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Visual Communication Tips & Tricks

More explanation at the end.

Problems:

"Classic Bad Placement" (box within box)

Text & image do not interact in same space

 

Fixes

Lose the box

image off the edge 

 

Problems:

Low contrast (difficult readability)

Jarring color scheme 

Fixes:

High contrast (easy readability)

Simple color scheme 

 

Problems:

Tons of text/info (bullet points!)

No engaging visuals 

 Fixes:

Reduction of text (one main idea on slide)

Visual engages and invites inquiry

 

Problems:

Text heavy - student just reads info

Classic Bad Placement

Fixes:

Less text - student explains instead of reads slide

Text and image exist in same space

Indeed, one of the basic skills we want our students to gain this year is better visual communication - obviously, as we expect them to grow in the skill, we will model it for them as often (and as well) as we can. If you have not seen my presentation on visual presentations, the above were some of the Keynote slides from it. Hopefully, the visuals were enough to explain some common problems and some simple fixes. Our shared rubrics explain these things too, but maybe "seeing" the issues and fixes helped.

If you have further questions about visual communication in the classroom, I LOVE to talk about it, so feel free to meet with me any time. Bible class is going to take this learning skill and make sure all students receive it during the first semester. But it would be good if you were learning and practicing it first semester too (when you and/or students give presentations with visuals). The above examples were from student work; but here are the first two slides (by adults) that really helped me see the contrast between visual presentation styles: