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• Communication

How to Tell Effective Visual Stories in Your PowerPoint Presentations (+Video)

Long, boring presentations don't work. They're full of text-heavy slides and the conclusions tend to be hidden at the end of the presentation, taking too much time to reach. Those presentations are bound to be forgotten.

The solution is to get visual. Charts and graphs, infographics, stock photos and more can combine to combat the text-heavy slides that give PowerPoint a lousy reputation.

Great presentations take your audience on a journey. Visuals support that journey by immersing your audience. In this tutorial, I'll give you visual presentation ideas , and help you build an engaging presentation. Let's dive in.

Key Components of Great Visual Storytelling in PowerPoint

When it comes to storytelling using PowerPoint, it’s crucial to focus on business storytelling. The story you share, while it's about your business, has to resonate with your audience and encourage them to take action.  

In a lot of ways, business storytelling isn't all that different from the stories we remember from our childhood. In order for your story to resonate, you've got to have the key elements of a great narrative: 

• Traditional story structure . Your story needs to have a beginning, a middle, and an end. This is the simplest structure you can follow and incorporate into your presentations for more impact.
• Human element . Your story also needs a hero. It should be someone your audience can relate to, someone who makes them stop and think why they should care about the topic of your presentation. Introduce your hero at the beginning. Then share a relatable background story that'll hook them into wanting to learn more.
• Conflict . The middle of your presentation should introduce a conflict. In a business setting, this can be all about challenges and obstacles your hero needs to overcome. What burning problem does your audience have? What’s preventing them from taking the plunge and investing into your products and services?
• Resolution . The end of your story needs a happy resolution. This is the area where you can use graphs, charts, icons, and infographic elements to show what the success looks like. Remember to always refer to the hero and what the data has to do with them.

The elements above are the basics for building a great narrative. But those elements alone aren't enough to make a great presentation. You also need visuals to go with it.

According to research (source: Boston Globe, Global Business Hub), we’re able to process images 60,000 faster than information presented as text alone. Also, we can recall up to 65% of information received if it’s accompanied with an image three days later.

Align your story with your visuals to make it come to life and engage your audience.

Top Tips on How to Tell Effective Visual Stories in Your PowerPoint Presentations (Video)

Do you want a quick headstart with some of our best tips for storytelling using PowerPoint? Check out our video below:

5 Quick Tips to Tell More Effective Visual Stories in PowerPoint

So, you already know that visuals matter. You might be wondering how to build an effective visual presentation. There are so many different ways to craft a presentation that it can be daunting to know where to start. Storytelling in PowerPoint is all about reaching an audience in a unique way that stands out.

Let's look at four tried-and-true PowerPoint visual tips for building a visual presentation. Use these tips in your next PowerPoint to make sure that your presentation makes an impact and drives the story in the way you imagined.

1. Align Your Story With Your Visuals

A story is more effective when you've got PowerPoint visuals that align with it. Create a stronger emotional connection with your audience and make a greater impact with your presentation. If you want your visuals to be effective, keep the following in mind:

• Use authentic photos . Styled feeds and flawless images are beautiful. But they won’t help you make a connection with your audience. Opt for candid shots and look for images that convey what you stand for as a brand. 
• Make them relevant . Be aware of what’s happening in the world around you. Use photos that are relevant to the time and the culture. Remember, your brand doesn’t exist in a bubble. Ignoring current events can do more harm than good.
• Use images that engage the senses . As great as your images are, they're not a replacement for the real thing. But you can get pretty close by using images that engage the senses. Use macro shots and closeups to show textures. Or opt for a long shot that offers a wide perspective so your audience can immerse themselves into the scene.

2. Convert Data Tables to Graphics

Whether you're giving a business pitch or reviewing the results of a project, it's likely that your slides include some data. After all, hard facts and stats can show that your company or project is moving in the right direction.

The mistake that I see many presenters make is loading up slides with critical data and statistics in plain text format. When you overwhelm the audience with  too many  data points, it's likely that they'll forget them. 

That's why you should consider converting basic data sets to charts and graphs instead. Line charts, bar charts, and more can all convert flat data into effective visual presentations.

If you're getting started in working with data in PowerPoint and want to help your audience visualize it, check out the tutorial below:

3. Remove Unnecessary Elements

You're the presentation when you're speaking to an audience. The slides are just a supporting point.

Rookie presenters often the slide up with every imaginable detail—this is a mistake! You'll know this has happened if the audience's eyes glaze over and they start checking their cell phones. To avoid losing your audience's attention, remove any element that doesn't make an impact.

Here are a few common mistakes I see in content-heavy slides:

• Paragraphs  with many sentences have no place in a presentation. Instead, convert these to talking points instead.
• Too many  animations bring the content on in too many stages, creating distractions that dilute the message.
• As mentioned above, eschew  data tables  and represent information as a simple visual chart instead.

A visual presentation should focus on a few key objects. Use only as much as needed to tell the story, and no more.

Many times, excess slide content should be moved into a non-visual speaker note and presented verbally. Learn more about using the speaker notes feature in the quick video lesson below:

It's fine to use PowerPoint to build files that are detail rich. For example, I often use PowerPoint to create work instructions for my team or clients. 

But this isn't the type of  presentation  that I plan to present to an audience. Learn the difference between PowerPoint as a layout tool, and PowerPoint as a tool for building visually appealing presentations.

Less is more. If you remove unnecessary slide elements, your audience will re-focus on the key points. That helps you drive your message. This is a crucial principle for visual presentation ideas.

If your PowerPoint slide layout has too many elements on it, whittle it down to the key concepts with the tutorial below:

4. Add Images, Video, and Graphics

This tip seems like a no-brainer: to be visual, you've got to include visual elements on your slides. Luckily, PowerPoint does a great job of handling images and visuals:

• Stock photos  are a great way to put your audience in the middle of a scene. Professional photography brings a sense of polish to almost any presentation.
• Short video clips  provide a nice change-of-pace. They can present your idea from a different perspective. For example, consider a YouTube explainer video that discusses an expert's view on an issue.
• Graphics and illustrations  can add another visual element to explain ideas. Like the graphic in the opener to this tutorial, for example!

Typically, I source all these from Envato Elements when building a presentation . The advantage of using Elements is that it's a flat-rate subscription model. It includes access to many creative tools , like PowerPoint presentation templates, stock photos, and graphics.

To keep learning more about how to include multimedia in your visual PowerPoint presentations, jump over to the articles below:

5. Show Off Process Steps With Infographics

Processes keep the world running. Whether it's the way that a company handles its order system, or a university admitting students step-by-step, robust processes make sure that teams can grow, and things run smoothly.

It's common to show off a process in a presentation. It's better to use visual elements than walls of text to describe a process. That's why I often use infographics to add a visual angle to explaining a process.

 An infographic is all about taking simple information and transforming it into a visual explainer. Of course, infographics can cover a lot more than process steps. But the idea is the same: take text-based information and convert it to great visuals for presentations.

For visual PowerPoint presentation examples that include the best infographics, check out the two pieces below:

Use Templates for Visual Stories in Microsoft PowerPoint

Throughout this tutorial, we've showcased example slides that include the best visual presentation ideas. All the examples I've shown you for visual presentation examples are included at a flat rate , thanks to Envato Elements.

If you want visual presentation ideas, then the Envato Elements library is for you. Best of all, you can jump from one presentation template to the next to glean your favorite ideas. Borrow concepts and slide designs from each template to bring together a cohesive presentation.

I always recommend adding imagery, video, and graphics to take your visual presentation to the next level. Elements also includes unlimited access to those as well. There's a huge stock photo library that you can use to improve your presentation.

Using templates is all about giving you visual presentation ideas. The graphic designers and expert presenters that build these templates have given you a head start in designing your next presentation. 

5 Top PowerPoint PPT Templates for Better Visual Storytelling

Now you know how to use storytelling to create more engaging presentations. Plus, you know where to find the best templates to use as a starting point for your presentation.

Here are our top five PowerPoint templates from Envato Elements. Download your favorite today and start working on your presentation slide deck: 

1. Be PowerPoint Template

The Be PowerPoint template has a beautiful, clean design. You’ll find 125 unique slides that combine text, images, and other visual elements to help you create an engaging story. The template also includes 550+ unique icons and image placeholders for easier editing. It was designed in full HD resolution and it’s easy to customize. 

2. Kalium PowerPoint Presentation

Kalium is another gorgeous PowerPoint presentation designed for business presentations. It offers text slides, image slides, and a combination of text slides with images so you can tell your story effectively. It’s easy to customize and comes with 50 unique slides designed in full HD resolution.

3. Minimalism PowerPoint Template

Try this template if you’re looking for a way to make an impact with your story. Clear of clutter and distractions, the minimalist slides help draw attention to the text and make the visuals stand out. The template includes:

• more than 50 unique slides
• image placeholders
• custom icons
• and vector shapes 

4. Permanent PowerPoint Template

The Permanent template is a great choice if you want to pair color psychology with storytelling for the most impact. This slide design features full color backgrounds. Easily customize them with your brand colors. The template comes with 32 master slides designed in standard 4:3 resolution.

5. Clean Business PowerPoint Template

This clean business PowerPoint template offers several slides that use photos as the background. The slides also incorporate a subtle text overlay. This makes them a great choice for enhancing your presentation with story. The template comes with 50 slides in full HD resolution and image placeholders for easy editing.

Learn How to Make Great Presentations (Download This Free eBook)

Take the PowerPoint tips you learned in this article further with our eBook: The Complete Guide to Making Great Presentations ( grab it now for FREE ) . 

It'll help walk you through the complete presentation process. Learn how to write your presentation, design it like a pro, and prepare it to present powerfully.

Tell an Effective Visual Story in PowerPoint Today

Effective visual presentations are a must. They cater to the expectations of modern audiences and help you tell a story with images, graphs, and more. The visual angle of a presentation explains ideas in a way that reaches your audience.

The easiest way to tell a great visual story is to start with a template that already has a wealth of visual ideas for a presentation. Jump over to Envato Elements for an all-you-can-download option for sourcing visual presentation ideas . 

Editorial Note : This post was originally published on April of 2019. It's been comprehensively updated with special help from Brenda Barron . A video has been added by Nathan Umoh .

10 Visual Storytelling Examples to Master Your Next Pitch

Are you struggling to tell a great story with your presentation? Do your slides seem lifeless and boring? It’s time to create something unforgettable.

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Have you ever had an upcoming presentation or PowerPoint and thought to yourself:

• “I’ll just throw some slides together.”
• “Bullet points are good enough.”
• “Eh, I’ll wing it.”
• “Let me Google some slide templates.”

Instead, try this game-changing technique: visual storytelling.

Along with my good friend Janine Kurnoff , we’ll teach you exactly how to ace your next presentation.

Janine is the Founder & Chief Innovation Officer at The Presentation Company, a business communication firm that teaches visual storytelling techniques to big brands. She also has an amazing new book, Everyday Business Storytelling , which I highly recommend.

Check out our interview below:

What is Visual Storytelling?

Visual storytelling, or visual narrative, is the art of using visual content such as pictures, video, and diagrams to communicate an effective story. Visual storytelling can be especially useful in business PowerPoints and presentations to engage, motivate, and influence audience members more so than traditional PowerPoints without visuals.

The #1 Visual Storytelling Technique to Create Amazing Pitch Decks

Researcher Uri Hassan at Princeton University set out to answer the question: Why do we love stories so much?

To find out, he asked volunteers to listen to a 15-minute audio recording of a high school prom story. He tested the volunteers and found that those who had the best comprehension also displayed the most neural coupling, or the brain’s ability to “mirror” the speaker.

In other words, listeners were able to mentally “transport” themselves to the story being told by the speaker. So in any great pitch deck, you’ve got to tell a great story . Do not opt out of storytelling—anyone can do it.

You do NOT have to have a TED Talk to master this skill.

Even if it’s a PowerPoint for 2 people, a great story can dazzle your audience.

Here’s how to do it, using the 4-step framework of Setting, Characters, Conflict, and Resolution:

The main goal of the setting is to bring in data for your characters so everyone is keyed in on what you’re about to say. It doesn’t have to be long (shorter may even be better), and it can either be verbal or visual.

Try introducing the setting with one of the following:

• a favorite quote
• a shocking statistic
• a personal anecdote
• a power image (more on that later)

Here’s an example: 

Say you’re at a sales meeting with a potential client. Your goal is to sell them on the merits of going remote, so you lead in with a shocking statistic: “Over the last 10 years, the remote workforce has grown by 91%.” This sets the stage for the importance of remote work.

Next come the characters. Characters in a pitch deck are either real stories, made-up anecdotes, or even humanized aspects of your pitch deck.

In other words, you’ve got to take facts and statistics and add a human element to them. For example, if you’re giving a weekly business update, you might want to include your target customer—how they feel about your product and what’s working or not working.

Or if you’re selling a new innovative product, find a way to relate to how others would use it and don’t focus on just the features.

In our example above, here is how we could introduce characters:

Start with a relatable character. Let’s call him Tom. Tom has been working in the office for a few  years now. He’s a loyal office worker and loves his job, and he’s excited to complete his next big project, which could potentially land him a promotion.

After the characters, you need to introduce some healthy tension. This is the mental bridge that gets people from the WHY to the HOW.

In the conflict stage, talk about your challenges, competitors, or problems. And to make an even greater impact, stick to one main idea or takeaway. This is the BIG IDEA your audience can focus on and the main focus of your pitch.

Here’s how this works in our example:

Secretly, Tom is suffering. He’s overworked, cramped in his tiny office space, rarely gets any sunlight, and not to mention his long commutes barely afford him any time with his family. Tom’s stress is building up over time—like an overpressurized barrel about to explode—and he’s about had enough.

Lastly, you’ll want to end your presentation with the meat and potatoes—or how to solve the conflict. List out the steps and recommendations for your presentation on how to solve the problem.

Homework: Open your last slide presentation. Print it out or keep it electronic, and add boxes to each slide, mapping out these 4 parts of the framework. Can you clearly identify all 4? And are they in correct order?

If you see problems, don’t worry! Think of this like the rough draft to a great presentation. You’re naturally going to see some holes—did you start with resolution? Is your conflict not clear enough? Time to fix it up!

Here’s how this could work in our example:

To solve the problem, Company X can try implementing a 3/2 at the office/at home policy. Tom will come to the office for 3 days out of the week, spending the remaining 2 work days at home. This will ease Tom’s stress while still exposing him to his routine environment. Over time, if Tom’s productivity stays consistent or even increases, his days working at home can also increase. Tom may even transition to full-time remote working—a win-win for both the company and Tom!

I love doing this on a whiteboard or with color Post-its. Put all characters or possible characters on green Post-its and all conflicts or problems on red Post-its. This can help you move things around.

10 Visual Storytelling Tips You Must Know

Got the 4-step framework down?

Great. Now it’s time to move on to my favorite visual storytelling tips.

Start With a Power Image

So you’ve got a snazzy title screen and are ready to dive into your visual storytelling journey.

To start off strong, I recommend using a power image. A power image is an image that creates strong emotion, gets people thinking, or uses humor. The aim is for this image to grab attention right off the bat.

Strong images make people feel first and think second.

For example, if your agenda is teamwork in the workplace, you might want to lead in with something like this:

Or, if you’re introducing a brand-new product, you might want to start off bold like Steve Jobs did with the introduction of the first iPhone :

Whatever the case, your power image should speak for itself. You likely don’t even need to add any text to this slide.

Once you’ve shown your power image, you can set the scene to introduce the setting in your visual storytelling framework.

Choose the right fonts

The verdict is in. In a survey on different fonts, these fonts were found to be the least favorite (based on count):

• Times New Roman (19)
• Helvetica/Helvetica Neue (18)
• Brush Script (13)
• Courier (8)
• Souvenir (6)
• Grunge Fonts (generic) (5)
• Avant Garde
• Gill Sans (4)
• Comic Sans (3)

Some of these might be obvious. Times New Roman—did you forget to change fonts? This is often the default font, so we’re super bored by it! Or Brush Script—maybe you’re going overboard.

If you find yourself using one of these fonts, switch out! Try one of my favorites above, or browse this amazing font site for inspiration.

Pro Tip: Font colors are important too. If your background and font color are too similar, it’ll be difficult to read. Like this BAD example:

Don’t JUST Use PowerPoint

PowerPoint or Keynote is great—but that should just be the START. You can do so much more!

It’s 2021 (or beyond, whenever you’re reading this), and it’s about time to change. So instead of your usual PowerPoint or Keynote, why not switch it up?

• Stop screen sharing. Body language and facial cues go a long way in conveying meaning and building rapport, so why would you hide behind your slides by screen sharing? Try using a tool like Prezi Video to appear alongside your slides and visuals—it’s a great way to stay connected with your audience, or even have some fun by interacting with your on-screen content.
• Props. Try ditching slides and swapping out for props. You can even add an element of play and incorporate LEGO bricks, marbles, or candy. Add props to enhance your storytelling objective—characterize concepts by using inanimate objects like dolls or stuffed animals, bring in fruits or vegetables to use as analogies, or pass out paper handouts so your audience has something they can physically grasp.
• Music. Do you play an instrument? Have a song that tells your idea well? Try incorporating it into your pitch deck. Keep it short and simple, and keep your audience in mind—a modern techno song might not be well received by a group of seniors!
• Instructional Video. Let’s face it. If you’re trying to explain a difficult concept, there’s probably someone on YouTube who’s already done it better. Try grabbing a snippet and using that as bounce-off material. Just make sure the video doesn’t outshine the rest of your presentation.
• Get creative. Check out this amazingly creative presentation that absolutely blew away the audience at a business conference in Jordan. You don’t have to go all out, but a little creativity can stand out in a sea of boring slides.

Pro Tip: When starting out, try using pen and paper or a voice recorder to draft your story. You might find you’re even more creative when not starting with a Keynote or PowerPoint!

The Psychology of Color

Did you know that color changes how we feel?

• Blue can make us feel loyal, stable, and tranquil.
• Green can make us feel success and hope.
• Red can make us feel passionate or intense.

When choosing colors for your pitch deck, think carefully about which emotions you’re trying to represent. And it’s not only for the PowerPoint—pay close attention to what you wear.

One study had a presenter showcase a poster. During her presentations, she wore either a lavender-colored blouse, which matched the poster color, or a clashing red one. Researchers examined to see how many people tuned in to the presentation.

Can you tell which color blouse led to the highest number of audience members?

If you picked the outfit on the left, congrats! The presenter attracted a lot more audience members when she wore the lavender blouse. So if you want the best results, try to match your clothes to the colors of your pitch deck, and read more about the psychology of colors .

Pro Tip: Use a matching color palette in your slides. This will help keep your pitch deck looking professional and uniform. I suggest using a tool like Coolors.co to find a matching palette.

Group common visuals

What makes art so pretty?

Most of the time, there’s a common “style” to art that you can tell right off the bat. The same principle applies to the images on each slide. What kind of images are on yours?

• round vs. square
• black and white vs. color
• vintage vs. modern
• creative vs. realistic

You want to make your images synergize, not clash. This means keeping like images together. Remember the Fyre Festival disaster? They were able to sell so many tickets because they made all of their marketing and branding look great. Here’s a pitch deck from Fyre Festival that uses an alternating black/white and color pattern:

Avoid Cognitive Overload

Cognitive overload is when people receive too much information all at once. This causes a brain “overload” that makes it harder to process information and learn.

We want to avoid this.

The solution is to keep slides as simple and direct as possible. When slides are simple, your audience will be able to focus on what matters, and they’ll also remember more. Here’s how to avoid cognitive overload:

• Consider including only the essential information on your PowerPoint, and discard or verbally state the secondary info.
• Break it up. Have small “break” slides (I like to add unique images or quotes) that let people mentally tune out for a moment.
• Avoid vague titles. This one is super important. Avoid using vague slide titles like “Update” or “Video.” This literally says nothing to the audience. Instead, give a simple summary or actions you want the audience to take. For example, this PowerPoint slide gives clear directions to watch the 2 videos and compare them. It’s not titled “Videos” or “Watch this” or some other generic title.

Incorporate Text With Images

It’s pretty obvious that visual storytelling is about using images. But most people just slap an image on and call it a day.

But to really rock your visuals, try blending images together with text. If you do it right, your text should neatly compliment your images. Like this one:

The 6-6 Rule

Have you ever sat through a presentation where each slide seemed to be filled with words, bullets, words, bullets, and more words?

Here’s the problem: Besides cognitive overload (above), too much text causes people to tune out. We start to read what’s on the presentation, and this grabs attention away from the speaker. People may also try to copy down all your notes during your pitch, which takes away from your spotlight.

So we’re not writing a novel here. We’re here to persuade, inform, or motivate others to take action. Instead, I want you to follow the 6-6 rule:

• For every slide, use at most 6 bullet points.
• For each bullet point, use no more than 6 words.

This is a general guideline I like to follow to keep my slides looking simple and clean.

