Within a short time, the typical human mind will start to wonder. New research shows that the attention span of humans is less than 8 seconds. We are doing worse than the goldfish that has a nine-second attention span.
So how do you ensure that you keep your audience engaged during a business presentation? Your best bet would be to incorporate the use of visual cues.
Graphs, charts, and images will help keep your audiences engaged. It makes it easier to explain data and can lead to more engagement.
But, it pays to be careful about how you include visual cues in your presentations. We will share with you the top 7 best practices in data visualization for businesses in 2021. Let's go right into it.
Best Data Visualization Practices For 2021
Every time you stand in front of audiences, you want to communicate. There are certain best practices you must adhere to. So what are they?
Start With Some Detective Work
It pays to do some detective work when working on a presentation. This is especially important when marketing for startups. Take the time to understand who you will be talking to. It will determine all the content that you have in the slides. The visual cues, tone, language, and style depending on the audience.
Using professional styles when talking to teenagers may backfire. With them, you will get more mileage with more visuals and less text. It helps to incorporate the use of pictures and easy-to-understand infographics.
If you are using free PowerPoint templates, you get access to tons of infographics. Pyramid diagrams, for example, are very easy to understand.
Use different colors and other customization options to make them more engaging. Younger audiences can easily digest and remember such presentations.
Carry out a Survey of Proper Presentations
Ask the following questions.
What kind of slides are people more likely to interact with?
What visuals can help make the data easier to understand?
How should the slides look?
How many slides are too many?
Look at the scenario from every possible angle. It becomes easier to put the slides together.
Decide What Goes Into the Slides
The first thing you need to do is clean up your data. Decide what is relevant for the presentation and what is not. To do this properly, you must go back to the point of understanding your audience.
Top-level executives will be interested in more in-depth information, especially if it affects the bottom line.
Younger audiences want to know how the product will make their lives better.
Investors may want to know how they will get value for money.
Decide On the Visuals You Want To Use
The next step is to decide which visualizations you want to use. The advantage is you have so many options. The disadvantage is, with so many options, it can be quite confusing to choose.
The visual of your choice should:
Allow for data presentation in the simplest manner possible. Tables, for example, are excellent for structuring the information. The audiences may get lost when trying to interpret the data. It happens mostly when there is too much information in them.
Do not overwhelm the listeners with too much information.
The visualization is an aid, not a replacement to what you have to say. What this means is you still carry the weight of the presentation. A common mistake some presenters make is putting too much information on the infographic. It forces the audience to try to read and interpret what is on the slides, instead of focusing on what you are saying. It may end up confusing the listeners and you will not achieve your end goal of communicating.
The visual should not be distracting or confusing. The use of too many colors may not be a good idea. By the time the listeners try to make out what is on the slides, you may have lost their interest.
Be careful about what you use. Pictures with delicious looking pork chops may be acceptable in some circles. However, vegans and Muslims may find it offensive.
Customize Your Infographics or Visuals
Spend a little time customizing your visualizations depending on the audience. It can be tempting to resort to the general ones that come with most templates.
However, you increase the chances of better engagement when the audience feels like you had them in mind when putting your slides together.
But, do rein in your creativity. The aim is to engage, not distract. It is, after all, a business presentation, so it pays to remain professional.
Reveal Information in Bits
If you want your audience to remain engaged, reveal information in bits. Instead of putting everything in one slide, create some flow from slide to slide. The audiences will focus on specific parts as opposed to trying to understand everything on one slide.
When the listeners can build linkages in the messaging, it will increase comprehension of the data.
When working on the slides:
Provide factual information with baselines to support the data
When using infographics like graphs, include all the information. Some people will hide essential data if it doesn't look good. The sales manager may, for example, hide the fact that the department is not doing so well. They end up only having what looks good in the presentation. This is a way of using visualizations to deceive audiences.
Another deception tactic is information overload. It ends up confusing and not informing.
Balance Visuals and Texts
Visual cues will communicate better with text. That is one of the things that make infographics so powerful. The right combination of text and visual cues will bring out your message better.
Look at the example below of the right text and visuals balance.
Final Thoughts
We have looked at the top 7 best practices in data visualization for businesses in 2021. The aim should be to use visuals to drive engagement and interaction. Such cues help break down complex data into simple, easy to digest bits.
