Once you’ve worked out a good way of making a point, you then need to decide how best to visualize it in order to maximize impact. The goal is to make it effortless for the audience to take in the idea. To do this, it helps to understand what happens in someone’s brain during a presentation:
- If what’s being shown and said aren’t easily connected, the dissonance often results in neither being comprehended,
- If it’s hard to know where to look when shown something, attention will soon drift away,
- If there’s a lot of information to take in, the brain is likely to take in only some of it -  not necessary the most important point.

Visual design is crucial. Even the most cleverly constructed argument can fail to impress if the accompanying visuals fall flat or, worse still, actually detract from the message. If you’re presenting a story, you don’t necessarily need any visuals - a brilliant orator can command attention using their voice and personal presence alone. Used well, however, visuals make the message easier to understand, remember and pass on.

Key principles worth bearing in mind include:
- Focus on just one point at a time
- Keep the visuals as clear and uncluttered as possible
- Use as few words and numbers as you can
- Use colour and layout to draw attention to what’s important
- Use eye-catching visuals at every opportunity
- Remove anything that doesn’t contribute to the point or duplicates something else
- Make sure all text is readable