Chart Color Choices

Pie charts, graphs, line charts, oh my! There are nearly endless ways to display your visuals as charts. And if you’re pitching statistics or heavy data, you’re bound to have charts.

But how do you display them to look their best? Try CSD Charting.

In short, CSD stands for:

• Categorical. These charts contain obviously different categories—say, if you’re categorizing various expenses such as food, electricity, and employee cost. You’ll want to use different colors to clearly indicate different categories. For example, here’s a chart showcasing different social media platforms:

• Sequential. Sequential data uses data that matters when it comes to time, such as increases in stock prices. You can visually chart this by using one color in different saturation.

• Diverging. These charts show 2 opposites, like your stats vs. the competitor’s, warm or cold, etc. Here’s an example on percentages and ad spend:

Pro Tip: Want some more useful chart info? Head on over to HubSpot’s data visualization mistakes article to master your charts.

Picture Superiority Effect

Humans rely on a phenomenon called the picture superiority effect. This means that we remember pictures and images more than words.

Even older adults who were presented objects to remember as either pictures or words remembered the pictures more.

Here’s an advanced tip for you: try cutting out most of your words. If you can, display just one or two images per slide, with a few words sprinkled in. Some of the best presentations I’ve seen had pitch decks that contained very few words.

Bonus: Avoid These 2 Big Visual Storytelling Mistakes

The frankendeck.

Have you ever struggled to finish a presentation and ended up with a “Frankendeck”?

A Frankendeck is a pitch deck with no clear call to action. Maybe it’s missing key details and facts. Or maybe it’s 4 decks cobbled together into one. Frankendecks leave the audience confused or unmotivated.

If you’ve ever made a really bad Frankendeck, then it’s most likely because you’ve been rushed. Or you thought you could memorize all the info and magical words would just sputter out of your mouth.

Can you relate?

Reality Check: You’re probably not a professional TED speaker . And even the best TED speakers spend countless hours prepping and practicing for their big speech (I know I did!).

I like to use the rule of 10 when presenting—take how long you expect your presentation to last, and allocate 10x the time for prepping (and maybe even more for practice). So, if your presentation is expected to go for an hour, dedicate 10 hours to creating the presentation from scratch.

This way, you’re not rushed. And instead of a Frankendeck, you’ll get a clean, professional one with good planning. Which leads me to the next big mistake…

Lack of Strategy

When most people create a pitch deck, their first thought is to create the visuals first. They want a great-looking presentation with stunning visuals and artwork that stuns their audience.

But this doesn’t work. To create a great pitch deck, the story must come first, followed by the visuals. Why?

In any pitch deck, visuals are the background dancer. The story is the lead singer.

Visuals are only there to enhance the main story. When people create pitch decks without a clear narrative, they often go overboard and create unnecessary visuals. This can lead to excessive images or images that don’t really add value.

So try outlining your story first. Get rid of the impulse to create beautiful images or scan Google for inspiration. Start with the narrative—and once that’s done, you can then begin to add images to compliment your story.

And now that you’re a visual storytelling pro…

Here are some more tips to really skyrocket your presentation game:

• How to Give an Amazing Online Presentation
• 15 Science-Based Tips to Master Public Speaking
• How to Give Captivating Presentations

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6 thoughts on “10 visual storytelling examples to master your next pitch”.

Everything you share has just so much incredible value and links to other articles, etc. that ALSO have so much value. Yours are one of the few weekly emails I get from all the things I have subscribed to over time that I ACTUALLY read every time because the value is so great! Thank you!

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What Is Visual Storytelling? How to Engage and Inspire Audiences

Like a seasoned artist painting with colors, you too can craft a compelling narrative with effective use of images. It’s not just about pretty pictures; it’s about stirring emotions that moves viewers to action.

Through this article, you’ll learn the elements of effective visual storytelling and how to use them to drive emotions.

Let’s dive into the exciting world of visual narration and discover how you can transform your content into an interactive masterpiece.

You can also jump right into creating visuals with Piktochart by accessing our template gallery. Sign up for free to get started.

Table of Contents

Key takeaways, what is visual storytelling: a visual journey, why visual storytelling matters, elements of effective visual storytelling, types of visual storytelling, how to craft an effective visual story, tips to up your visual storytelling game.

• Engagement and user experience should be prioritized in visual storytelling by aligning techniques with the target audience’s expectations and providing a clear narrative journey.
• Strategic use of interactive elements can elevate your visual stories, but it’s important to maintain a balance to avoid overwhelming viewers.
• Data can be effectively presented in visual stories through infographics, charts, and graphs, creating compelling and reader-friendly content.

It’s the art of using images, graphics, and other visual elements to tell a story that engages and inspires whoever is attending your presentation.

The power of visual stories lies in their ability to immerse viewers into a different world while delivering a message effectively.

The core elements of any story include:

Balancing these elements can create compelling narratives that engage viewers. In films or series, you’re trying to create tension as viewers follow the hero’s journey.

Beyond consumer series, visual storytelling plays a large role in the workplace as well.

However, using the right image or employing enhanced graphics isn’t just nice-to-haves.

They’re an essential tool for learning and retaining information.

So why does visual storytelling matter?

Because 65% of people are visual learners by nature.

An effective image can convey a complex idea instantly, sparking emotions or reactions that long-form content alone may fail to ignite.

In fact, we only have 10 minutes to get the audience’s attention and communicate our story. During that time, we need to keep it short and snappy while luring readers to become more invested in the core message.

One way to hold someone’s attention is using using the right images. They can change the entire experience and create lasting impressions by appealing directly to our senses.

The aspects of visual learning – seeing, interpreting, understanding – allow for deeper connections with the material presented.

Whether it’s children’s picture books or a brand’s content marketing strategy, the best narratives follow the same principles and employ the same elements.

Imagery, composition, colors, and typography are all essential components of this art form. Visual storytelling works when these elements are combined together.

Let’s dive deeper into each element so we understand how they work on their own and in tandem with each other.

Using imagery in presentations or reports can simplify or enhance textual information, adding a layer of relatability and context.

Images can evoke emotions and drive engagement. It makes data-heavy presentations relatable, ensuring key messages resonate deeply with audiences.

Consider you present a slide on diversity. Instead of a simple pie chart, it showcases diverse employee portraits surrounding the chart, instilling both an emotional connection and clearer understanding of the company’s demographic makeup.

Composition

Composition is basically how you structure your layout of visuals and text in an organized manner.

It’s the roadmap that guides an audience’s eyes through a slide or report, establishing a hierarchy of information.

There’s a hierarchy in visual representation based on how we process information. It defines the order in which viewers perceive what they see. A well-organized composition offers clarity, reducing the time spent deciphering complex data, and makes communications more efficient.

Imagine a slide showing quarterly turnover rates. A central, larger figure represents the company average, with smaller, peripheral figures showcasing departmental rates. This composition immediately emphasizes the overarching data while still providing a detailed breakdown.

Colors act as silent narrators in visual storytelling.

Think of visual content as a symphony and colors as its melodies.

When presenting reports or sharing data, choosing the right colors can amplify your message. Picking the right color in your visual narrative can evoke emotions, highlight priorities, and segment information.

For example, a presentation detailing employee engagement using varying shades of blue and red can indicate the level of engagement. A deeper hue is a strong visual cue for senior leaders to see what’s working, while rows with a lighter one might indicate areas that require attention.

If you’re uncertain which colors to use, try applying the Rule of 3 Colors . Start with a primary color, then pick two more to compliment it.

This color palette can start as your foundation, and you can use additional colors as a contrast to accent certain statistics or points when needed.

Typography goes beyond just choosing a font. You also have to take into account font choice, spacing, size, and hierarchy.

Effective typography ensures clarity, sets tone, and emphasizes important messages, making reports and presentations more digestible. As part of brand storytelling, it conveys mood and tone, giving voice to your tale in ways words alone cannot.

To start, consider picking from one of seven main types of fonts :

They each have their own purpose and effect. Choosing the “best” font depends on your brand voice and style.

Let’s say you held a presentation on company values. A bold, large typeface could emphasize core values, while a refined script underneath provides a brief description, guiding eyes and emphasizing importance seamlessly.

Remember, graphic design is more than aesthetics. Typography is a powerful way to guide readers through your story visually.

From the concise clarity of infographics and the revealing patterns in various charts and graphs to the sequential coherence of timelines, storyboards, flowcharts, and diagrams, these visual mediums provide unique insights that can transform data into compelling narratives.

To give your visual narrative structure, there are several types of visual mediums, each with its own nuances.

For you to use visual storytelling effectively, it helps to know what formats you can use in different situations.

Let’s start with infographics.

Piktochart has hundreds of infographic templates for you to choose from. Get started with a free account .

Infographics

With infographics, you can present complex data in an easily digestible and visually appealing manner.

Infographics use visuals to simplify intricate details, making it easier for audiences to comprehend.

You can transform a large passage of text that might take 30 minutes to an hour to understand into an interesting story that maintains the central focus on a core topic but only takes 20 seconds to communicate.

As a staple of visual storytelling examples, infographics are versatile and can be used in many situations. We discovered there are ten types of infographics , and each can tell a different story.

Within the same infographic, you can seamlessly blend multiple types of images or data visualization diagrams to reorient your audience’s perception around your main message.

But when creating your own visual content, it doesn’t have to be complex. An infographic can be as simple as a “Men at Work” construction sign, indicating that a construction project is going on.

Different types of charts and graphs

There’s no better way to transform raw data into visual forms that make comparisons and spotting trends intuitive.

When it comes to data visualization, there’re various types of charts and graphs that can be used effectively, such as:

• Line diagrams

These data visualization diagrams could become your best allies in visual storytelling efforts.

However, it’s worth keeping in mind that your goal is to convey a story or idea efficiently. To this end, including the right type of chart or graph can clearly and quickly share information.

In your next project, consider using a timeline to neatly arrange events in chronological order. It’s an effective way to present historical data or the progression of an idea.

For example, you might highlight key moments in a company’s history or illustrate the development of a groundbreaking product using visual media such as photos, videos, or infographics.

Try our timeline maker to access professionally designed templates for a variety of purposes for free.

Storyboards

Storyboards are exceptional for planning and organizing your presentation, offering a preview of how the story unfolds. They give you room for experimentation with different types of images, allowing you to perfect your tale before it reaches your audience. A presentation maker can help you cover all your bases and provide you with a variety of outlines to work with.

Storyboards are particularly effective for visual learners, helping them grasp complex ideas more easily. Remember, a good story isn’t just about words; it’s about creating a compelling visual media experience effectively too.

Like a visual GPS, flowcharts guide audiences through complex information, making it easily digestible and memorable. The diagrams often use standardized symbols connected with arrows to signify flow or sequence.

Few diagrams beat flowcharts when you need to show how a system or process works.

The beauty of flowcharts is that they simplify complex processes.

By mapping out what the different steps in a process are and who is responsible for each step, they clarify responsibilities, improve efficiency, and identify potential bottlenecks or redundancies.

Consider onboarding procedures. A flowchart can visually outline the journey of a new employee, from initial orientation to various training sessions, ensuring no step is missed and clarifying the progression for all stakeholders involved.

Video storytelling

Videos are a flexible way of getting a viewer’s attention and sharing a story by using great visual metaphors and elements, staged with an emotional visual media experience.

The great thing about videos is that you don’t even need text or speech to communicate your message. From filming angles to color grading, every detail contributes to the narrative.

Consider silent films, commercials, or music videos where no words are spoken yet a story is told effectively.

With all the tools in place, let’s explore how to craft a powerful visual narrative.

Once you’ve crafted the copy in your presentation, you might be at the juncture of adding some visual aids.

The best way to approach this is to think of your presentation or report as a jigsaw puzzle, with each piece of the overall image seamlessly fitting together.

Every element you add needs to help the story unfold.

Let’s start with making sure your target audience is at the heart of your story.

Understand the viewer’s needs

It’s not enough to just produce the raw stats and information in presentation slides. You must tailor the content that matches your audience’s needs.

As mentioned earlier, you only have 10 minutes to really capture your viewer’s attention and get the point across. To increase the odds of your message landing, reframe the presentation so the viewer understands what the problem is, how it affects them, and what the potential solutions are.

Creating a better presentation with effective visual storytelling starts with understanding your audience.

Here are four ways to prepare:

• Conduct in-depth research : Learn who the audience is, what their current challenges are, and what ideal outcome they’re looking for.
• Gather feedback : Use surveys or interviews to learn more about their situation and what expectations they have of your presentation.
• Segment your audiences: If you’re presenting to a larger demographic with a diverse range of participants, it could help to segment the groups and create separate presentations that address the needs of each segment based on their expectations and needs.

Make sure your message is clear

There’s nothing more frustrating than sitting in a presentation that you’ve tried to make sense of but struggle to understand.

To spare your attendees from this type of headache, ensure the main message of the presentation is clear. However, when you create your presentation, knowing what to include and what to cut can be tricky when you’re editing your content.

A good rule of thumb to keep the central focus clear is to ask yourself, “does this image/text help the audience understand the problem better?”

Crafting a clear message is crucial when conveying your story. It’s what’ll resonate with the viewer and prompt them to take action. You’re painting a picture with words, so make sure each sentence contributes to that image.

To that end, your text and images should guide the viewer along a narrative.

You don’t need to spell everything out—sometimes, you can let visual graphics or diagrams do some of the heavy lifting. But remember, every image should have purpose.

They’re not just there for decoration. They should enhance your story, add depth and context.

Emotional Connection

We’re all hardwired for stories that touch our emotions. It’s not just about sharing information; it’s about sharing it in a way that resonates. Here’s why and how:

Humanize the data : Raw data can feel distant. Instead of writing out progress updates on various projects, consider pairing the numbers with images of real team members or anecdotes of personal growth and challenges. By doing so, you’re not just sharing numbers; you’re sharing human experiences.

Visual metaphors work wonders : Metaphors can bridge the gap between the abstract and the concrete. If you’re discussing the concept of team unity, an image of different instruments coming together in a symphony can be more evocative than mere words.

Relevance is key : Put yourself in the shoes of attendees and ask yourself, “Why should I care?”. When presenting to employees about a new policy or system, use images and stories that highlight how it directly impacts their daily lives. Instead of saying, “We have a new time-tracking system,” show an image of an employee enjoying more personal time, signifying efficient work hours.

You’re not just communicating policies or data. You’re interacting with people’s lives, aspirations, and concerns.

While conveying the right information is essential, doing it in a way that touches the heart ensures that the message is not just heard, but deeply felt and remembered.

User-Centered Design

As an HR professional, your role is pivotal in shaping an inclusive and effective workplace. When crafting presentations, a user-centered design isn’t just a buzzword; it’s a necessity. Here’s how you can make your presentations more intuitive:

• Empathy first : Put yourself in the shoes of the viewer. Understand their needs, preferences, and pain points. If you’re presenting a new work-from-home policy, use an image or graphic that reflect an employee’s home setting—perhaps a kitchen table turned into a workspace, to make the connection real.
• Keep it simple : Complex layouts can be off-putting. Go for simple designs that guide the eye naturally from one point to another. Use arrows, lines, or contrasting colors to direct attention where you want it.
• Personalization pays off : People respond better when they feel the content is tailored for them. If presenting about career development, use real-world success stories of employees within your organization. Show their progression through simple visuals, like a ladder or growing plant.
• Accessibility matters : Ensure your visuals are inclusive. Use clear fonts, contrast-rich colors, and consider alternative text for images to ensure that the content is accessible to all employees, including those with disabilities.
• Test and iterate : Don’t assume what works; test it. Share your presentation with a small group first, collect feedback, and make necessary changes. Look for points where they seemed engaged or disengaged.

As an HR professional, you’re not just sharing information; you’re shaping an employee’s experience with the organization.

A user-centered design means creating presentations that resonate with your audience, making them feel seen, understood, and valued. In doing so, you’re not just conveying information, you’re building trust and fostering a positive work environment.

What makes visual storytelling important is that you can enhance your presentation by including a few tasteful graphics or images. Combined with basic storytelling techniques, viewers will buy into your story from the beginning.

That said, there are other ways you can level up your presentation or report beyond the basics.

You can jump right into using our presentation-maker and give the tips below a try for free.

Use different unordered list layouts

The beauty of presentations lies not just in the content, but also in its delivery.

An unordered list, often represented by bullets or icons, breaks down complex information into digestible chunks. However, there’s more to these lists than mere dots. By experimenting with different unordered list layouts, you can add depth and variety to your slides.

• Understanding the basics : Traditional bullet points list information in a linear, top-to-bottom manner. It’s straightforward and serves most purposes. An unordered list layout, on the other hand, allows for creative variations, using icons, images, or varying indents to signify different types or levels of information.
• Choose meaningful icons : Instead of standard dots, opt for icons that reflect the content. Discussing benefits? Use a checkmark. Highlighting challenges? Consider an exclamation point. The visual cue adds another layer of understanding.
• Play with spacing and position : A centered list or one that zigzags across the slide can capture attention. This format can be particularly useful when you’re contrasting two sets of ideas or presenting a flow of thoughts.
• Use graphics for elaboration : Instead of just text, pair each bullet with a relevant image or a short infographic. This provides a dual layer of information, engaging both textual and visual learners.
• Grouping and segmentation : Use different shapes or color-coded bullets to group related points together. This helps viewers quickly grasp the structure and relationships between the points.

Presentations often involve sharing heaps of data, guidelines, and updates. Using varied unordered list layouts can break the monotony, making information absorption easier.

Remember, it’s not just about listing the facts, but doing so in a way that ensures clarity, engagement, and retention.

By varying list formats, you enhance comprehension while adding creativity to your presentation.

Use templates

Time is of the essence. But efficiency shouldn’t come at the cost of effectiveness.

This is where ready-to-use stickers and templates shine.

They not only save time but elevate the aesthetics and coherence of your presentations. Let’s delve deeper:

The power of familiarity: Using templates ensures a consistent visual theme across slides, fostering a sense of familiarity and cohesion. It sends a subliminal message of stability and organization to your audience.

Stickers and icons add personality : Think of stickers or icons as the emojis of presentations. They can convey emotions, emphasize points, or simply add a touch of flair. A sticker of a light bulb next to an innovative idea or a thumbs-up alongside a best practice can make your slide pop.

Tailored to suit the mood : Different presentations demand different vibes. A template designed for a festive company announcement will differ from one discussing quarterly reviews. By having a variety of templates at hand, you can easily match the tone of your message.

Remember that your aim is to ensure clear communication, but with an emotional touch. Stickers can provide that touch, making presentations feel more human and relatable.

Templates, on the other hand, ensure structure and consistency. In scenarios like onboarding sessions, policy updates, or team meetings, the use of these tools can enhance understanding, retention, and engagement.

A well-crafted presentation can inspire, motivate, and inform, and having the right tools at your disposal makes this task infinitely easier.

Embrace negative space

An often-overlooked element, using negative space is where your creativity has room to stretch.

• Don’t fear emptiness: Negative space isn’t just empty space; it’s a powerful tool that can add depth and balance to your visual storytelling.
• Balance is key: Too much clutter can overwhelm your audience. Use negative space effectively to provide visual relief.
• Emphasize what matters: Strategically placed negative space can draw focus toward the most important elements of your story.
• Create intriguing shapes: Negative space isn’t always ‘negative’. It can form interesting shapes or patterns, adding another layer of intrigue.

Color psychology

Colors aren’t just about aesthetics; they speak a silent language, evoking emotions, driving actions, and setting the mood.

Harnessing the power of color psychology can amplify their visual storytelling and make presentations memorable.

Understanding color emotions : Different colors invoke different feelings. Blue conveys trust and calm, red signifies passion and urgency, while green often represents growth and peace. Recognizing these associations can help set the tone of your presentation.

Tailor to your viewers : Consider the cultural nuances of color when addressing diverse audiences. A color that’s considered positive in one culture might not have the same connotation in another.

Consistency is key : Maintaining a consistent color scheme not only looks professional but also aids in reinforcing brand identity and message continuity.

Creating focus : Use contrasting or bold colors to highlight key points or call-to-action elements. This can draw the audience’s attention to crucial areas of your slide. Using contrast can highlight key points when done well alongside your brand colors .

Maintain readability : While playing with colors can be fun, it’s vital to ensure text remains legible. Ensure there’s enough contrast between background and text colors.

Microinteractions

You’re likely to find microinteractions quite useful in enhancing user experience and building a connection with your audience. These little design elements, often unnoticed, add richness to the overall story you’re painting for your viewers.

Imagine sliding a toggle on a website or the satisfying click of a button—these are examples of microinteractions. They might not seem like much, but they can have an outsized impact on how users interact with your visual narrative.

Incorporate these subtle cues into your visual storytelling journey. Let them guide your audience through the narrative, providing feedback, direction, or simply delighting them along the way.

Data annotation

Incorporating data annotation in your content, you’ll be able to deliver a more comprehensive and detailed narrative. Think of it as the secret ingredient that adds depth and context to your visual storytelling.

It’s not just about presenting raw numbers or facts, but connecting those data points in a way that paints a vivid picture for your audience.

Imagine creating an interactive map on climate change. Through data annotation, you’re not only pinpointing areas most affected, but also weaving in compelling narratives about how it impacts local communities.

You’re giving life to otherwise static information, making your audience not just viewers but active participants in the story.

With data annotation, you turn complex concepts into relatable stories that inspire understanding and action.

The right tool to craft the best story

At the heart of every compelling presentation lies the art of visual storytelling. It’s not just about relaying facts but weaving them into a narrative that resonates deeply with your audience.

However, a story is only as powerful as its delivery. The right visual design tool can elevate your storytelling, transforming static data into dynamic narratives.

Want to craft presentations that captivate, communicate, and convert?

Consider giving Piktochart a try. Dive into a platform designed to breathe life into your stories, ensuring every slide leaves an indelible mark.

Join the Piktochart family today and see the difference firsthand. All you need is a free account to get started!

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Presentation Storytelling Examples & Techniques (2024)

Learn techniques for telling a story in a presentation . Get narrative presentation examples and learn to apply storytelling in business presentations .

Joanne Camarce

8 minute read

Short answer

What should a presentation storytelling structure include?

Introduction

Rising Action

Falling Action

Storytelling in business presentations matters (a lot)

Stories convey a deeper meaning, idea, or lesson. They make us feel, experience, identify, and understand.

Most importantly for storytelling in business presentations, telling a story in a presentation makes people more likely to remember the message.

Researchers Dean and Chip Heath found that after a presentation, 63% of attendees could remember the story told by the presenter.

However, only 5% could recall specific statistics from the event.

Because stories allow audiences to visualize and imagine an idea or message, stories also make them better able to make decisions.

In other words, stories bring buyers, stakeholders, and decision-makers to better understand and remember your message. Which in turn enables them to make a decision and increases the chance they’ll act on it.

What is presentation storytelling?

Presentation storytelling is the art of using a narrative structure to convey information instead of dry facts. It delivers a story with a clear beginning, middle, and end that aligns with the presentation's objectives, making the content more relatable and memorable.

Storytelling in business presentations involves 2 complementing aspects: (1) textual presentation narrative, and (2) visual storytelling.

What is a narrative presentation?

A narrative presentation is a style of delivering information where the content is structured as a relatable story. It typically includes characters, a setting, a conflict, and a resolution, and weaves complex ideas, processes, and metrics into the narrative.

What is a visual storytelling presentation?

A visual storytelling presentation tells a story or multiple anecdotes using visual elements like videos, animations, and interactive content.

Modern storytelling presentations apply scrollytelling design which combines visuals and text seamlessly to let readers interact with the presentation as they scroll down the content.

How to use the 4 storytelling archetypes

Storytelling is the art of describing vivid ideas, beliefs, experiences, and life lessons through stories and narratives.

These stories stimulate a listener's imagination as you take them on an emotional journey. There are many ways to tell a story.

These story structures have been shown to work for narrative presentations and corporate storytelling, and they will work for you.

The Hero's Journey: Communicates a transformation from struggle to success

The Story Mountain: Builds tension and anticipation

Story loop: Joins multiple perspectives into a single narrative

In-Media Res: Grabs attention quickly

There are timeless narrative frameworks that have worked for storytellers throughout the ages from the methodologies of old, through Shakespearian plays to Apple commercials.

1) Hero's Journey

The hero's journey narrative archetype involves a hero who goes on a journey and returns as a changed person.

This storytelling template consists of three distinct parts, or "acts," that include a setup, confrontation, and resolution. It makes for a well-structured and engaging narrative.

2) The Mountain

The mountain storytelling structure strategically maps the tension and drama in a story. This archetype is represented visually as a mountain, with each section building to a complex obstacle that characters need to overcome.

Think of the protagonist at the bottom of the mountain. They must climb the mountain to reach their goal (your business goals in this case). They face obstacles along the way, and they must overcome those obstacles before they can reach the top.

3) Story loop

The story loop structure contains stories within another story. However, they aren't standalone stories.

Your first story is the most important. It's the core of your message, and you use the other stories to elaborate or explain your central point.

But you stop some of the way through it, leaving the audience in suspense. Then, you share part of the second story before moving on to the last.

Eventually, in the end, you bring it all together to make one cohesive point. The purpose of this storytelling technique is to provide context, background, or a different perspective to a central narrative.

Types of anecdotes you can use in your story loop presentation

• Customer success stories
• Personal experiences by clients
• Inspirational stories
• Fictional or hypothetical stories
• Historical or factual stories

Here's a short video explaining how to use a story loop:

4) In medias res (begin from the middle)

In medias res is Latin for "in the middle of things." With this storytelling archetype, the narrative begins in the middle of a scene. It skips over the background of the story and gets straight to the action.

To choose the right type of story for your presentation, consider your audience, the purpose of the presentation, and the emotional impact you want to create.

No matter what narrative structure you choose, include visuals, sensory details, and precise language to bolster your message.

If you want to learn more about this storytelling archetype, check out the video below:

Effective presentation storytelling structure

A well-structured story can engage and persuade your audience, making your corporate presentation much more effective and memorable.

Stories can be applied in any type of business presentation, such as a pitch deck, sales presentation, white paper, report, or business proposal.

A single document can include multiple stories that make up a joint narrative.

5 basic elements of a story structure:

1. Introduction

• Sets a relevant context with background information.
• Introduces the protagonist (business or product) and the current problem or challenge.

2. Rising Action

• Builds tension by detailing the obstacles and complications faced.
• Engages the audience with the steps taken to address the challenge.
• The turning point where the main tension or conflict peaks.
• Highlights the moment of greatest challenge and the decisive action taken.

4. Falling Action

• Shows the aftermath of the climax.
• Begins to lead towards the resolution, detailing the business solution and results of actions taken.

5. Resolution

• Wraps up the story with the outcome of all actions.
• Provides a clear ending, showing how the challenge was overcome and what was learned.

After developing your story structure, be sure to connect it to your core message by creating parallels and reinforcing it with examples.

Most importantly, don’t leave your audience with the realization that they need to take action without offering them an immediate way to act.

Effective storytelling techniques for presentations

The beauty of storytelling is that the possibilities are endless. There are so many ways to tell a story in presentations. It's just a matter of finding the right one for your unique needs and goals.

1) Build your stories around your audience’s pain points

Stories establish connections. But don’t confuse your story with your audience’s story.

Your audience doesn’t care about your story, and they don’t care about your product.

But they will care if they feel you care about them.

Understanding the audience's pain points, values, and opinions can help you weave a story into a narrative that aligns with their interests. It gives you the chance to be part of THEIR story.

Stop talking about yourself. Do this and see engagement blow up, conversions increase, and greater brand loyalty .

2) Establish common ground with your prospects

One effective presentation storytelling technique is to find common ground and share experiences with your audience to establish a connection and make them care about what you say.

These commonalities are what resonate strongest with your target audience.

Common-ground stories tell your audience a satisfied client of yours overcame a particular challenge they are experiencing themselves, and offer the lessons learned while overcoming it.

3) Tell stories that foster peer envy

Peer envy is one of the strongest motivators you can flame in sales presentation storytelling.

Simply put it just means telling the story of a known industry player that achieved remarkable results with the help of your product or service.

A peer envy story should present the initial challenge, the journey to overcome it, and the final enviable outcomes. Yet the reader should feel they can attain similar or better results by following a similar journey.

Here's a fragment of a podcast where Michael Bosworth touches on this very topic:

Business presentation storytelling examples

Here are some examples of famous brands that incorporated personal stories to convey a powerful message in their business presentations.

Zuora sales deck

The Zuora sales deck was aptly named the best sales deck ever . It is truly a best-in-class example of a transformation narrative set within the story mountain framework.

It masterfully narrates the shift to a subscription economy, emphasizing evolving consumer behavior.

And by highlighting the challenges businesses face in this new economy, Zuora positions itself as the essential solution.

The deck's use of data, visuals, and testimonials weaves a compelling story of transformation, urging businesses to adapt and thrive with Zuora or stay behind and decline.

Mign sales deck

Mign’s sales deck highlights the digital shift in musculoskeletal injury recovery, emphasizing the transformation from mass production to personalized care.

Mign applies the hero’s journey story framework and positions itself as the trusted guide in this transformation.

The deck contrasts "winners," who embrace new technologies like additive manufacturing and virtual care, with "losers," traditional manufacturers stuck in outdated processes.

Tinder pitch deck

Tinder's pitch deck effectively narrates the universal challenge of meeting new people and the fear of rejection.

By introducing a hypothetical user named "Matt," Tinder gives the reader a peek into the mind of their target user - an everyday nice guy scared to approach a girl he's interested in.

This concrete personal experience gives life to a basic human need that investors can understand intuitively and even relate to.

Tinder leverages this emotional understanding to make a compelling case for its solution - a platform that eliminates the fear of rejection.

The deck also applied great data storytelling showcasing Tinder's impressive statistics, emphasizing its global reach and popularity among Gen Z.

They also nail the one-liner. Their slogan "It Starts With A Swipe™" encapsulates the simplicity and effectiveness of the app, positioning Tinder as the modern solution to traditional dating challenges.

Brothers Pub restaurant pitch deck

Brothers Pub's pitch deck presents a captivating local business story, emphasizing the need for a fresh, community-focused social pub venue.

The deck tells the story of the owners’ journey, from the initial concept to securing a prime location in Northampton, highlighting their dedication and vision for the future.

The deck outlines the challenges faced by traditional pubs, with 7000 closures in the last decade, and positions Brothers Pub as the innovative solution.

LKE proposal

Legends Kratom Co. (LKE) creates a narrative around the origins and benefits of kratom. By telling the exotic tale of the medicinal tropical evergreen tree and its transformation into a beneficial supplement, the deck creates a vivid backdrop.

They take the reader on their discovery journey to Indonesia to find a supplier for the coveted plant.

This adds authenticity and allure, while their commitment to education and community showcases a heartfelt mission.

Testimonials provide real-world validation, making LKE's story relatable and positioning them as a trusted leader in the supplement industry.

Genius Workshop Event pitch deck

Genius's pitch deck for their storytelling workshop is a masterclass in selling an experience. The deck introduces Gabrielle Dolan's expertise, setting a foundation of trust.

The workshop's structure is presented as a narrative journey, guiding attendees from novice to storyteller.

The deck mixes video, scrollytelling, and vivid language to give rich detail to the experience it promises to provide.

The 90-day follow-up program adds an element of continued growth, while alumni testimonials serve as real-world success stories.

By framing the workshop as a transformative experience, the deck engages and entices potential attendees, showcasing the power of storytelling in action.

Barbie recruitment pitch deck

Barbie's recruitment deck immerses candidates into Barbie's vibrant world. With playful greetings and whimsical descriptions, it sets a creative tone.

The deck focuses on Barbie’s story as a human being (doll in her case), her values, and her experience, instead of focusing on the recruiting company.

The deck lists attributes and responsibilities that align with Barbie's ethos, such as "spreading positivity" and "rocking a pink wardrobe."

Nokia brand guidelines

Nokia's brand guidelines deck uses visual storytelling to effectively communicate the essence of the brand. It lets the visuals tell the story since they speak louder than words.

The deck begins by anchoring the audience in Nokia's mission and values, creating a narrative foundation.

It then unfolds the brand's visual identity, from color schemes to typography, weaving a cohesive story of what Nokia represents.

By providing clear dos and don'ts, Nokia ensures that its brand story remains consistent and impactful across all touchpoints.

This storytelling approach not only educates but also engages, making it easier for stakeholders to internalize and adhere to the guidelines.

nSure one-pager

nSure's one-pager effectively uses visual data storytelling to convey the benefits of their AI fraud protection for digital gift card purchases.

Introducing the challenge of ambiguous transactions, nSure lets the numbers tell the story.

With impressive numbers like their AI solution’s 98% approval rate. They can afford to.

The deck's visuals, combined with endorsements from industry leaders like AXA, make a compelling narrative that instills confidence in nSure's expertise.

Healthy.io proposal

Healthy.io's proposal uses video storytelling with real practitioners who tell the story of their experiences using Healthy.io’s solution.

The video testimonial from a practice nurse adds a personal touch, showing the positive impact on patient care. This brings the user's experience to the front and adds credibility to the proposal’s claims.

The proposal uses a transformation narrative to showcase Healthy.io’s remote kidney screening solution.

They highlight the challenges of legacy ACR testing against their modern home-based test using a smartphone app.

Principles of visual storytelling in business presentations

Storytelling allows you to simplify complex or abstract information and address any objections or resistance. As a result, listeners can better retain and remember the message, which improves the decision-making process.

Here are the main principles that can transform your narrative:

Authenticity

Authentic visuals resonate more with audiences. In an era where people are bombarded with staged and polished images, authentic, candid photos that reflect the reality of your work can make your message stand out and be memorable.

Your visuals should evoke a sensory experience. The goal is to cut through the noise and trigger a stronger emotional response.

For example, you can make the experience more immersive by adding interactive clickable elements, embedding videos, or images that highlight details or visual textures.

Scrollytelling can also play a crucial role here, allowing the story to unfold through interaction, as the audience scrolls through the narrative, engaging them in a multi-sensory journey.

You can see the difference that interactivity makes below. Which presentation would you rather read?

The stories told by your images must be relevant to your audience. Personalized visual storytelling, supported by data to understand what motivates your audience, can turn your story into an experience that resonates deeply.

Every story has characters that fit certain archetypes, such as the caregiver, the explorer, and the creator. Identifying with these archetypes helps your audience connect with the story on a deeper level, making your organization's mission more relatable and memorable.

Make your own storytelling presentation

We've curated an extensive collection of templates to help you achieve effective storytelling for whatever business presentation you need to make.

The business storytelling presentation templates below have been rigorously tested across various devices and refined with insights gleaned from real-world feedback.

They were designed with interactive storytelling at their core. They’ll serve you as handy visual storytelling aids to make your presentations engaging, memorable, and highly converting.

Grab a template!

Why the human brain loves storytelling presentations

According to neuroscientist Uri Hasson , storytelling fosters deep social interactions through brain-to-brain connections.

He found that when we hear stories, our brains mirror each other, helping us understand what the storyteller is feeling.

Called neurocoupling or mirroring, this process occurs across many areas of the brain, including the ones that are responsible for processing and understanding narratives.

So the human brain loves stories. But why?

The short answer is that ‌neural activity in the brain increases when we hear a captivating story. Our brains are made up of neurons, which are nerve cells that send messages throughout the body.

These neurons release neurotransmitters (brain chemicals) that transmit signals from nerve cells to target cells.

The most common neurotransmitters in the brain include:

When we hear a story, the neurons in our brain light up with activity. And according to neuroscientists, "neurons that fire together wire together."

This means that as we hear stories, the neurons in our brains are wiring together. As a result, we're more likely to remember the information we receive from a story.

Storytelling also triggers the release of dopamine ("the brain's form of candy") and oxytocin ("the love drug"). In other words, stories make us feel good.

Here's an infographic showing how storytelling affects the brain:

This can influence buying behavior because it helps to create an emotional connection with potential customers or buyers.

Telling a story, instead of making a sales pitch , is less intimidating to an audience.

The company or product you're describing is easier to understand, seems less complex, and provides relevant information in a format that's easy to digest and remember.

As a result, the buyer can relate to the product or service and will eventually want to purchase it.

Joanne Camarce grows and strategizes B2B marketing and PR efforts @ codeless.io . She loves slaying outreach campaigns and connecting with brands like G2, Wordstream, Process Street, and others. When she's not wearing her marketing hat, you'll find Joanne admiring Japanese music and art or just being a dog mom.

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What Is Visual Storytelling? (With Examples + Infographic)

What do the first two minutes of Wall-E and the following GIF of Matthew McConaughey experiencing all the feels have in common?

They use visual storytelling, also known as visual narrative, to show a lot of information in a little bit of time.

Visual storytelling uses graphics, images, videos and more to hook the audience and drive storylines and emotions. It’s quite literally the act of telling a story or communicating information with visual content — and it’s an insanely powerful content marketing medium.

It has unparalleled potential to generate traffic and convert leads at every stage of the sales funnel. No content marketing strategy is complete without it.

For context, here’s the Wall-E intro:

Digital marketers need to earn their audience’s attention, and that’s not easy given the insane amount of competition. Every day,

• Tens of thousands of new websites go live.
• Millions of new blog posts are written.
• Tens of millions of photos are uploaded on social media.
• Hundreds of millions of emails are sent.

Sometimes the best way to cut through the noise is to not say anything at all.

Why Visual Storytelling Is Important for Your Brand

The fact is that the most iconic and memorable brand campaigns are recognizable because of their visual storytelling. Being able to show and not tell your audience about your company or product is increasingly the most effective way to market yourself — and science backs it up!

According to MIT researchers, the human brain is capable of processing an image in as little as 13 milliseconds . For context, here are really fast things that are slower than your ability to process an image:

• Sunlights’ journey to Earth (8 minutes).
• The blink of an eye (300 milliseconds).
• Usain Bolt’s reaction time off the starting block (155 milliseconds).

In other words, this is your brain on the influence of images:

Why does this matter? Because your intended audience hasn’t got all day, and a lot of content creators are vying for their attention. If you want to get there first, you’ll need to master the art of making an impression on your audience in a short amount of time — and that’s where visual storytelling enters the picture.

Visual storytelling is economical because you can convey more information in less time, hence the “picture is worth a thousand words” platitude. Imagery has the ability to capture attention quicker than text, at which point you have a platform to communicate your brand message, either entirely through visual storytelling or through a combination of visual, audio and textual content.

Additionally, visual storytelling adds value to a brand’s content marketing strategy in the following ways:

• Helps generate interest at the very beginning of a buyer’s journey by luring readers into top-of-funnel blog content.
• Makes copy feel more lively and engaging.
• Allows for passive ingestion of a message, for instance, through video or animations.
• Boosts readability by making long-form content seem less cluttered. (Ever hear of the dollar-bill rule? It’s more applicable to print, but if you can hold a dollar bill vertically and horizontally on a page without hitting an image, blockquote, subhead or bulleted list then you need something to break up the text.)

Visual media also leaves a more lasting impression on the audience. About 65% of people are visual learners, meaning for most of us, the message is more likely to stick if we see it. And in marketing, visual storytelling is the best way to help your audience see what your brand is about.

What Makes a Good Visual Story?

Visual storytelling is becoming the fundamental marketing strategy for brands to talk about themselves. It can convey a wide range of emotions, humor and information — all without any words being said. But what makes a good visual story?

Below we break down a list of ways to achieve your brand’s best visual story (and steps to avoid):

How To Build an Effective Brand Visual Story:

• Craft an interesting story that will appeal to your audience.
• Choose your visual media according to the needs of your narrative.
• Incorporate basic storytelling techniques.
• Grab people’s attention right off the bat with dynamic imagery.
• Support your visual narrative with text and audio to add context wherever needed.
• Keep your message clear and simple.
• Measure the performance of visual media with relevant KPIs like social shares, backlinks and site metrics.

Visual Storytelling Steps To Avoid:

• Viral memes. It may seem tempting to chase a recently viral meme, but the fact is that the speed of the internet is faster than any marketing team. By the time you push out your viral meme content, it’ll probably have fallen off the pop culture radar.
• Shoehorn a narrative into a specific visual idea. If the shoe doesn’t fit, don’t try to force it! Audiences are savvier than ever and it’s more than likely your narrative will sink with this method rather than swim.
• Prioritize style over substance. What’s the point of a visual story if it lacks substance? Visuals should support the narrative, not be the central focus.
• Repackage the same story across every visual media format (unless they’re a good match). This is a judgment call for most brands. Repackaging the same content over and over can harm your audience’s perception of your brand, so it’s better to refrain from doing it.
• Go overboard on imagery. You don’t want to wind up confusing or distracting your target audience. Keep it as concise as possible for a clearer understanding.
• Remove audio and text just for the sake of having a 100% visual story. Audio and text are helpful tools — don’t abandon them just to keep things visual.

Every decision you make should be focused on making your story clearer and more compelling. A presentation design choice might seem appealing because it’s dynamic or eye-catching, but if it doesn’t support the narrative at all, it could wind up just being a distraction.

Do’s and Don’ts of Visual Storytelling

Although there’s room for experimentation with visual storytelling, digital marketers should stick to the basic fundamentals — at least at first. You have to learn the rules before you can break them, after all.

Follow these visual storytelling do’s and don’ts to get produce the best content:

• Start by crafting an interesting story that will appeal to your audience.
• Chase viral memes.
• Shoehorn a narrative into a specific visual idea.
• Prioritize style over substance.
• Repackage the same story across every visual media format (unless they’re a good match).
• Go overboard on imagery and wind up confusing or distracting your target audience.
• Remove audio and text just for the sake of having a 100% visual story.

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Visual Storytelling Examples

A visual story, or a visual narrative, is told primarily through visual content. Emphasis on the primarily — otherwise you’re left with photography and silent film.

Some of the more visual-heavy examples in content marketing include photo-based case studies, videos and 2D and 3D animations. In general, though, online visual stories typically weave imagery and narrative together to get the best of both worlds. An online photo essay will usually have text captions to add context. Videos will often incorporate text and/or voiceovers.

What’s more, video and text help each other out. A short, keyword-rich blog post or concise landing page will make your new video easier to find on the web. Conversely, your text-heavy white papers, case studies and eBooks will rely on visual media to help tell the story or accentuate certain aspects of the information.

The key to creating strong multimedia content is to understand the impact that different visual mediums have on your audience, and how and when to use each:

Photos might be used as part of a visual case study on your website or blog. They could be used in a Facebook album to document your company’s recent attendance at a conference. They can be a literal interpretation of something described in the accompanying copy, or they might symbolize a concept (e.g., “Is your vendor’s lack of attention making you feel like the man on the moon?”). Alternatively, a single photo could stand alone on a visual social media platform such as Instagram. Heck, you can even use an embed of an existing Instagram photo within a blog post.

The picture above is arguably one of the most famous examples of photography used as visual storytelling, titled Migrant Mother. Captured by famed photographer Dorothea Lange in 1936, this picture documented the effects of the Great Depression on U.S. families. This photo conveys the worry, hunger and despair of the Great Depression without the need for any additional words.

Memes have taken over social media in the last few years, and brands are finally beginning to recognize the power these unique and humorous images truly have. Using memes, which often have a layered language of their own, can capture the attention of younger demographics quickly and attract them to your brand. Take a look at the below example:

Many people will not relate to this particular meme, which is fine, and it’s sort of the whole point of a good meme. It takes a recognizable visual aid (Boromir from LOTR) and then makes it relatable to a specific audience, in this case, someone who might be trying to set up a PHP server.

Don’t have time to create a video or animation? Use a GIF to capture the emotion you want your audience to feel when interacting with your brand.

This GIF admittedly makes very little sense. But it’s somehow mesmerizing, and in context to an article about proper cat care, it might actually be appropriate. There’s a whole world of GIFs out there that express all sorts of sentiments and ideas. Embed them into your 1,500-word blog posts, share them on your social media channels, maybe with a sentence or two of context that ties it to your brand, or maybe not. Sometimes taking a break from business boosts engagement.

Custom Images

The purpose of a custom illustration or custom image is to combine a small amount of text with a photo or graphic in such a way that they complement each other and get a clear point across. Case in point, eliminating the copy or the photo from this image would kill the effect. You need them both to see the humor. Granted, the example above isn’t actually selling anything, but it still illustrates the dynamism of an image that’s been doctored through graphic design.

Custom illustrations are great alternatives to stock photography. Design them with your brand colors and visual aesthetics to really tag your content and make it stand out from the crowd.

Graphs and Charts

The above is a great example of using visual media to convey information in an organized manner. It’s informative (tells us what America’s favorite type of pie is), entertaining (because it’s a “pie” chart) and also just aesthetically pleasing. This would go great with a blog post about people’s pie-eating preferences and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Video is a great way to demonstrate the value of your products or services. Getty Images’ short video, “Nosferatu, the Nonsilent Film,” dubbed original footage from the silent film “Nosferatu” with stock music, sound effects and voices. Essentially, they gave us a humorous product demo in video format. Cleverly done.

Rather than spending money on filming and editing original video content, you could work with graphic designers who have the wizardry to create an immersive visual world using nothing but software, brand guidelines and their own imaginations. Or if you want to get real creative, you can even take a page out of A-Ha’s book and do an animation-video crossover. The beauty of animation is that it can be highly stylized. Every detail, from how you portray facial features, to the proportions of your newly created world can be used to say something about your brand.

Infographics

Last but definitely not least, infographics are highly shareable, engaging assets that belong at the top of the funnel in any content marketing strategy. They come in all shapes and sizes and use a variety of clever techniques to visually represent information. The example above correlates cigarette length to federal tax collections in billions of dollars. The one below (a snippet from a bigger graphic by movehub, available here ) uses a map, colors and a legend to show the cost of living throughout the world. (Who knew Greenland was so expensive?)

How To Become a Better Visual Storyteller

Visual storytelling can seem daunting at first, which is understandable. To do it right, you have to deftly weave together different media formats and communicate with your audience sometimes without saying a word. We’re not all natural-born visual storytellers, but that’s OK. By following a few simple guidelines, anyone can craft a compelling visual narrative.

Start With a Good Story

That may sound obvious, but a lot of marketers fall into the trap of trying to reverse engineer a narrative around a particular visual element. Piggybacking off a meme or GIF that’s gone viral could blow up in your face if the underlying story doesn’t really land with your audience. It could just come across as a desperate attempt to look trendy.

Always remember that the imagery should serve the story. Compelling visuals won’t have the same punch if your underlying message doesn’t shine through.

Lean on Tried-and-True Storytelling Techniques

Marketing-based storytelling has to follow the same rules that drive our favorite movies, TV shows and books forward. “Star Wars” has just as much in common with “Beowulf” as it does with “Flash Gordon,” and that’s because it relies on narrative structures that have stood the test of time.

Be sure your visual content is built on top of these fundamental storytelling techniques:

• Conflict: Every good story has an obstacle that needs to be overcome. The more your audience can relate to the conflict, the more your message will resonate with them. That’s why case studies are often so compelling to potential customers.
• Structure: From Aristotle to Dan Harmon, storytellers throughout history have adhered to structural templates to give their narratives momentum. It’s not just about having a beginning, middle and end, mind you; every part of your visual story should be meaningful and help propel the narrative toward its climax and conclusion.
• Simplicity: Don’t overcomplicate it. Often, the stories that leave the biggest impact can be summed up in one or two sentences. “The Odyssey” is just about a guy trying to get home. If you find your visual story is bringing in too many threads, try paring things down to get back to your core message. That goes for design too. Overly detailed or complex visual elements could be distracting and draw attention away from more pertinent points of interest.
• Contrast: Silent film stars like Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton were masters of using contrasting images to tell a visual story. A more modern example (if a 35-year-old movie counts as modern) would be the malt shop showdown between Marty McFly and Biff in “Back to the Future.” You can just barely see Marty’s eyes nervously peek out from behind Biff’s looming shoulders, but that’s all you need to realize how outmatched he is.
• Size: Alfred Hitchcock is virtually unparalleled when it comes to using visuals to build suspense. One of his basic filmmaking rules was to draw viewers to important objects on the screen by making those items bigger than everything else. Sounds simple, but it’s effective when telling a story with images and animations.

Pair the Right Visual Media With Your Message

Consider the medium that’s best suited for telling your particular story. Do you want to highlight the tangible ROI of your services, complete with hard data and statistics? Then an infographic is probably your best bet. Alternatively, if you’re looking to introduce potential customers to your complex B2B services, a short animation may be the way to go.

Storytelling Tools To Get You Started

Even if you don’t have a design, animation or video team on staff, you can still create your own visual stories with the help of online tools and software applications. These storytelling tools can turn any digital marketer into an effective visual storyteller:

• Ceros: This platform uses a simple interface so marketers of all walks of life can craft animations, infographics and other visual designs with relative ease. Cero’s also has an entire blog dedicated to storytelling examples. You can see what other brands have created using the platform , providing a little extra inspiration.
• Adobe Spark: It might require a little more design know-how than some other options, but Adobe Spark has tons of features to create high-caliber, professional visual media . The active and supportive community can help answer questions and show you the ropes.
• Canva: Build your own visual designs with this easy-to-use platform . Its drag-and-drop interface lets you create custom images using templates or from scratch.

And That’s a Wrap!

There are plenty of other ways to use visual media to tell a story that we haven’t covered. There are also crossover-content formats such as eBooks (we like to think of these as picture books grownups read at work) and white papers (more text-heavy, but with nice iconography, graphs and other visual aids).

But we’d have to create a novel to go into the level of detail that visual storytelling truly deserves. So this will have to suffice for now.

Besides, we think you get the picture, and if not, well …

Jeff Keleher

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Jeff Keleher is a writer and editor at Brafton. A man of simple tastes, he enjoys playing guitar, playing video games and playing with his dog - sometimes all at once. He still hasn't gotten over Illinois' loss in the 2005 NCAA National Championship game, and he probably never will.

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Microsoft 365 Life Hacks > Presentations > Using storytelling to engage your audience

Using storytelling to engage your audience

How do you keep your audience on the edge of their seats while you present? Learn how plot structure and other storytelling techniques can help you deliver a presentation that’s memorable, unique, and captivating from start to finish.

What is storytelling?

At its core, storytelling means giving your audience a plot or path to follow that is both compelling and satisfying. The best stories connect to something universal, spark curiosity, and enhance the way we see the world, all while pulling us forward with a natural momentum that lands us somewhere meaningful. This is what storytelling can do, but how does that translate to a presentation?

Tell your story with captivating presentations

Powerpoint empowers you to develop well-designed content across all your devices

How to use storytelling in a presentation

No matter the topic, storytelling techniques add life and intrigue to your presentation. Try these tips to create an engaging experience for your audience:

Set the scene

Most stories happen in a physical space. Find a way to start your presentation with this same sense of place to ground your audience and draw their attention away from all that might distract them. How can you drop your audience into the world of your presentation? What do they need to know at the start so they can join you on the journey? Consider how visuals, audio, or a few words can set the scene and give your audience context and backdrop for the adventure ahead.

Take them on a journey

At its simplest, story structure has three sections—beginning, middle, and end—but at its best, each section serves a powerful, distinct purpose:

• The journey begins. In addition to setting the scene and providing context, this beginning is where we give the audience two key story components: the main character and the problem to be solved. What problem does your presentation address? What is at stake? Who stands to gain or lose? Draw viewers into your presentation by making them care about someone or something, and make sure they know what hangs in the balance.
• The winding way forward. In the middle, dig into the complexities of the plot-driving problem as you work your way through it and lead viewers toward a new understanding or way of being. This section is about deepening the sense of need and/or widening the promise of possibility as we cross the terrain from where we started to our ultimate destination. Let your viewers experience the challenges and obstacles at the heart of the problem and give them a fuller picture of what can be won or lost.
• The road ends, but the journey sticks with us. As the journey concludes, we reflect on what’s been lost, gained, and learned. What do we know now, and how does that change our perception and actions going forward? We’ve made it through the complexity, through the dramatic feats. We arrive at this new place or understanding, finally resolving the problem that drove us on the journey and seeing the new landscape and opportunities around us. Make the journey stick with us well after you’re done presenting by ending on a resonating image, line, or idea that amplifies the main takeaway or action you want them to do next.

Hit on universals

Great storytellers know that audiences delight in connecting to universal human experience. We’ve all loved, lost, and faced challenges. We all know what it is to triumph, feel like a stranger, and show up for someone in need. When you connect your viewers to these types of universal experiences, they see themselves in your topic and feel more invested. Consider, what are the universal themes at play? How can you bring a relatable sense of human endeavor, need, joy, love, etc., to your presentation? Just a little bit of universal relevance goes a long way to keeping your viewers deeply engaged.

By using storytelling techniques in your presentation, you can draw viewers in, keep them interested, and leave them with a resonating, action-driving takeaway. To strengthen your presentations even more, use these presentation design tips next.

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The Power of Visual Storytelling

Get your team on prezi – watch this on demand video.

Michael Lee November 14, 2022

We’ve all seen those presentations. You know the ones — way too much text, barely decipherable charts, corny clip art. But that’s not how you capture your audience’s attention, especially in a virtual-first world where people can easily find something else to focus on. 

In a recent webinar, Jole Simmons — the Senior Art Director at Workday , as well as a LinkedIn Learning instructor and longtime presentation designer — explained the importance of visual storytelling with the help of Prezi (he actually imported an existing PowerPoint presentation into Prezi Video for a virtual audience). Even something normally full of text and slides can be turned into something compelling and memorable. 

Check out his on-demand webinar, or read on to get some of his top tips for creating visual stories.  

What is visual storytelling, exactly?

Visual storytelling involves using pictures, images, and videos with little or no text— an effective way to capture the audience’s attention and help them understand the information being put across. This method is greatly employed in marketing, education, and entertainment— as it helps in creating immersive experiences that are also easy to remember later on. The real power behind visual storytelling is its ability to draw out emotions from the viewer; this makes it more likely for people to remember what they’ve seen, therefore effective not only as a communication tool but also for persuasion purposes.

Understanding the elements of a good story

Before you can tell a story, it’s important to know what parts make up a good one. Jole breaks down the elements you need (particularly in the context of giving a presentation) to craft your story: 

• Setting . This is where the story is being told, or the broader context of your content. Make sure you establish what you’ll be focusing on early to set the stage for your audience. 
• Characters . In other words, your audience. Who are you talking to? Is your content catered to them? 
• Conflict . This seems counter-intuitive, especially if you’re presenting something that is mostly positive, but having some kind of conflict makes your story memorable. For example, even if you have positive news to share, you can frame the story around some of the challenges you had to overcome first. 
• Resolution . The key thing here is to not just tie a happy bow on your story and leave it at that. Instead, you should also provide an action item for your audience to take after they leave your presentation. 

The next time you create a presentation, make sure you create it with these story elements in mind. If you do this from the get-go, you’ll ensure you have a more cohesive narrative in the final product. 

8 top tips on how to tell a story in a presentation

To help you maximize your storytelling techniques, we’ve put together 8 tips and tricks to assist with visual storytelling in a presentation:

• Start with a hook: Grab attention from the get-go by using a surprising fact or a personal anecdote to set the stage for your story. 
• Be relatable: Share experiences or examples that your audience can relate to. 
• Keep it simple: Avoid overloading your presentation with too much information. Focus on the key parts of your story so your audience can follow along easily.
• Use visuals: Incorporate images, graphs, and videos that complement your narrative. Visuals can help illustrate your points and make your story more memorable.
• Build suspense: Create a sense of anticipation by building up to the key moments in your story. This way, your audience will be eager to know what happens next.
• Be authentic: Share your story in a genuine way, and don’t be afraid to show your personality or emotions.
• Incorporate dialogue: Including dialogue can bring your story to life. It helps your audience connect with the meaning and characters.
• End with a strong conclusion: Leave a lasting impression by concluding your story with a powerful message or call to action. This reinforces the main points of your presentation and gives your audience something to remember.

By using these storytelling techniques for presentations, you can hold your audience’s attention with a captivating story and create a truly memorable experience.

What the best presentations should do 

Of course, even with a story in mind, you need to make sure your presentation can support and enhance that story. Jole shares what the best presentations need to do to keep an audience’s attention: 

• Inform . This one may seem obvious, but it’s worth repeating. You need to make sure you’re delivering value to your audience — otherwise, why should they give you their precious time and attention? 
• Be memorable . This goes back to the slides full of text or dense charts — all of that information will vanish the second your presentation ends. Being visual goes a long way in getting your audience to remember what you’re saying. 
• Entertain . Speaking of being memorable, a great way to do that is by being entertaining. You definitely don’t need to be cramming your presentation full of jokes (remember: know your audience/characters!), but some light levity and authenticity can do wonders for engagement. 
• Support . Ultimately, you’re the speaker, not your presentation. Your content should be there to support and complement your message, so try not to share your screen and cover your face if you can help it (which is where a tool like Prezi Video can help), and don’t let boring slides take the wind out of what you want to say. 

Visual storytelling examples for your inspiration

Explore some examples from the Prezi library that are great visual storytelling presentations. 

The civil rights movement 

This Prezi presentation on the Civil Rights Movement is a solid example of visual storytelling. It’s structured well, guiding the audience through key events and milestones clearly. By highlighting important events like Brown v. Board of Education and the March on Washington, the presentation helps the audience grasp the key points. It also features notable figures like Thurgood Marshall, Rosa Parks, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., which personalizes the history. Using a chronological flow like this makes it easy to follow the movement’s progression. 

Visuals, videos, and an image gallery enhance engagement, making the story more memorable. The interactive elements keep the audience interested, and the strong conclusion reinforces the Civil Rights Movement’s importance. This combination of clear organization and multimedia engagement makes the presentation both informative and memorable.

Why leaders need to get out of their own way

This Prezi presentation on why leaders need to get out of their own way is an excellent example of visual storytelling. The red and white color theme, combined with spacious and simple slides, creates a clean and engaging visual experience. The presentation effectively breaks down complex concepts into clear, digestible sections. Each slide focuses on one key idea, making the content easy to follow. Visual analogies, such as comparing team-building to drafting a hockey team or hiring a Formula One driver, make abstract ideas more concrete and relatable.

International women’s day

This Prezi presentation on International Women’s Day is another great example of visual storytelling. The pink theme and spacious, simple slides create an inviting and visually appealing experience. It utilizes Prezi’s open canvas and zooming interface to smoothly transition between different regions and issues. Each section focuses on specific issues and solutions relevant to different parts of the world, making the content easy to follow and understand. 

Readers can take inspiration from this Prezi by adopting a clean, consistent color theme and using spacious layouts to avoid clutter. Leveraging Prezi’s zooming interface can help smoothly guide the audience through different sections, keeping the presentation dynamic. Breaking down complex topics into regional segments with clear issues and solutions helps maintain focus and clarity,

Hopefully, these narrative presentation examples from Prezi have given you some ideas for your own storytelling presentations. 

The best tool for mastering visual storytelling in presentations: Prezi

Prezi is not just any presentation tool; it changes the way you share your story without having to flip through slides. Instead, Prezi offers an open-space canvas where coherence and connections between ideas can be laid out spatially — helping you to bring more fluidity to your visual storytelling.

Dynamic zooming capabilities

One feature that makes Prezi unique is its zooming abilities. You can zoom in to see the details clearly and zoom out to have an overview of the whole picture. This helps in maintaining audience engagement while also aiding better comprehension of the points you’re presenting. It’s like leading your audience through a visual journey.

Transforming information into visual stories

With Prezi, you can turn any information into a visual story. It helps you avoid the common problems of traditional presentations, like too much text and boring delivery. Instead, Prezi encourages a more interactive and engaging approach.

Seamless integration and easy to use

Prezi works well with other tools and platforms. You can use it in webinars, virtual meetings, and with other presentation software. This makes your communication more effective.

Even if you’re new to Prezi, you can quickly get started with its intuitive interface because it’s so easy to use. There are plenty of templates and customization options, so you can create presentations that fit your needs and audience. You can make anything from simple presentations to complex visual storytelling.

Introducing Prezi AI

Prezi AI is designed to aid in developing good presentations without the need for design skills. It recommends layouts, color schemes, and visual elements from prompts inputted by the user. This allows you to concentrate on the message you wish to deliver rather than worry about what each section will look like. Because of its user-friendly format, Prezi AI is suitable for all those who desire visual storytelling and a professional look, without having to grapple with design work.

Prezi AI text editing

Prezi AI’s text editing tool is a great asset for visual storytelling. It can take long pieces of content and shorten them, making your slides concise and to the point. This is perfect for avoiding the common pitfall of having too much text on your slides. The AI text editing tool can also transform your text into readable bullet points which is useful for visual storytelling. 

A breakdown of how Prezi AI can transform visual storytelling:

• Text summarization : Converts long text into concise bullet points.
• Language suggestions : Offers phrasing and wording improvements for clarity and impact.
• Key phrase highlighting : Identifies and emphasizes important points.
• Design suggestions : Recommends layouts, color schemes, and visual elements.
• Visual integration : Enhances slides with images, videos, and animations.
• Interactive storytelling : Utilizes zooming and an open canvas for dynamic presentations.
• Content structuring : Helps organize information logically and coherently.
• Template customization : Provides customizable templates to suit different presentation styles.

With Prezi AI , creating a visual storytelling presentation doesn’t have to be a complicated process. With so many smart features available, every presentation you create with Prezi will be dynamic, interesting, and immersive for your audience.

Bringing visual storytelling to your presentations 

Once you have all the necessary elements for a great story and presentation, it’s time to put it all together. Jole explains that it’s not enough to just slap some images in there — you need to merge your visuals and story together to create the biggest impact. 

Prezi is a great tool for this. You can make use of its open canvas and zooming features to create a dynamic flow that easily connects different parts of your narrative. If the text happens to be too long, Prezi AI tools will help you transform it into bullet points and bring out the key phrases. In addition, it offers suggestions on language, helping you keep your slides concise yet interesting. Be sure to take full advantage of what Prezi can offer to enhance your visual storytelling experience.

In particular, Jole recommends less text per slide, more (high-quality) images, and moving visuals such as videos, GIFs, and animations. He also warns against overusing things like funny GIFs. Again, the visuals (and your presentation as a whole) are there to support you vs. overshadow you. 

By applying these tips, you can take a presentation that looks like this:

Into something that looks like this:

If you want to see Jole go even more in-depth on how he transformed a fairly unassuming slide deck into a more visually impactful story, watch his on-demand webinar . You can also see how other people have used visual storytelling to great effect in the Prezi Presentation Gallery .

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The Power of Visual Storytelling: 15 Stunning Examples to Inspire You

Updated: July 28, 2017

Published: May 11, 2016

Before the days of neon lights and marquee signs, business owners had to get creative when it came to advertising their establishments. In fact, wine bars in ancient Rome used to hang bunches of vine leaves outside their door as a nod to the God of Wine, Bacchus. And when weather conditions left them with a short supply of vine leaves, barkeeps turned to bushes -- inns called Bush, or Bull & Bush, still exist today.

But others didn’t even have that. They had to get artistic. And with a largely illiterate population, pictorial signs were the only logical advertising choice.

Visual storytelling -- or passing on a lot of information through a relatively simple visual aid -- has been a cornerstone of marketing for thousands of years. I’d like to say we’ve come a long way, but really? What worked then works now: We see what we want and we’re driven to buy it.

Perhaps, if anything has changed, it’s what we want from life. That’s where today’s visual storytellers have a chance to not only say “Hey, you can get this here!” but also lead the consumer into a whole new world of possibilities.

Below you'll find 15 of the very best examples of visual storytelling from B2C, B2B, crowdfunding, and SaaS. These companies know how to tell a brand story that seeds desire, starts relationships, and inspires nothing short of love. Check 'em out.

15 Stunning Examples of Visual Storytelling

1) modcloth.

Something grabs hold of me every time I visit Modcloth ... which I do with alarming regularity. Sure, part of the appeal is the clothes. But that’s not what has me back on an almost daily basis -- just to check.

When I click onto Modcloth’s homepage, I find myself in a world of friendly sisterhood. I see stories of women, like me, who are having the times of their lives. The online retailer presents their visual storytelling as a slider on the homepage. Instead of each slide having its own image, each corresponding to a different sales page or theme, they devote the entire slide series to expanding on one core idea. This spring, that idea was a girls’ road trip.

This series showcases the clothes, but it also tells a deeper story about relationships, female bonding, and a distinctly feminine sense of adventure. These images make me feel part of a tribe of active, vibrant women. After just a few seconds, I’m ready to start planning my own road trip with my best friend -- and when I do, I know exactly the clothes I want to pack (just have to order them first).

These aren’t just aspirational advertisements, like those you’d seen in a magazine. These are no catwalk models. Nothing here is impossibly chic, or so stylized that it’s out of reach. That is part of what makes the magic of Modcloth’s particular brand of storytelling. These are stories we could write for ourselves.

2) Patagonia

Patagonia has one of the strongest brands and most passionate followings. They’re just good people. Every piece of their marketing points to their commitment to quality and a deep integrity and care for the environment. I have no reason to buy Patagonia -- you won’t even find a windbreaker in my closet -- but I love them as a business. And if even your non-target audience sings your praises, you are clearly doing something right.

Their visual storytelling supports this core story of integrity and environmental stewardship. Each image shows real people (they don’t look like models -- it looks like users sending in their photos) enjoying the outdoors, clinging to cliff sides, trudging through snow-covered mountains, or flinging themselves off the sides of yachts in the Caribbean.

These are images that speak to a very specific niche audience. After all, not all of us associate snow, cliffs, or open water with a good time (Jaws? Open Water?). But for their target audience, these are the images that stoke the fires, fill the sails, and send them off into planning their next adventures.

And then there was the Worn Wear campaign. The tagline “Better than new” immediately tells you that this is no ordinary marketing effort. In fact, the “Worn Wear wagon” (pictured above) drives around the country with Patagonia to repair old garments and gear, sell used clothing, and hold DIY workshops. Along the way, they’re also reinforcing the brand’s values and bolstering their community of loyal fans. They spread the word on Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter -- all highly visual mediums -- for brand followers to meet up and mend their garments.

Seems like everyone is on Slack these days ... even NASA.

This single piece of visual storytelling on their homepage speaks volumes. And the story it tells isn’t about team meetings or group chats: it’s about ROBOTS ON MARS!

That's got to be the most thrilling three words a nerd like me can hear. (Right next to “aliens on Mars,” which would be even more exciting. But robots? Still pretty cool.) And this image, with this perfect tagline, tells me that this product enables teams like mine to accomplish something spectacular.

When I see this image, it’s almost as if I’m putting a robot on Mars myself. I must have dropped my NASA badge around here, somewhere …

4) Internet Live Stats

Internet Live Stats is part of the Real Time Statistics Project and was created by an international team of developers, researchers, and analysts with the goal to make statistics available in a dynamic, time-relevant way to everyone. Their data-visualization team isn’t too shabby either -- it’s one thing to read that there were 7,162 Tweets in a single second. It’s quite another to see it.

The visual of 7,162 birds is far more impactful than the header saying “7,162 Tweets sent in 1 second.” It’s a different kind of visual storytelling, but compelling nevertheless.

5) Offerman Woodshop

Nick Offerman, best known for his role as Ron Swanson in NBC’s "Parks and Recreation," is not only an actor and comedian -- he’s also an accomplished carpenter. And he’s got attitude. This guy has personality, and it emanates from everything he does. No nonsense. Back to basics. Rugged. Bacon. These are the phrases that resonate for Offerman fans, who won’t bat an eye at paying $145 for a “Build Your Own Damn Stool” kit.

Why? Because you’re buying so much more than a deconstructed stool. You’re filling out a membership card to an exclusive group of unapologetic carnivores, manly men, and people who figure that if an Abacus was good enough for their great-grandfathers, it’s good enough for them. It’s an ideology and a fantasy. And all of it comes through in every. Single. Image.

No smiles. Smiles are superfluous. Give that man bacon and you might get a twitch of the lip.

6) 1001 Knights (Kickstarter)

1001 Knights is a three-volume anthology project, essentially creating a beautifully illustrated set of books that feature a diverse cast of noble characters with feminist overtones. Now, if you’ve ever attempted crowdfunding on Kickstarter or any other site, you’ll know this: Successfully finding an audience and talking them into paying requires a truly stirring plea. And that plea had better include powerful visuals.

This is visual storytelling -- literally.

And, it’s done so successfully, that they exceeded their original goal of $70,000 by $229,192.

The Kickstarter video’s voiceover is not what draws people in. It’s the images. The promise that these stories are like nothing you’ve ever read, or seen, before. Stories about knights -- who are women. Who are complex characters of color. Who embrace the values of wisdom, courage, and fellowship.

You don’t have to read a word of their Kickstarter page to understand these concepts, or to be driven to make your own donation. The images speak for themselves.

Twoodie’s images are easy to recognize -- everything is gray except for the toys. Each image tells a story of play. Thought. Beauty. Simplicity. These games aren’t just for fun, they are objects of art.

The brand itself is all about simplicity and beauty, which these product photos faithfully reflect. They’re stirring, vibrant, and fundamental.

8) The Wild Unknown

The Wild Unknown is my favorite Tarot deck, and I confess, I bought it entirely because of a picture on Instagram.

Their Instagram feed is a visual storytelling masterpiece. Artistry, magic, nature, elemental mystery – it’s all there. Social media is a huge resource for visual storytellers to share their work, and I love seeing businesses that take advantage of all it has to offer.

9) Toca Boca

Toca Boca makes really cute and educational apps and games for children. They call their products “digital toys,” and one of their selling points is that digital toys have a number of benefits that physical toys lack: the ability to build bigger, build on the go, share and collaborate, the ability to take risks, and preserve “ever-expanding” creations.

Fundamentally, Toca Boca combines high-tech with the ultra-simple. And their images, with simple shapes and color-blocked characters, are created completely in line with their brand.

10) Slow Factory

Slow Factory makes limited-edition silk scarves, but they also have a great background story :

We create silk garments using scientific open data and creating meaningful partnerships with NGOs working in preserving our Planet or defending Human Rights. For our latest collection, Petit Atlas, we partnered with the World Wildlife Fund and created a limited edition collection that contributes and supports the preservation work they are doing in keeping our oceans clean.”

You can find their most striking visual storytelling on their products page. The models shown sporting these scarves are cosmopolitan, chic, mysterious, worldly, and well-traveled. Their brand is as quirky and unusual as their advertising, which is exactly how it should be.

11) Heinz Ketchup

On the other end of the spectrum from “quirky and unusual” is Heinz Ketchup. But that doesn’t mean they don’t know how to tell a compelling story that makes people want to get off of their couches and rush to the nearest burger joint.

I really love how this Twitter image works with its caption: “Pork. Topped with Pork. Topped with Jalapeno Ketchup. #enoughsaid.”

The lesson: Not every story needs to be poetry.

12) The Large Hadron Collider Pop-Up Book (by CERN)

Visual storytelling’s power comes from the ability to convey a lot of information at a glance. I would argue that a tactile pop-up book is able to convey even more information. There’s a sense of scale and wonder you get with 3D representations that two dimensions can never quite cover. This pop-up book, for example, contains 16 pop-ups that tell the story of how the large Hadron Collider experiment works.

13) INKODYE

Inkodye allows you to print fabric with sunlight-activated “Inkodye” to create fantastically original designs. The storytelling comes in with their “Recent #inkodye projects on Instagram” feed, where all Inkodye users are invited to post their latest creations.

Not only are the images exceptionally artistic, but they also reveal a community of artists, designers, hipsters, parents, and kids, and bring them together through this creative process. When you look through their feed, you can’t help but think: “I want one of those!” 

Clearly, this is a community of people who dream outside of the box.

PISTON is a San Diego-based marketing agency that combines striking, thoughtful creativity with the utmost professionalism. And the images they use to market themselves strike this balance perfectly. I love this particular image because it turns the typical stock photography “man in suit” image on its head by including that colorful candy ring.

That’s not a stock image. That’s an image that says “I am the consummate professional -- but I can also be fun and intriguing at the same time.”

That ring doesn’t tell a story. It does something even more powerful. It hints that behind that suit and tie is a wild tale, just waiting to be told.

15) First Round Capital

First Round is a venture capital firm that provides seed-stage funding to technology companies. Essentially, startups are their business, and helping the best rise to the top is their mission. At the end of 2015, First Round decided to tell the story of some of these startups. Using data gathered through SurveyMonkey , they used Visage -- a very cool visual storytelling tool -- to turn those numbers into a design that offers a snapshot of the current startup ecosystem. The result of over 500 responses is 10 insights into what it’s like to run a startup today, illustrated with several types of graphs and charts.

Photographs, maps, and data-visualizations -- these are the tools of visual storytelling. But to use them effectively, remember the most important part of any kind of storytelling: The audience.

Whereas ye olde customer was satisfied with a couple of fighting roosters and a pint, today’s customer wants much, much more. Relationships. Time. The promise of a better life. Insights that change their paradigms. And, they want all of these things at a glance.

Are you ready to give it to them?

Want more tips for creating visual content? Check out these viral video marketing examples.

Don't forget to share this post!

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Power of Visual Storytelling in Presentations (+ Free Templates)

Visual storytelling enhances presentations by capturing the audience attention, conveying complex information effectively, and fostering emotional connections.

We’re inherently visual creatures, and we are naturally drawn to images and visuals. That’s why visual storytelling techniques in presentations capture the audience’s attention and sustain their interest throughout the entire session. By utilizing visuals that resonate with the topic or evoke specific emotions, presenters can establish a deeper connection with the audience, leading to increased empathy, motivation, and a stronger impact on their audience.

Table of Contents

Definition and Significance of Visual Storytelling in Presentations

The power of visual storytelling, simplifying complex concepts through visual representations, engaging the audience with visual storytelling techniques, designing effective visual storytelling elements, addressing potential distractions and pitfalls in visual content, ensuring inclusivity and accessibility, tailoring for in-person presentations, optimizing for virtual or online presentations, elevate the power of your visual storytelling with our free templates.

Visual storytelling refers to the use of compelling visuals, such as images, infographics, charts, and videos, to convey information and engage the audience during presentations. It goes beyond simply presenting facts and data by incorporating narrative elements and visual cues to create a more immersive and memorable experience.

The significance of visual storytelling in presentations lies in its ability to enhance communication and leave a lasting impact on the audience.

Visual storytelling in presentations combines the power of visuals with narrative elements to enhance comprehension, engage the audience emotionally, create lasting impressions, and facilitate effective communication. By leveraging storytelling techniques, presenters can deliver impactful presentations that resonate with their audience and leave a lasting impression.

Visual storytelling possesses a remarkable power that can elevate presentations and captivate audiences in various ways. It lies in its ability to captivate attention, enhance comprehension, and evoke emotions.

• Captivating the audience through compelling visuals Storytelling in presentations has the ability to captivate and engage the audience through compelling visuals. Instead of relying solely on text or verbal communication, incorporating visually appealing elements can grab the attention of the audience from the start. Compelling visuals, such as vibrant images, eye-catching graphics, and dynamic animations, help create a visual narrative that draws the audience into the presentation. By using visuals strategically, presenters can create a sense of curiosity and intrigue, sparking the audience’s interest and encouraging them to pay closer attention. Visual storytelling enables presenters to evoke emotions, stimulate imagination, and create a visually immersive experience that keeps the audience actively engaged throughout the presentation.
• Building emotional connections through visual narratives One of the key advantages of visual storytelling is its ability to build emotional connections with the audience. Visuals have a profound impact on our emotions and can evoke powerful responses. By incorporating visual narratives into presentations, presenters can tap into the audience’s emotions, creating a deeper and more meaningful connection. Visual narratives use a sequence of images or visuals to tell a story, evoke empathy, or convey a specific message. They allow presenters to communicate complex ideas, experiences, or concepts in a relatable and emotionally impactful way. Whether through storytelling techniques, relatable characters, or powerful imagery, narrative visualization helps presenters connect with the audience on a personal level, leading to increased engagement, empathy, and understanding.

Through captivating visuals and emotional storytelling, presenters can leave a lasting impression on the audience. By leveraging the power of visual storytelling, presenters can make their presentations more memorable, meaningful, and impactful, ultimately influencing the audience’s perception, attitudes, and actions.

Enhancing Information Delivery with Visual Storytelling

Visual storytelling enhances information delivery by simplifying complex concepts and engaging the audience with effective visual techniques. Through the strategic use of visuals, presenters can convey information more efficiently and make it more memorable. Here are two key aspects of enhancing information delivery with visual storytelling.

Complex ideas or data can be challenging to convey in a clear and concise manner. Visual storytelling offers a solution by using visual representations to simplify and distill complex information. By transforming intricate concepts into visual diagrams, charts, or infographics, presenters can break down the information into easily understandable components.

Visual representations enable presenters to emphasize the relationships between different elements, highlight key points, and provide visual cues that aid comprehension. These visuals act as cognitive anchors for the audience, facilitating the organization and processing of information. Through narrative visualization, presenters can effectively communicate complex ideas, making them more accessible and memorable for the audience.

Engagement is crucial for effective information delivery. Visual storytelling techniques can greatly enhance audience engagement by creating a dynamic and interactive presentation experience. Here are some techniques that engage the audience:

• Visual storytelling frameworks Presenters can structure their presentations around a visual storytelling framework, such as the hero’s journey or a problem-solution narrative. By aligning the content with a compelling narrative structure, presenters can guide the audience through a journey that keeps them engaged and invested in the presentation.
• Interactive visuals Incorporating interactive elements in the visuals, such as clickable elements, animations, or quizzes , encourages active participation and involvement from the audience. This interactivity not only captures attention but also facilitates a deeper understanding and engagement with the content.
• Story-driven examples Using real-life stories, case studies, or examples with vivid visuals helps the audience connect emotionally with the material. Story-driven visuals have a powerful impact on engagement as they make the content relatable, memorable, and relevant to the audience’s own experiences.
• Multimedia integration Integrating multimedia elements, such as videos, audio clips, or animations , into presentations enhances engagement by providing a multi-sensory experience. These elements can convey information in a more engaging and immersive manner, stimulating the audience’s senses and capturing their interest.

By utilizing narrative visualization techniques, presenters can create an engaging and immersive learning experience for the audience. The combination of simplified visual representations and interactive storytelling techniques enhances information delivery, making presentations more memorable, enjoyable, and effective in conveying key messages.

Design plays a crucial role in visual storytelling within presentations.

By carefully selecting impressive visual effects that align with the message, presenters can create engaging and cohesive narrative elements. This ensures that they effectively support the storytelling, enhance understanding, and contribute to a professional and captivating presentation.

Overcoming Challenges in Visual Storytelling

While visual storytelling in presentations offers numerous benefits, it is essential to address potential challenges and ensure inclusivity and accessibility. This section explores two key aspects of overcoming challenges in narrative visualization:

Visual content, if not carefully executed, can sometimes introduce distractions or pitfalls that hinder the effectiveness of the storytelling. Here are some challenges to consider and strategies to overcome them:

Information overload Overloading presentations with excessive visuals or complex graphics can overwhelm the audience. Presenters should strive for a balance between visuals and textual content, ensuring that visuals enhance rather than overshadow the message. Use visuals strategically and ensure they support the narrative without creating confusion.

Visual clutter When using visuals, it is important to maintain a clean and uncluttered design. Avoid overcrowding slides with too many elements or using busy backgrounds that compete for attention. Prioritize simplicity and visual clarity to guide the audience’s focus and prevent visual distractions.

Inconsistent visual style Inconsistency in visual style can undermine the cohesiveness and impact of the presentation. Establish and adhere to a consistent visual style throughout the slides, including the use of colors, fonts, and graphical elements. Consistency helps create a harmonious and professional visual narrative.

Visual storytelling should be accessible and inclusive to ensure that all audience members can engage with the content. Consider the following strategies:

Alt-text descriptions : Provide alternative text descriptions for visuals, particularly for images, charts, and diagrams. Alt-text helps visually impaired individuals understand the content through screen readers or other assistive technologies.

Color contrast : Ensure sufficient color contrast between text and background to accommodate individuals with visual impairments or color vision deficiencies. This improves readability and accessibility for all audience members.

Text alternatives : Wherever possible, supplement visual content with text-based information to cater to individuals who may prefer or require text-based presentations. Use descriptive captions or bullet points to convey essential information.

Compatibility with assistive technologies : Ensure that visuals are compatible with assistive technologies, such as screen readers or Braille displays. Avoid using visuals that cannot be interpreted by these technologies, and test the presentation with accessibility tools to ensure compatibility.

Consider diverse audiences : Consider the diverse needs and preferences of your audience when selecting visuals. Ensure that visuals are culturally sensitive, inclusive, and representative of a broad range of individuals.

By addressing potential distractions and pitfalls in visual content and ensuring inclusivity and accessibility, presenters can overcome challenges and create visual storytelling experiences that engage and resonate with a diverse audience. Taking these considerations into account enhances the impact and effectiveness of visual storytelling in presentations.

Adapting Visual Storytelling for Different Presentation Formats

Visual storytelling techniques can be adapted to suit different presentation formats, whether in-person or virtual. Here we explore how narrative visualization can be tailored to maximize impact in various presentation formats.

In-person presentations provide the opportunity for direct interaction and engagement with the audience. To make the most of visual storytelling in this format, consider the following:

Large visuals : In a physical setting, utilize large visuals that can be easily seen by all attendees. Use high-quality images, charts, and diagrams that are visually appealing and enhance the overall impact of the presentation.

Visual aids and props : Complement your presentation with physical props or visual aids that can be shared with the audience. These tangible elements can create a multi-sensory experience and strengthen the connection between the story and the audience.

Non-verbal cues : Take advantage of your physical presence to enhance the storytelling through non-verbal cues. Use gestures, facial expressions, and body language to complement and reinforce the narrative, creating a more engaging and memorable experience.

Virtual or online presentations require special considerations to ensure effective visual storytelling in a digital environment. Here are some strategies to optimize visual storytelling for virtual presentations:

Screen sharing : Utilize screen sharing capabilities to present visuals directly to the audience. Ensure that the visuals are clear and well-optimized for online sharing. Zoom in on specific areas of interest or use annotation tools to guide the audience’s attention.

Polls and interactive features : Take advantage of virtual presentation platforms that offer interactive features such as polls, quizzes, or chat functionality. Incorporate these elements strategically to engage the audience, encourage participation, and enhance the overall storytelling experience.

Webcam presence : Leverage your webcam presence to establish a personal connection with the audience. Maintain eye contact, use appropriate facial expressions, and convey enthusiasm and passion for the story being shared. A genuine and engaging webcam presence can significantly enhance the impact of narrative visualization in virtual presentations.

Multimedia integration : Incorporate multimedia elements, such as videos, audio clips, or animations, to enhance the visual storytelling experience in virtual presentations. Ensure that these multimedia elements are well-integrated and compatible with the virtual platform being used.

Adapting narrative visualization techniques to different presentation formats allows presenters to maximize the impact of their narratives and engage the audience effectively, whether in-person or in virtual settings. By tailoring visuals and incorporating interactive elements specific to each format, presenters can create memorable and engaging storytelling experiences that resonate with the audience.

To assist presenters in creating impactful visual storytelling presentations, the PoweredTemplate library offers a collection of free presentation templates . These templates are designed to provide a solid foundation for incorporating narrative visualization techniques into your presentations.

Our templates include a range of pre-designed visual elements, such as images , icons , charts , and diagrams , that can be easily customized to suit your specific content and storytelling needs. These elements help simplify the process of selecting impactful visuals that support your message.

Our templates feature layouts that are specifically designed to support the narrative flow of your presentation. They include sections for introducing the story, building suspense, conveying information visually, and concluding with a strong call to action. These storytelling-oriented layouts guide you in structuring your presentation effectively.

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The importance of visual storytelling in presentations (+ effective tips to consider)

One of the most compelling and memorable ways to communicate the value of your business/product/service to anyone is through a medium called visual storytelling in PowerPoint. We’ll not teach you how to write a script. We want to provide an understanding of how you can tell your personal story without expensive tools and media.

Nevertheless, you’ll need attractive and compelling storytelling slides. You can create them by yourself or hire a professional agency for custom PowerPoint slides that captivate, motivate, or do whatever you need them to do.

How to tell a story in a presentation?

1. Follow a typical structure

Stories have three acts:

• Exposition (the given circumstances, the time, the setting, the place);
• Resolution.

2. An entire story should be designed to serve the end

The resolution needs to be worth waiting for. It should build the complete picture with both words and slides. The last slides should complement the previous ones, and no disharmony is acceptable.

If you have tons of exposition and a bright conflict, your exposition should be like “wow” and not like “meh.”

3. Visuals must follow your speech and vice versa

Visual storytelling techniques can be highly effective in conveying information, engaging your audience, and creating an emotional connection. If you want to develop wonder and suspense, the main storytelling technique for your presentation is to align your visuals with the story. Do not add inappropriate pictures or photos, creating chaos in the audience’s mind. Help them to understand it and like it.

Now that you know the basics, let’s move on to the top tips on how to use storytelling in presentations.

17 tips for an awesome visual storytelling presentation

Here are some of the most effective tips to enhance your storytelling in presentation:

1. Know your audience

Understand the preferences, interests, and expectations of your audience. Tailor your visual elements to resonate with them.

2. Start with a strong narrative

Craft a compelling story that has a clear beginning, middle, and end. Your narrative should guide the audience through a journey, making the information memorable.

3. Use high-quality images

Images don’t always have to appear like islands on your custom Google slides with text boxes floating around them. If you access an HD image, blow it up and make it full-screen. Your audience would love to have an over-the-top visual big-screen experience. However, remember to place the text over it appropriately: don’t put words above image objects.

Use an image that bleeds off your slides and puts your audience into the story scene.

4. Make sure your design is consistent

Maintain a consistent design theme throughout your presentation. This includes fonts, colors, and layout. Consistency helps in creating a cohesive and visually appealing presentation.

5. Limit text

Avoid information overload. Use concise text and let visuals convey the main points. People tend to remember information better when it is presented visually.

6. Utilize infographics

Convert complex data into easily digestible infographics. Infographics are visually appealing and can convey a lot of information in a condensed format.

7. Storyboard your presentation

Plan the flow of your presentation by creating a storyboard. This helps in organizing your content in a logical sequence and ensures a smooth transition between slides.

8. Incorporate storyboard techniques

Use storytelling business presentation techniques like the hero’s journey or a problem-solution approach to structure your narrative. These techniques can make your story more engaging and relatable.

9. Add interactive elements

Integrate interactive elements like clickable buttons, quizzes, or polls. This not only adds an interactive dimension but also keeps the audience actively involved.

10. Keep timing in mind

Time your presentation to ensure it fits within the allotted time. This helps in maintaining the flow and prevents rushing through important points.

11. Aim for visual consistency

Ensure that the visual style of your presentation aligns with your brand or personal style. Consistency in visuals helps in reinforcing your message.

12. Use visual metaphors

Incorporate visual metaphors to enhance understanding. Analogies and metaphors can make complex concepts more relatable and easier to grasp.

13. Tell personal stories

Sharing personal anecdotes or stories can make your presentation more human and relatable. It adds a personal touch and helps in building a connection with the audience.

14. Consider accessibility

Ensure the visuals used throughout your storytelling PowerPoint presentation are accessible to all. Use high contrast for text, provide alternative text for images, and make sure your design is readable for those with visual impairments.

15. Analyze feedback and iterate

Seek feedback from friends or teammates and be willing to iterate. Continuous improvement is key to delivering effective visual storytelling presentations.

16. Watch out for those eyes

The eye gaze that looks directly at their audience has the power to capture the attention and hold onto it. But here, the problem arises. You would most likely add photos if you’re delivering storytelling presentation slides about yourself or your company product/services.

Putting an image where the subject looks directly at your audience is a mistake, and you’ll risk losing their attention. Putting a person with the side gaze is correct ⎼ it will not distract the audience from looking at you and the message itself. Cool, isn’t it?

17. Use those eyes to persuade

This time, we will flip the previous advice and use those eyes to our advantage. If you need to persuade people, spark action, or make them buy a product, you should use those eyes to your advantage to make profitable storytelling in a business presentation. For example, you want to evoke empathy in your visual storytelling to sell services. Put an image of real people who started your company and led it to success. It will help build a connection between the company and the audience.

Remember, your main goal is not just to present information but to create a memorable and impactful experience for your audience, so use the above presentation storytelling techniques to your advantage and PRACTICE, PRACTICE, and PRACTICE.

Main takeaway

Visual storytelling is crucial if you want to transmit information with the utmost impact. We are all visual creatures who tend to visualize stories heard and keep images in our heads that, most importantly, evoke various emotions. Information overloaded with plenty of numbers and official statements will engage a few (none, if speaking frankly). Therefore, your task is to create a story that captivates by details, informs by facts, and makes your audience want to collaborate.

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Presenting techniques.

• 50 tips on how to improve PowerPoint presentations in 2022-2023 [Updated]
• Present financial information visually in PowerPoint to drive results
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• Design Tips

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Why presentation skills are important and how they can be improved?

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• B2B Graphic Design
• Startup Consulting
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The Power Of Storytelling In Presentations

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Telling stories never gets old. Our brains have an embedded need for narrative, whether it’s schemas, scripts, cognitive maps, mental models or metaphors. In many ways, stories are how we think and make sense of the world around us, and this extends to business concepts as well.

This hidden power of storytelling can influence how we make decisions and how we persuade others of our ideas.

In presentations, stories are the most effective way of organizing information. A powerful form of communication, they translate ideas and move people to action. Moreover, they turn the audience into viral advocates of the proposition , whether in life or in business, by paying the story—not just the information—forward.

Harnessing the power of storytelling for presentations

Humans are hardwired for storytelling. Neuroscientist Uri Hasson of Princeton University researched the effects of storytelling on the brain by using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Hasson and his team scanned the brain activity of several participants while they listened to a story. Once the story began, the brain activity of the listeners synced up on a deep level, and “neural entrainment” spread across all brains in higher-order areas including the frontal cortex and the parietal cortex. He found that the storyteller’s brain activity synched with the listeners, while he was telling the story. Hasson’s research showed that an effective storyteller causes the neurons of an audience to closely sync with the storyteller’s brain, which has significant implications for presenters.

A key rule of telling stories is giving your audience an emotional experience. Purposeful stories that reach the listener’s hearts and minds are those that move them to action. Specialists say that the most effective and efficient way to do that is through the use of metaphor and analogy. These linguistic devices are key components of the way we think, building blocks of the very structure of knowledge. They can be used to evoke images and turn on memory, along with rich sensory and emotional associations, bringing the listener into the story, cognitively and emotionally, as an active participant.

We perceive and remember something based on how it fits with other things. One way the brain sorts things is by metaphors (…).

When you’re describing things in a story, you are creating visual imagery that engages you in multiple ways.

Pamela Rutledge, Psychologist  and Director of the Los Angeles-based Media Psychology Research Center via

Every story has to fit within the context of your presentation, or at least tie in with your surrounding remarks. Forced stories have the opposite effect, they disconnect the audience and make it harder for them to understand where you’re going with the presentation.

Stories have purpose. They have to be relevant to the experience and interests of your audience. Each story should have a point to it that your listeners can easily grasp and identify with. You want to use stories to put information into perspective, not replace it. Make your stories clear and relevant, to support the information in your presentation. That means keeping them fairly short and removing unnecessary details.

You want to use stories to put information into perspective, not replace it. (Click to tweet)

When you think of a story to accompany an idea in your presentation, think of it like painting a picture of your idea. Create an easy-to-visualize story where something happens in a specific time and place, played out by characters that your audience is likely to connect with. Don’t try to overdo it or use too many stories. If you’re not comfortable including a story, don’t do it. Otherwise it might seem forced and have a negative impact on your listeners.

If the type of presentation allows it, opt for a personal story. These are naturally embedded with emotion, making you vulnerable and connecting you to your audience. It will also make it easier for you to select how you want to tell the story, what details to include and what elements are most likely to strike a chord with the audience.

The power of stories also comes from scarcity. Don’t go overboard with stories; instead, use them sparingly and make sure that they are the right ones to stay with your audience even after the presentation is over.

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Storytelling structure in presentations

I’ve recently finished reading Christopher Booker’s book: The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories. I think the book captures the essence of how and why all stories boil down to one of a few plot structures, and how they can act as outlines for effectively presenting all sorts of information.

Here’s an infographic I found detailing the seven plots that the book talks about, for you to try out in your presentations:

Another interesting way of structuring stories is the classical three-act formula , recommended by Nancy Duarte. You’re probably familiar with this format—the protagonist is identified as likable, then they go through all of these difficult times, and finally, they emerge transformed.

This is a type of structure that enables you to create a story arc to support the hero’s transformation. It’s a technique that builds tension within the audience and releases it, creating that emotional impact we talked about.

Storytelling in business presentations

It might seem counterintuitive but telling stories is actually key to many business presentations. Whether we’re talking about a pitch deck for an investment, a sales pitch for a new client or a product presentation, you should aim to sell a story, not list of numbers.

A great example is tech giant Cisco Systems. The company used to deliver fact-heavy presentations promoting their products. But when they stopped listing features and started telling stories, they became much more effective and successful. By telling the story of a small, struggling, local business owner who grew his company and managed it more effectively using Cisco, the company was able to humanize information about technology and make their benefits more relatable.

One storytelling technique useful in business presentations is using visual elements. Visual design is an universal language that can help you connect the dots between important data points and business conclusions that everyone sitting in that presentation can follow. In fact, in a survey conducted by TDWI, 74% of respondents believed data visualization to be responsible for a “very high” or “high” increase in business user insights. For example, you could organize data from a report in an infographic instead of a table. Or you could translate a strategy into a visual concept that you illustrate with an image.

Another effective technique is to create contrast, in a what is vs what could be scenario. For example, in a pitch deck , when describing the problem that you’re trying to solve with your product/service, it’s easier for investors to connect to it and relate if you explain the two scenarios: how your target market conducts life and business without a solution, and how their lives and businesses would be significantly improved if they had your product/service.

Storytelling isn’t just a way of entertaining audiences, it’s a way of presenting your ideas in a language that the human brain understands best. Used wisely, it’s a powerful device to keep listeners engaged in what you are saying, and it is a motivating factor for action.

As you practice your storytelling abilities, you’ll find that right mix between facts, ideas and stories that keep audiences attentive and move them to action.

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Using Visual Metaphors to Enhance Your Storytelling in Presentations

What is a visual metaphor.

Why use visual metaphors in presentations?

There are several benefits to using visual metaphors in presentations. First, visual metaphors can help make complex ideas or concepts more relatable and understandable to your audience. By using an image or representation that your audience can easily understand, you can help them better grasp the concept you are trying to convey.

Second, visual metaphors can help make your presentation more memorable. People tend to remember visual information more easily than verbal information, so using visual metaphors can help your audience remember your message more effectively.

Third, visual metaphors can help engage your audience and make your presentation more interactive. By encouraging your audience to interact with the visual metaphor, you can make your presentation more interactive and engaging.

How to combine visual metaphors with verbal storytelling in presentations

• The first step in using visual metaphors in your presentation is to choose a relevant and meaningful image or representation. Your visual metaphor should be related to the story you are telling and should help your audience understand the concept you are trying to convey.
• Incorporate the visual metaphor into your presentation in a way that helps illustrate and reinforce your message. You can use the visual metaphor to introduce your story, emphasize key points, or create a sense of continuity throughout your presentation.
• Another effective way to use visual metaphors in your presentation is to create a visual representation of your story, such as a timeline or a flowchart. This can help your audience better understand the progression of events in your story.
• Use your visual metaphor to engage your audience and make your presentation more interactive. You can do this by asking questions or having your audience participate in activities related to the metaphor.
• Make sure you understand how to effectively use the visual metaphor in your presentation, how exactly it will work, and have a clear plan for how you will incorporate it into your storytelling.

Some examples of visual metaphors that support storytelling

Imagine you are giving a presentation on the process of creating a successful marketing campaign. You could use a visual metaphor of a gardening process to represent the stages of creating a successful marketing campaign. You could use the various steps of gardening, such as preparing the soil, planting seeds, watering and fertilizing, and harvesting the crops, to represent the different stages of a marketing campaign, such as researching and planning, creating and implementing the campaign, and measuring and analyzing the results. By using this visual metaphor, you can help your audience understand the process of creating a successful marketing campaign in a more relatable and visual way.

Or how about this one: Imagine you are giving a presentation on the importance of effective communication in the workplace. You could use a visual metaphor of a bridge to represent the concept of effective communication. You could use the various parts of the bridge, such as the foundation, pillars, and roadway, to represent the different components of effective communication, such as establishing trust, setting clear expectations, and actively listening. By using this visual metaphor, you can help your audience understand the importance of effective communication and how it can help facilitate productive and successful relationships in the workplace.

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Presentation Design and the Art of Visual Storytelling

Discover a practical approach to designing results-oriented presentations and learn the importance of crafting a compelling narrative.

By Micah Bowers

Micah helps businesses craft meaningful engagement through branding, illustration, and design.

Presentations Must Tell a Story

We’ve all been there, dutifully enduring a dull presentation at work or an event. The slides are packed with text, and the presenter feels obligated to read every single word. There are enough charts, graphs, and equations to fill a trigonometry book, and each screen is awash in the brightest colors imaginable.

As the presentation drags on, the lists get longer. “We do this, this, this, this, this, and oh yeah, this!” Unfortunately, everyone in the audience just wants it to be over.

This is a major opportunity missed for a business, and we designers may be part of the problem. No, it’s not our fault if a presenter is unprepared or uninspiring, but if we approach our clients’ presentations as nothing more than fancy lists, we’ve failed.

See, presentations are stories , not lists, and stories have a structure. They build towards an impact moment and unleash a wave of momentum that changes people’s perceptions and preconceived notions. Good stories aren’t boring and neither are good presentations.

But before we go any further, it’s important to ask why presentations exist in the first place. What’s their purpose? Why are they useful?

Presentations exist to…

Presentations impart new and sometimes life-changing knowledge to an audience.

Most presentations provide a practical method for using the knowledge that is shared.

If executed correctly, presentations are able to captivate an audience’s imagination and lead them to consider the worth of what they’re learning.

Well-crafted presentations have the power to arouse feelings that can influence an audience’s behavior.

Presentations ready people to move, to act on their feelings and internal analysis.

Ultimately, presentations make an appeal to an audience’s logic, emotions, or both in an attempt to convince the audience to act on the opportunity shared by the presenter.

With this kind of power, designers can’t afford to view presentations as “just another deck.” We shouldn’t use the same formulaic templates or fail to educate our clients about the importance of high-quality image assets.

Instead, we need to see presentation design as an opportunity to craft a compelling narrative that earns big wins for our clients.

Need more convincing? Let’s take a quick look at how a few big brands merge storytelling with world-class presentation design.

Salesforce – Write the Narrative First

The overarching emphasis of any presentation is its narrative. Before any flashy visuals are added, the presentation designer works hand-in-hand with the client to establish the narrative and asks big questions like:

• Who are we presenting to?
• Why are we presenting to them?
• How do we want them to respond?

The marketing team at Salesforce, the world’s leading customer relationship management platform, answers these questions by first writing presentations as rough essays with a beginning, middle, and end. As the essay is fleshed out, themes emerge and section titles are added.

From here, the presentation is broken into slides that present the most impactful topics and information the audience needs to know. Only a few select words and phrases will make it onto the screen, but the essay draft will be rich with insights for the presenter to further refine and share in their oral narrative.

Writing the narrative first prevents the chaos of slide shuffling that occurs when a presentation’s stories aren’t clearly mapped out. With no clear narrative in place, slides don’t transition smoothly, and the presentation’s momentum dissipates.

Deloitte – Establish Credibility

Within the first few moments of meeting someone new, we quickly assess whether or not we feel they’re trustworthy.

Presenters are typically afforded an initial level of trust by virtue of being deemed capable of talking in front of a large group of people. But if that trust isn’t solidified within the first minute of a presentation, it can vanish in an instant.

Deloitte is a global financial consultant for 80 percent of all Fortune 500 companies. Naturally, they understand the need to quickly establish credibility. The slide used in the example above is number five in a thirty-slide deck. Right from the outset, Deloitte establishes their authority on the topic, in essence saying, “We’ve been at this awhile.”

Including a slide like this in a client’s deck can be a real confidence booster because it allows them to quickly secure expert status. Establishing credibility also helps an audience relax and engage with what they’re learning.

iControl – Define the Problem Visually

It’s not always possible to express a complex problem or solution with a single visual, but when it happens, it can be a powerful experience for an audience.

iControl is a Swedish startup that built an iPad app designed to replace paper and create better documentation at construction sites. They aren’t a big brand, but their investor pitch deck powerfully identifies a huge audience problem with a single slide—too much paper wasted, too many documents to track. An image like this so clearly identifies the problem that it simultaneously intensifies the need for a solution.

Defining the problem visually is an awesome strategy, but use it with care because an image that’s confusing or overly specific to an industry can leave audience members feeling like outsiders.

Arrange a Compelling Narrative

“Storytelling” is everywhere these days. Social media platforms have cleverly packaged the promise that our every post, image, and interaction is part of an ongoing story, but most of what we call “stories” are loosely related moments strung together by the happenstance of time and technology.

So what’s the distinction between narrative and story? How do they relate, and how do they differ? And most importantly, how do they tie into a compelling presentation?

A story is bound by time. It has a beginning, a middle, and an end. It details events and orders them in a way that creates meaning. In a presentation, stories speak to specific accomplishments and inspire action—“We did this, and it was amazing!”

A narrative is not bound by time. It relates separate moments and events to a central theme but doesn’t seek resolution. In a presentation, the narrative encompasses the past, present, and future—“Where we’ve come from. Where we are. Where we’re headed.”

How does this information impact the presentation designer? Here’s a simple and practical example.

You have a client who makes amazing paper clips that always bend back to their intended shape no matter how much they’re twisted. They ask you to design a presentation that highlights the paper clips and their company vision to “forever change the world of office products.” How do you begin?

Start with the Narrative

The narrative is the overarching emphasis of a presentation.

In this example, you would shape the presentation around your client’s company vision of forever changing the world of office products.

Advance the Narrative with Stories

Use succinct stories that highlight challenges, improvements, big wins, and daily life.

Perhaps the paper clip company’s research and development team faced several setbacks before a eureka moment made mass production cheaper than traditional paper clips.

Use stories like this as brush strokes on a canvas, each one contributing towards a more complete picture of the narrative.

Support Stories with Visuals

This is where the simple, yet stunning slides you design come into play.

In this case, you could show a simple graph that compares the production cost of traditional paper clips to your client’s innovative paper clips. And, to make sure you’re reinforcing the narrative, you could add a short title to the slide: “Game. Changed.”

Conflict Is the Engine of Memorable Presentations

In his bestselling book Story , Hollywood screenwriting guru Robert McKee writes, “Nothing moves forward in a story except through conflict.” This advice is extremely valuable for the presentation designer.

An overly optimistic presentation packed with positive information simply crashes over an audience and sweeps away their enthusiasm. Each rosy insight is less impactful than the one prior. Before long, all the audience hears is, “Good, better, best. We’re just like all the rest.”

An effective presentation designer looks for ways to create internal conflict within an audience. This means they feel the weightiness of a problem and actively hope for the relief of a solution. The yin and yang of problem and solution is the presentation designer’s true north, the guiding principle of every piece of information included in a deck.

One tried and true way to ensure a healthy positive/negative balance, without overly dramatizing a presentation is withholding information.

For instance, in our example of the paperclip company, this could mean devoting an extra slide or two to the research and development process. These slides would hint at the soon-to-be-revealed production costs and build anticipation without providing actual numbers.

Then, when the cost comparison chart is finally shared, the audience is genuinely eager for the information it holds, and the payoff is far more rewarding and memorable.

Unlock the Power of Clear, Consistent, and Compelling Content

Content doesn’t exist apart from the narrative; it enhances it. Once the narrative is in tip-top shape, it’s time to make the content shine, but before we dive into slide design, let’s take a quick detour.

Imagine we’re reviewing an investor pitch deck and we take an elevator into the sky to observe the presentation from an aerial view. From this lofty position, the deck’s content should have a cohesive appearance that ties in with the brand, organization, or topic being presented.

If you’ve ever been hired to work on a company’s pitch deck design , you understand how challenging this can be.

Many times, clients already have some sort of skeleton deck in place before they hire a presentation designer. Sometimes, these decks are packed with a dizzying assortment of charts, graphs, fonts, and colors. Here, you have two unique responsibilities.

First, you must help your client understand how the disunity of their content detracts from the narrative. Then, you must provide a way forward and present them with a practical vision for remaking things in a cohesive style.

Be warned that you may have to sell this idea, especially if your client thinks that their visual content is presentation ready and only in need of some “design magic” to make it look good.

If this happens, remember to be gracious, and acknowledge the role that their expertise played in generating such valuable information. Then, bring the conversation back to results. “This is a compelling topic. I want your audience to be in awe as you present, but for that to happen, I need to recreate the visuals.”

This is a tough chore, but as designers, we’re hired to improve the way our clients communicate—not fill their heads with false affirmations of poor content.

Essential Slide Design Principles

Slide design is an important part of presentation design, and effective slides are rooted in visual simplicity. But the strange thing about simplicity is that it stems from a thorough grasp of complexity. If we know something well, we can explain it to someone who does not in just a few words or images.

In this section, we’ll look at hierarchy, typography, image selection, and color schemes, but know that these design elements are rooted in a proper understanding of a presentation’s narrative and content. If we start the design process with slides, we seriously risk equipping our clients with presentations that are unfocused and unimpactful.

Create Emphasis with Slide Hierarchy

Design hierarchy relates to the placement of visual elements in a way that creates emphasis. For the presentation designer, this means asking, “What two or three things do I want the audience to see on this slide?

Do’s and Don’ts

• Do create visual contrast through scale, color, and alignment.
• Don’t try to visually highlight more than three ideas per slide.

Whenever a really important idea comes up, be brave and only use a few words in bold type to communicate it. This kind of simplicity signals to an audience that it’s time to intensify their focus and really listen to what the presenter has to say.

Overcome Ambiguity with Thoughtful Typography

Most presentations are built on words, so it’s important to know which words to include and how to style them. This starts by choosing the right font, then knowing how big to make the words and where to include them.

• Do ask if your client has any designated fonts listed in their brand style guide.
• Don’t use more than two fonts in your presentation, and avoid text blocks and lengthy paragraphs like the plague.

Try not to use anything smaller in size than a 36 point font. Some designers believe it’s ok to use sizes as small as 24 point, but this often leads to packing slides with more text. Remember, slides are a speaking prompt, not promotional literature.

Communicate Authority Through Graphic Simplicity

Every chart, graph, icon, illustration, or photograph used in a presentation should be easy to see and understand. Images that are difficult to interpret or poor in quality can erode the trust of an audience.

• Do look for ways to use symbols, icons, or illustrations as they have a way of communicating ideas more quickly than photography.
• Don’t use more than one photograph per slide, and don’t use stock photography that conflicts with your client’s brand (e.g., too funny, serious, or ethereal).

During the consultation phase of a presentation design project, ask your potential client to see existing charts or graphs they’re hoping to include. If anything is confusing, pixelated, or inconsistent, tell them you’ll need to remake their graphics. Be prepared to show high-quality examples from well-known companies to sell your point.

Add Energy and Meaning with Bold Color Schemes

Color plays an important role in nearly every design discipline, and presentation design is no different. The colors used for a presentation affect the tone of the topic being shared and influence the mood of the audience.

• Do keep color schemes simple. Two or three colors should make up the majority of slides.
• Don’t use complementary colors for text and background (e.g., blue background with orange text). This has a way of making words vibrate with nauseating intensity.

Identify a few high-contrast accent colors to make strategic cameos for added impact.

The Mission of Every Presentation Designer

It can’t be overstated; presentations are huge opportunities for designers to positively impact their clients’ businesses. Innovation and advancements in culture and technology are occurring so rapidly that it’s become absolutely vital to be able to tell a good story. No one has time for poorly communicated ideas.

Here’s the simple truth: A bad presentation designer dresses up junk content with no thought for narrative and dumps a pile of slides into their client’s lap. Maybe the presentation looks pretty, but it doesn’t inspire, doesn’t activate, and certainly doesn’t sell.

To be effective, results-driven presentation designers means that we must empower our clients with an efficient tool. We carefully consider each slide, word, and visual for maximum impact, and we remember that presentations are intended for a human audience. Whether it’s a room of investors or a conference hall packed with consumers, it’s our job to provide our clients with opportunities to change minds and win business.

Understanding the basics

What is presentation design.

Presentation designers craft an array of ideas, stories, words, and images into a set of slides that are arranged to tell a story and persuade an audience.

Why is storytelling so important?

Where numbers, lists, and facts merely inform, storytelling has the power to make an audience care about and act on information that is being presented.

What are the basic elements of a slide?

The basic elements of a slide are its dimensions, text, images, layout, and color.

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Micah Bowers

Vancouver, WA, United States

Member since January 3, 2016

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Blog Infographics 4 Ways to Use Visual Storytelling in Infographics

4 Ways to Use Visual Storytelling in Infographics

Written by: Lydia Hooper Oct 15, 2021

Stories have been the way humans have communicated since as far back as history can trace. Visuals have been central to many of these stories, from cave paintings to political maps to modern-day advertisements.

While visual stories have varied widely, in both content and format, the structure has been surprisingly consistent.

In this article, I will show you the major methods for using visual storytelling in informational graphics, highlighting how visual stories can help your organization communicate key ideas. There will also be visual storytelling examples and templates you can customize to tell your own visual story.

Table of contents:

• What is visual storytelling

Why visual storytelling matters

When not to use visual storytelling, top visual storytelling techniques, what is visual storytelling.

Visual storytelling refers to when visuals are used to tell a story. This is why people also use the term “visual narrative” when they refer to visual storytelling.

Visual storytelling is something we generally appreciate, from films to video games to social media posts. So much so that it seems like common sense that if you want to tell a story or convey a message, you’ll use a visual to do so.

Visual media that can be used for storytelling include photographs, illustrations, videos, and graphics, including informational graphics or infographics .

These visual communication tools are great, not only for grabbing and engaging the audience’s attention but also for resonating with and eliciting emotions, which are what drive stories forward.

CREATE THIS INFOGRAPHIC TEMPLATE

Visuals can also help us connect with people or characters, imagine ourselves in new scenarios or settings, and understand the most complex or nuanced narratives or plots.

For example, when we wanted to examine in detail how six different popular movies all follow the hero’s journey…

…instead of using mere words, we decided to use visual storytelling and created an infographic that depicts each movie plot as it fits into different stages of the hero’s journey:

Related : What Your 6 Favorite Movies Have in Common [Infographic]

Return to Table of Contents

While humanists (anthropologists, philosophers, theologists, etc) have confirmed that stories are how we learn and evolve as a human species, scientists and researchers have quantified that:

• Our visual sense is our primary means of taking in new information
• It’s easier and faster for us to process images than text, which is especially important with attention spans becoming shorter
• Visuals help people memorize and recall information, and they can even enhance motivation and influence behavior

For example, this article teaches parents how to know when their child’s flu turns serious:

Instead of just plain text, this story can come to life with some thoughtful visual elements, as shown in this infographic which is a lot easier to read and more motivating:

Related : How to Summarize Infographic and Present It Visually

Visual storytelling is powerful, which is why it has become a popular tool for content marketing. It’s also useful for thought leadership, learning and development, human resource management, customer and client education, and more.

This infographic explains why visual content is more effective than plain text and different types of business materials you can apply visual storytelling to:

With all its power, visual storytelling is not a panacea and it isn’t always the best option. It may not be appropriate if…

The story is of a very sensitive nature

For example, if you are discussing a topic related to violence, then relevant images can be distressing and even paralyzing to the viewer.

The visuals are distracting from important parts of the story

Visuals should facilitate and support storytelling, but they can be so captivating that they take attention away from key insights and messages.

The story and/or the visuals are enforcing messages that are false or misleading

Sadly, bad infographics  or misleading visuals are more common than they should be.

Here are some examples of grossly distorted graphs that make the visuals misleading:

• Bad Infographics: The Worst Infographics of 2020 (+ Lessons for 2021)
• 5 Ways Writers Use Misleading Graphs to Manipulate You

Stories are innately human because they speak to universal human needs, as described by Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs:

CREATE THIS EBOOK TEMPLATE

There are four primary techniques for visual storytelling, and each speaks to a different set of these needs. The techniques that are connected to our deepest needs tend to also be the most powerful.

Depending on where your audience is in their own journey, they will need different stories. Dramatic stories are great for building awareness and desire, while more nuanced stories can be good for increasing knowledge and ability.

Here are the top visual storytelling techniques, ranked from most potent to least, with examples and tips for each.

Classic story arc

People-centered tales, step by step explanation, report on key ideas.

This technique is what storytellers think of when they think of a story. They think of heroes and the conflicts they face. No matter the characters and plot, the hallmark of a traditional story is that it has a beginning, middle, and end.

The classic story arc often speaks to our needs for safety and security, which is what gives it its immense power.

This technique is a good choice if you’re looking to build awareness and motivate people, especially a wide variety of people.

It’s useful if there’s a key problem or conflict that you want to center, like this example of an infographic about a crisis:

CREATE THIS TEMPLATE

A classic story can inspire solutions, even recommend specific ones (this is often referred to as a “pitch”). This infographic tells the story of how Airwaves (the “hero”) used Twitter (the solution) to achieve success.

As you can tell, this visual storytelling technique is effective in showcasing case studies or customer success stories.

Here’s another great example of a case study – an infographic about how Venngage helps College UnMazed save $100k using infographics:

CREATE THIS REPORT TEMPLATE

You can customize case study templates and start applying this visual storytelling technique to your content marketing strategy today.

Related : How to Write a Case Study [+ Design Tips]

Tips: If you choose to use a classic story arc structure, makes sure you include these key ingredients:

• An easy-to-follow narrative with a beginning, middle and end.
• A challenge or obstacle, or a series of them—this is usually introduced in the beginning or middle.
• A solution or resolution—sometimes this is a call to action at the end.

Return to Visual Storytelling Techniques

Sometimes stories are less about action and more about people—their feelings, their personalities, their lives. These people can be leaders, change makers, or everyday folk like significant others or family.

These stories help meet our needs for connection and community. These needs are core to who we are as humans, so these stories can be impactful, but perhaps in a more subtle way.

If you are looking to motivate people in a sustainable way, center people in your visual stories.

It can be as simple as using first-person narratives or quotes to drive your visual narrative, like in this example:

If your story is emotional in any way, then the people component is essential.

Sometimes showcasing specific individuals is difficult or inappropriate. In this case, you can use illustrations and theoretical “I” statements, as this example shows.

Related : 15+ Creative People Infographics and Diverse Person Icons

• If it’s appropriate and possible, use photos of real people/faces as research has shown they elicit emotional responses in viewers.
• Be conscientious of your language—use words and phrases that the people you are highlighting have consented to
• Always use inclusive imagery—you can learn more and get more tips on designing for diversity and inclusion here

The two techniques listed above are great if your visual story is one that can easily appeal to a fairly general audience. If you want to offer detailed or complex information and/or target specific groups, then you may need a different approach.

Step-by-step explanations are great for meeting your audience’s needs for learning and growth. If they already have awareness and motivation, these stories can equip them with the knowledge and ability to take action, including potentially engaging in new behaviors.

If your story is complex and/or if it involves data of some kind, then be sure to take your time walking them through a thorough narrative, one step at a time.

For example, this infographic about the Portland heatwave presents some key dates on a timeline before showing a larger abundance of data in a graph at the bottom:

This next example is targeted at individuals interested in health. The “steps” in this infographic include detailing how BMI is calculated, showing an example, discussing the usefulness of BMI, then describing how BMI is correlated with body fatness.

• 28 Process Infographic Templates and Visualization Tips
• 20+ Step Infographic Templates to Visualize a Process

Tips: You will need to scaffold your story into different topics to discuss or questions to address.

Start with the general, big-picture context and proceed to more specific points gradually. Depending on the complexity of your story, and your audience’s current knowledge level, outline three to seven “steps.”

If you need more than seven, then you will need to break the content into different separate stories, which could be shared sequentially.

If your audience is specific, and if you are wanting to merely reinforce their existing knowledge then you don’t need a dramatic story or lengthy explanation.

Chances are you are already planning on just reporting out key ideas, perhaps in a white paper , email newsletter , or infographic.

Here is an example of an infographic about a very niche topic and clearly for a group that has certain pre-existing knowledge:

If you are thinking you’ll just report out ideas, be sure there isn’t any information you’re planning to include that is entirely new, emotionally charged, or complex in any other way. That kind of information may need to be delivered using one of the techniques described previously.

While this infographic is for managers in general, it touches on some complex topics like giving feedback, being consistent, letting go of responsibilities, and role modeling.

In this case, an infographic can provide an overview, but it likely won’t change the behaviors it recommends. At least some of these changes may require greater awareness, motivation, perhaps even knowledge and ability—stories that stimulate these will need to be of a different kind.

Tips: As stated previously, assess whether this technique suits your goal, and limit the main ideas to 3-7 in total.

The other key to success with reporting is to know your audience really well, in particular what their existing knowledge is, for this is the “lens” through which they will process the information you share.

Summary: Craft your narrative using visual media to effectively convey ideas and influence the audience

If you are wanting to change people’s hearts, minds, or actions, then visual storytelling is a necessity—so long as you are approaching it thoughtfully.

Once you identify its true purpose, you’ll know how to best structure and tell your visual story so it will serve your audience as well as your goal.

You don’t need to be an artist or designer to tell your story visually, you only need to practice, practice, practice. With a  visual communication solution like Venngage, you can easily select a colorful template and add icons, illustrations, photos, and/or charts that support your narrative.

Every day, all day, your company is looking to communicate key ideas. Start building your visual storytelling strategy and skills today!

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3 Stunning Visual Storytelling Examples

• by Dennis Shiao
• | Published: March 25, 2020
• | Content Creation

From caveman drawings to silent movies, visual storytelling has been used to educate, engage, and motivate audiences for centuries.

The digital age, though, has ushered in a new set of tools and technologies for visual storytelling. Eric Goodstadt, president of Manifest, and Sacha Reeb, chief creative officer at the content marketing agency, tackled the topic in their Content Marketing World presentation,  Five Very Different Examples of Stellar Visual Storytelling and Why They Are a Step Above the Marketplace .

What is visual storytelling?

Eric and Sacha offer this definition:

“Visual storytelling involves the use of graphics, images, pictures, and videos to engage with viewers in an effort to drive emotions, engage intercommunication, and motivate an audience to action.”

Their definition covers both the tools used (graphics, images, pictures, videos ) and the outcome desired: to drive emotions and engage intercommunication to motivate an audience action.

“It is critical for you to start at the end of the experience and work your way back versus starting at the beginning,” Eric says. “What is it that you want the audience member to do after the experience? Whatever it is, start there and work your way back to the beginning.”

Visual storytelling should include five core elements, according to Eric and Sacha:

• Tension : Motivate people to keep consuming the story.
• Entertainment : Hook them in the first eight seconds.
• Education : Give information so the viewer is better educated on the topic.
• Micro-interactions : Ensure that even the seemingly small and discrete aspects – the movement of objects, the page’s dynamic adaptation – provide a good experience. As Eric explains, viewers need small interactions that make them feel in control to be more vested in the entire experience.
• Call to action : Make sure your team is clear on what you want the audience to do after consuming the story. Then work backward to design the visual storytelling to achieve it.

Now, let’s go through three examples Eric and Sacha shared to illustrate those elements.

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Why Is Simone Biles the World’s Best Gymnast? (The New York Times)

The New York Times produced a set of video profiles of athletes representing Team USA in the 2016 Summer Olympics, including Why Is Simone Biles the World’s Best Gymnast ?

Elite athletes can make their achievements look easy, which makes it hard for spectators to understand and appreciate their skill and effort. Through this almost three-minute video, viewers get an in-depth explanation of Simone’s brilliant gymnastic moves.

With the camera positioned directly behind her launching point, viewers see Simone in a slo-mo run toward the vault springboard. They hear a fast-paced music track of a sequence of high notes quickly played on a piano. On the left side of the screen, words float forward before they fade:

This 19-year-old

is the most dominant gymnast

in a generation.

As Simone gets closer to the vault, the view switches to full speed and she launches.

It’s been eight seconds. The viewer is motivated (tension) and hooked (entertainment) to continue the story.

As her feet land on the mat, the on-screen scenes quickly move to a series of Simone’s landings and performances on multiple pieces of apparatus in different venues.

The story evolves as the viewer sees Simone’s early talent in clips of her childhood competitions and later world championships. It ends that part of the story with the move only Simone can do – The Biles. How does the viewer know what they’re seeing? An overlay of brief text explains it (education).

From there, the tension, entertainment, and education don’t dissipate. A sequence of scenes shows The Biles in real time while a text overlay explains what it is – “double layout with a half-twist and a blind landing.”

With a wide grin, Simone says on camera, “I’ve seen some of my guy friends try it, but they never land it, so they get really upset.” (Her quote tackles both the tension and entertainment value.)

The story continues for another couple of minutes. Viewers learn that Simone can jump twice her height. Through an on-camera interview, her coach explains that Simone can do more in a single pass on the floor exercise because she doesn’t require as much running time to launch. The visuals move from videos to a detailed graphic demonstration.

In the later segment of the video, the story moves to Simone’s unique talents on the beam – she can do maneuvers on that equipment that others can only do on the floor and she does a landing that no one in the world can do (more tension, entertainment, and education).

What gives this piece such impact?

“During that story, we understood two or three facts, but they’re highlighted in a certain way that it makes me understand how amazing it is,” Sacha said. “I was not inundated with too much information, just a few facts that are brilliantly translated through storytelling, brilliantly translated through multiple mediums using live motion, infographics , typography, and short interview segments.”

The call to action ? No call to action happened directly in the video. In the text below the YouTube-hosted video, The New York Times asks viewers to subscribe to its channel and to visit The Fine Line: Simone Biles Gymnastics , an interactive version of Simone’s story.

• Use editorial and sound design to provoke emotion (tension).
• Don’t shy away from mixing multiple mediums to make your point (entertain).
• Limit information to valuable facts to aid in recall (education).
• Use infographics to explain the complex in a digestible manner (education).

Population Healthier (Athenahealth sponsored content on The Atlantic)

Population Healthier , a microsite on The Atlantic sponsored by Athenahealth, tells the story of “[h]ow one radically diverse, mid-sized American city has managed to make its communities healthier while winning the fight against skyrocketing costs.”

Visit this site and you immediately notice the micro-interactions. “As I scroll, the site or the story reacts to my movements. That means that I am in control,” Sacha says. “I can go back and forth, scroll up and scroll down. It reacts to me.”

The micro-interactions might seem like cool features, but they’re more than that – they pull visitors in by putting them in control.

The subject matter is thought-provoking. “This is not superficial. This goes into depth. There is an understanding of the complexities of the health-care system, as well as complexities inherent to this community. It’s good journalism,” says Sacha.

To complement the written word, the site uses visual elements, such as illustrations and 3D renderings. It also presents data visually , helping the audience better understand what the information communicates.

In one section of the site, a color-dotted map reinforces the text description of the cultural transformation happening in Lowell, Massachusetts. Below the text is a chart about non-white race distribution, further simplifying the point visually:

“When you see all the colors intermixed,” Eric says, “it drives home a journalistic story of a very diverse area that can still have superior health care because they’re treating the patient versus the disease. That is an example of how journalism and visual design work hand in glove.”

The sponsored-content format offers advantages in visual storytelling. “It’s not interrupted by any ads. There’s no right-hand rail where ads usually appear. It has no distractions. It’s focused. And then it’s interactive, so you’re completely engaged as an audience,” Sacha says.

• Deepen the readers’ understanding through meaningful visual elements (educate).
• Don’t just inform, challenge the reader to understand (tension).
• Always move the viewer to the next desired step (call to action).

Areas of Focus (Nikon-sponsored content on The Atlantic)

The Areas of Focus microsite is a single-page, interactive photo gallery. It tells the story of photographer Jim McNeill, who was given a Nikon Z 7 camera and asked to spend time following a street musician and a speakeasy club in New York City.

Paid for by Nikon to promote its new professional camera as an alternative to the commonly used DSLR cameras, the microsite was designed and created by The Atlantic’s marketing team.

The story begins in text to set the stage: “McNally traded his DSLR for Nikon’s newest portable and lightweight mirrorless camera: the Z 7, perfectly suited to the hunt-and-seek photography that gave him his start. For one week, we tagged along as Joe explored locations across the city, testing out Nikon’s latest features in his signature style.”

The microsite is targeted at professional photographers. The Atlantic and Nikon knew this audience wants to know how their peers take their shots – the details of setups, settings, etc. And that’s the story told visually and through text when viewers scroll the site.

This insider’s look is complemented by elegant micro-interactions.

“You’re going to see there are subtle mouse-overs that tell you that you can see more details. You see the shot. You have access to the settings. You can also just get closer to see the quality of the photo. These are very subtle interactions that are clearly magnifying some information,” Sacha says.

Here’s one image from the story:

When visitors hover their mouse over a label (EXIF Shot with Nikon Z 7) directly beneath the photo, the shot’s camera settings appear:

As visitors scroll, they witness a smooth transition from day to night (e.g., from midtown Manhattan to the musician’s jazz club appearance). “The background changes. It’s very alive. It’s emotional journalism,” Sacha says.

The story picks up later in the week when the photographer visits the Manhattan Cricket Club to test the camera’s portability as well as its high ISO (light-sensing) capacity:

Like any good storytelling, the narrative takes viewers back to the main character – the street musician – as the photographer visits him at home the morning after the Cricket Club excursion:

As the story of both the musician and the week of photography using the Nikon camera concludes, a fresh take on the photographer’s bio appears.

The site takes you on an engaging and visually captivating journey through New York City with the Nikon camera as the co-star.

• Move the reader through conversational storytelling (entertain).
• Identify what’s most important to your audience and make it simple for it to engage (micro-interactions).
• Drive to an integrated product page where it makes sense (call to action).

What visual story do you have to tell?

The three examples featured in this post came from leading media companies and big brands. You might be thinking, “I just don’t have the budget that The New York Times or Nikon has.”

Fair enough.

But you don’t need a big budget to apply the concepts Eric and Sacha outlined to create great visual stories – create tension, entertain, educate, facilitate micro-interactions, and issue a clear call to action.

Almost everybody is publishing text-based blog posts and articles these days. Far fewer are doing visual storytelling. Take advantage of the opportunity.

Here’s an excerpt from Eric and Sacha’s talk:

Learn more about visual storytelling and many other related topics at Content Marketing World this October in Cleveland, Ohio. Register now for the best rates.

Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute

Dennis Shiao

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Take the first steps to achieving visual storytelling mastery over four sessions

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For 13 years, Kevin has led over 800 workshops with over 200 brands across the world. As a Master Facilitator and Academy Training Director, he has taught thousands of individuals, and loves to help awaken natural talents, build confidence, and drive influence in speakers and communicators of all experience levels. He leads and trains the Duarte Facilitation Team of over 20 facilitators.

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“This was an incredibly valuable workshop. Even though I’ve been part of other storytelling and deck building workshops in the past, this provided me new concepts and perspective about how to adjust my storytelling to be more impactful on my customer.“ Ava Kavelle, VisualStory® learner Sr. PMM, Software company

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Business storytelling: how to boost sales by telling a story

Posted on: July 25, 2024

Reading Time: 10 minutes

Category: Optimising the sales process

In this blog

The emotional connection

Differentiating your brand, enhancing recall and engagement, understanding your audience, crafting a compelling narrative, using data to support your story, leveraging different formats, storytelling in email marketing, tips and tricks for effective storytelling, the benefits of business storytelling in marketing, the power of b2b storytelling is right at your fingertips, business storytelling: how to boost sales by telling a story.

Discover how business storytelling transforms B2B sales and marketing by creating emotional connections, enhancing brand recall, and driving higher engagement and conversion rates.

Imagine walking into a room with a potential client. The pitch is a big deal; it could catapult your career to new heights and secure your company’s future.

You have two options: deliver a data-heavy presentation or share a captivating story that paints a vivid picture of how you transformed a client’s business.

Which approach do you think will leave a lasting impression?

In the bustling world of B2B marketing, where competition is fierce and the need to stand out is paramount, weaving a compelling narrative can be your secret weapon.

Stories have an unparalleled power to captivate, engage, and persuade. Business storytelling is a powerful tool that can transform your sales approach. Leveraging storytelling in B2B marketing captures prospects’ attention and fosters an emotional connection, making your product or service more memorable and desirable. 

But why is storytelling so effective in sales? And how can you harness its potential to not just capture interest but drive decisions? Let’s delve into the magic of storytelling in marketing and explore how it can elevate your sales strategy.

We’ve got plenty of practical tips on how to do it effectively. Keep scrolling.

The power of storytelling in marketing

Storytelling has been a fundamental part of human communication for millennia. 

It’s how we share experiences, impart wisdom, and connect on a deeper level. In marketing, particularly B2B marketing, storytelling can turn something like a mundane sales pitch into a compelling narrative that resonates with your audience.

Before we get into the how, let’s examine why a storytelling marketing strategy is beneficial for business.

Stories evoke emotions, and emotions drive decisions. When you tell a story that resonates with your prospects, you create an emotional connection that makes them more likely to trust and engage with your brand. 

According to research, emotions can significantly influence a buyer’s decision, even in B2B transactions, which are often portrayed as purely rational. In fact, 71% of buyers will recommend a brand purely based on an emotional connection.

In a crowded market , it’s crucial to differentiate your brand. Storytelling for business allows you to highlight what makes your company unique and can significantly help with brand recall.

By sharing your brand’s story, values, and mission, you can create a distinct identity that sets you apart from competitors. Not only that, a survey by OneSpot found that 56% of buyers believe that the best brands out there are the ones that tell stories.

People are more likely to remember stories than data points. By embedding your key messages within a narrative, you increase the likelihood that your audience will recall your brand and its value proposition. This enhanced recall can lead to higher engagement and, ultimately, more conversions. Sounds pretty good to us…

How to use storytelling in B2B marketing

The first step in effective storytelling is understanding your audience. 

What are their pain points, needs, and desires? By gaining a deep understanding of your target audience , you can craft stories that are relevant and compelling to them.

If you want to know how to use business storytelling in marketing, you always return to the same strategic outline—build a solid picture of your buyer personas and ideal customer profile (ICP). This will help you not only understand who your audience is but also keep your targeting on point. There is no wasted time and resources here!

Lucky for you, we’ve got a great blog for that 👇

Ideal customer profiles and buyer personas: What’s the difference?

Making the most of both

A good story has a clear structure: a beginning, a middle, and an end. In the context of B2B sales, this could translate to:

The problem 

Start by highlighting a common problem or challenge that your target audience faces. This will set the stage, build empathy, and grab their attention.

The solution

Introduce your product or service as the hero that solves the problem. Explain how it addresses the pain points and provides tangible benefits.

The success

Showcase real-life examples or case studies that demonstrate the successful implementation of your solution. This provides proof and builds credibility.

You might already be doing this are just missing that crucial dash of creativity and connection. That is why the importance of business storytelling should be an essential part of your strategy. After all, buyers are 22% more likely to remember a statistic if it’s been nicely set up as part of a story.

While stories are powerful, they must be backed by data to be credible in the B2B world. That’s when a gripping piece of nonfiction develops into a powerful and compelling work of fiction.

To be a good storyteller, incorporate relevant statistics, case studies , and testimonials to support your narrative. This combination of emotion and logic can be incredibly persuasive.

This might sound like a lot of work – but it will certainly pay off. 54% of B2B buyers interact with content such as case studies within their buying process, and 29% say they’re often the most valuable form of content when they’re researching their purchasing options.

Storytelling isn’t limited to written content. Utilise various formats to tell your story, such as:

Create engaging video content that showcases your brand story, customer success stories, or product demonstrations.

39% of marketers who place videos on their landing pages say they significantly impact lead conversion rates.

Infographics

Use infographics to represent your narrative and highlight key data points visually.

Content that makes the most of content diversification, such as using infographics , sees 94% more views and a 640% boost in engagement rates when compared with text-only content. 

Webinars and podcasts

Host webinars or podcasts where you can delve deeper into your story and engage with your audience in real time.

Don’t opt for traditional only and get left behind in the dust of competitors. 31% of B2B marketers are making the most of podcasting as an additional arm in their strategy. 

Want to see how it’s done? We recently partnered with B2B Better to tell our story via the medium of podcasts. Check it out 👀

Email marketing is a powerful channel for brand storytelling. Instead of sending dry, sales-focused emails, craft stories that engage your readers. Ready for some quick-fire tips?

Personalisation

First up, you can use dynamic content blocks to tailor messages without sending multiple versions. You can also incorporate behavioural triggers, such as sending emails based on website visits or previous interactions. 

Personalise content even further with the recipient’s name and relevant details, and craft stories that address their specific needs and challenges. Use interactive elements like polls or quizzes to enhance engagement. 

Narrative arc 

Follow the business storytelling structure we discussed at the beginning of this guide and apply it to your emails: present a problem, introduce your solution, and showcase success.

Call to action

Conclude with a clear call to action that encourages the recipient to take the next step, whether it’s scheduling a demo, downloading a resource, or contacting your sales team.

You can even customise CTAs to match the recipient’s interests and stage in the buyer’s journey.

Keep it simple

Simplicity is key in storytelling. Avoid jargon and complex language. Your story should be easy to understand and resonate with your audience quickly.

Be authentic

Authenticity builds trust. Be genuine in your storytelling, and avoid exaggeration or false claims. Authentic stories are more relatable and believable.

Use visuals

Visual elements can enhance your story and make it more engaging. Incorporate images, videos, and graphics to support your narrative and capture your audience’s attention.

Focus on the customer

Your story should be customer-centric. Focus on the customer’s journey, their challenges, and how your solution has transformed their experience. This approach makes your audience feel valued and understood.

Practice consistency

Consistency is crucial in storytelling. Ensure that your brand’s story and message are consistent across all channels and touchpoints. This reinforces your identity and helps build a strong, cohesive brand image.

Measure and optimise

Like any marketing strategy, measuring the effectiveness of your storytelling efforts is essential. Track metrics such as engagement rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates. Use this data to optimise your stories and improve their impact over time.

Using B2B sales metrics for data-driven growth

How analytics, goals, and B2B sales KPIs can harness a data-driven approach to sales optimisation and growth.

Increased engagement

92% of buyers said they’re more likely to interact with a form of content, such as an ad, if it’s aiming to tell a story.

Storytelling is great for any marketing campaign. It captures attention and keeps your audience engaged. Engaged prospects are more likely to interact with your content, leading to higher conversion rates.

Improved brand perception

59% of consumers surveyed say that storytelling creates a sense of connection and helps them to understand a brand’s mission and values more easily.

A well-crafted story can enhance your brand perception. It humanises your brand, making it more relatable and trustworthy. This positive perception can lead to long-term customer loyalty.

Higher conversion rates

Storytelling can boost conversion rates by 30% .

Connecting emotionally with your audience and providing a compelling narrative can drive higher conversion rates. Prospects are more likely to take action when they feel understood and valued.

Enhanced customer relationships

81% of buyers said they need to be able to trust a brand before making a purchase.

Storytelling fosters a deeper connection with your customers. By sharing stories that resonate with them, you build stronger relationships and encourage repeat business.

Competitive advantage

50% of buyers are more likely to purchase if they see value in the content being put in front of them. Content is king. 👑

In a competitive market, storytelling can give you a significant edge. It helps you stand out, differentiates your brand, and makes your value proposition more compelling.

The power of storytelling in B2B sales cannot be overstated. It transforms the way you communicate with prospects, making your message more engaging, memorable, and persuasive. 

By understanding your audience, crafting compelling narratives, and leveraging various formats, you can harness the power of storytelling to boost your conversion rates and achieve greater success in your sales efforts.

Start incorporating storytelling into your B2B marketing strategy today, and watch as your engagement, conversion rates, and customer relationships soar. Remember, facts may tell, but stories sell.

Ready to turn your sales pitches into captivating stories that win business? Discover how our lead generation service can transform your approach and make your brand unforgettable.

Watch your sales grow

Discover how Sopro helps hundreds of businesses sell more. We do the hard work, so you can do your best work.

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What advantages do professional slide preparation services offer for enhancing sales enablement content and presentation design?

July 26, 2024 /

Advantages of Professional Slide Preparation Services for Enhancing Sales Enablement Content and Presentation Design

In the competitive landscape of sales, having a compelling presentation can make all the difference. Leveraging professional slide preparation services offers numerous benefits that significantly enhance your sales enablement content and overall presentation design.

1. Expertise in Visual Storytelling

Professional designers are skilled in visual storytelling, ensuring that each slide not only looks appealing but also effectively communicates your message. They understand how to balance text, images, and multimedia elements to create a cohesive narrative that resonates with your audience.

2. Customization Tailored to Your Brand

A key advantage is the ability to customize slides according to your brand guidelines. This ensures consistency across all presentations, reinforcing brand identity and professionalism. Customized designs help maintain a unified look while addressing specific needs or themes relevant to different audiences.

3. Enhanced Engagement Through Interactive Elements

The integration of interactive elements such as animations, transitions, and clickable links can greatly increase audience engagement during presentations. Professionals know how to incorporate these features without overwhelming viewers or detracting from the core message.

4. Time Efficiency for Sales Teams

Your sales team’s time is valuable; outsourcing slide preparation allows them to focus on what they do best—selling products or services—instead of spending hours designing slides. This leads to increased productivity and more effective use of resources within your organization.

5. High-Quality Graphics and Multimedia Integration

Aesthetically pleasing graphics play an essential role in capturing attention and conveying information succinctly. Professional services provide access to high-quality visuals including infographics, charts, videos, and other multimedia components that elevate the overall quality of your presentations.

6. Data Visualization Expertise

Simplifying complex data into easily digestible formats is crucial for impactful communication during sales pitches or meetings with stakeholders. Experts excel at creating clear data visualizations like graphs, charts, and tables which aid comprehension and retention among viewers. This capability transforms raw numbers into meaningful insights supporting persuasive arguments throughout discussions.

By investing in professional slide preparation services, you ensure every aspect aligns seamlessly towards achieving desired outcomes, whether closing deals, securing partnerships, or driving growth initiatives forward. Ultimately, this contributes positively to the bottom line success and long-term sustainability of business operations.

For more information about our specialized offerings tailored specifically to meet unique requirements, contact us today to discover the transformative potential that awaits!

• What are the benefits of using professional slide preparation services for my presentation?

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UPDATED 12:00 EDT / JULY 25 2024

Visual AI startup Napkin.ai launches graphics generator for business storytelling

by Mike Wheatley

Visual artificial intelligence startup Napkin.ai Inc. today announced the launch of a new tool that transforms text such as business plans, pitch decks and newsletters into imagery that can better communicate the complex ideas they detail.

The startup said it’s trying to help people enhance their communication and explain their ideas more easily, adding that this is especially important in an age of “peak information overload.” To do this, it’s pioneering what it says is a new “visual generative AI” technology that enables users to tell better stories through the medium of imagery.

Its tool aims to make graphics design more accessible, so users can explain their ideas easily without having to spend hours creating the right visuals to complement the documents that spell them out.

To get started, users paste their existing document into Napkin.ai’s text box, click the spark icon on any part of the text, and it will transform the selected text into a series of recommended visuals. For instance, the user could upload a business plan that lays out the various revenue streams of their proposed company, and it will transform this into a visually striking diagram that communicates the various ways it will make money at a glance.

Napkin.ai co-founder Pramod Sharma said Apple Inc. made it simple for anyone to take beautiful photos with the iPhone, and that his company intends to do the same for graphics. “Visuals are powerful and we’ve designed Napkin so that anyone can easily communicate their ideas through beautiful imagery,” he said.

Napkin.ai includes various customization tools, so once the user selects a recommended graphic from the various suggestions it generates, they can then adjust elements such as the font, colors, shapes, design and more, in order to make the graphics adhere to their branding and style guidelines.

Moreover, Napkin.ai integrates with a range of common enterprise content platforms, such as Google Slides and Docs, Microsoft Word and PowerPoint, Substack, Medium, Slack, Notion, LinkedIn, Instagram and X.

The tool is said to support practically any kind of scenario where someone working with documents might need to create a graphic, including presentations, blog posts, pitch decks, social media content, newsletters, data and research reports, customer communications and more.

Napkin.ai said it currently offers more than 30 different kinds of graphics, including mind maps, flow charts, Venn diagrams, bar charts, pie charts and more. The team plans to add more powerful customizations and graphics formats in future via regular updates to the platform.

Jason Miller, chief operating officer of the autonomous AI agent startup SproutsAI Inc. said that, as someone without natural design skills, he has come to love the super-easy and convenient capabilities of Napkin.ai.

“Whether I need a quick diagram for a blog post or a chart for a presentation, Napkin generates exactly what I’m looking for in seconds,” he said. “Before Napkin, we were constrained regarding what graphics we could access, but now we have a designer at our fingertips, offering unlimited access to enhance our business storytelling with visuals.”

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ESPN Creative Studio & Visual Storytelling Intern, Remote, Fall 2024

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About the Role & Program

Ever wonder what it’s like to work for a leading sports entertainment brand? Working at ESPN is unlike anything else! That’s because we’re always finding new ways to interact with fans – however and wherever they connect with sports. We have the latest technology, innovative ideas and world-class talent on our team, and every day is extraordinary.

The ESPN Creative Studio team elevates content for both fans and advertisers by leveraging ESPN’s internal storytelling excellence from concept and design to production and edit. We are seeking an intern who will assist in custom content creation across digital and streaming platforms. The candidate will bring extensive knowledge of sports, social trends, pop culture, will have an unquenchable thirst for learning and be able to thrive in a team environment. If selected for this role, the intern will report to the Associate Art Director.

What You Will Do

Ideate/brainstorm with Creative Studio’s Visual Storytelling team to produce custom content solutions for our streaming platforms

Work with Visual Storytelling leadership to understand the strategy behind how our art travels across platforms

Design and execute custom graphics and key art for streaming

Research new trends and applications of streaming to enhance ESPN’s artwork strategy

Required Qualifications & Skills

Fundamental creative skills in typography, composition, and graphic design

Sound knowledge of the sports landscape and appreciation for and understanding of Internet pop culture

Demonstrated communication and organization skills

Enthusiasm for growing streaming presence with innovation and customization

Preferred Qualifications

Proficiency using photo editing software (e.g. Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign). Figma knowledge is a bonus.

Examples of creative design work produced (professional or personal). This can be a full portfolio, website or individual samples.

• Majoring in graphic design, multimedia/visual arts, communications or closely related field.

Eligibility Requirements & Program Information

Candidates for this opportunity MUST meet all of the below requirements:

Be enrolled in an accredited college/university taking at least one class in the semester/quarter (spring/fall) prior to participation in the internship program OR must have graduated from a college/university within 6 months at time of application posting OR currently participating in a Disney College Program or Disney Professional Internship

Be at least 18 years of age

Possess unrestricted work authorization

Have not completed one year of continual employment on a Disney internship or program

Additional Information

Program Dates : The fall season will run September 23rd through December 13th, 2024. Interns will work 40 hours per week throughout the internship. Some flexibility may be provided due to class schedule.

Work Environment: This position is remote and can be located throughout the United States utilizing a dedicated home office that includes reliable internet and phone service.

Job ID: 10095893

Location: Bristol,Connecticut

Job Posting Company: ESPN

ESPN Productions, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protected veteran status.

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Here’s How The New York Times Is Bringing You the Olympics

Our reporters, photographers, editors and graphics team are in Paris to tell you the stories of triumph, disappointment and much more.

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By Susanna Timmons and John Otis

Whether you are one of the more than 10,000 elite athletes competing in the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics or an armchair admirer, it is go time.

The Games began on July 26 with a grand opening ceremony along the Seine. More than 300 competitive events will take place over the next 16 days in Paris and elsewhere in France. With more than two dozen journalists on site at the Games, The Times will provide readers with articles, photos, videos, a full results page, a medal count, a daily newsletter and more.

Here’s what you need to know about The Times’s approach.

When it comes to visuals, we are out in front.

Our home page will feature the best of the photos, graphics and videos from daily competitions and the news and events around them. We’ve deployed more than a dozen visual journalists to capture the action and create graphics that replicate the athletes in action as we have in past years . Here’s our visuals team in Paris:

Chang W. Lee , who has been a Times photographer for three decades, is covering his​​ 10th Olympic Games. He is joined by Daniel Berehulak , Gabriela Bhaskar and James Hill , who is now on his sixth Olympics for The Times. Two editors, Heather Casey and Becky Lebowitz Hanger , are in Paris directing photo coverage.

Four graphics editors will be taking their own photographs, as well as using the work of Times photographers, to build intricate visual stories. Those editors include Joe Ward , who focuses on data visualizations and the detailed mechanics of athletic performance, and Bedel Saget , Jeremy White and Weiyi Cai , all of whom have built some of the most compelling Olympic graphics for The Times.

You can also expect short-form videos from Karen Hanley , who is keeping an eye on all that’s happening in and around Paris, while also collaborating with reporters to bring you their takes on the Games and the scenes unfolding around them.

Giving you more than just a scorecard.

Mike Wilson, a veteran editor, is coordinating coverage from New York, where The Times is based. Andrew Das , who has worked on eight Olympics at The Times, is steering operations from Paris.

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