Given the wide range of audio and video tools out there today, it’s relatively easy to create powerful presentations in PowerPoint. When used properly, PowerPoint can present qualitative market research in a way that brings it to life and conveys the human element of the findings – an important goal, especially in informing clients who were not there to observe the research in person.
First, there are some key ground rules to keep in mind that, if not adhered to, may negate the effectiveness of any PowerPoint presentation..
1. PowerPoint Presentation Tips: Follow Key Dos and Don'ts
- Keep it simple. Don’t crowd pages with too much text or graphics. Consider using a simple graphic or verbatim to convey a point. See this New York Times article, "We have met the enemy and he is PowerPoint," as an example of what not to do.
- Don’t read from PowerPoint. The verbal part of the presentation should focus on discussing and building on what is shown on the screen. It’s important to maintain eye contact with your audience, rather than turning away from them to read.
- Don’t compete with the screen. When putting up a new slide, give the audience time to absorb it before launching into a discussion of what’s there.
- Make the material itself compelling and attention getting. Use visuals and colors that fit the topic and convey the right message and emotion.
- Give out handouts at the end rather than the beginning. Otherwise, the audience may be looking ahead in the presentation, which can be distracting to the speaker and other members of the audience.
- Don’t forget the value of using layouts that include sufficient white space, especially when including charts and graphs. You have to engage the eye before you can engage the mind.
- Finally, ground the presentation in overall clarity of thought, credibility, and usability--all of which are especially important in presenting market research findings.
2. Use Visuals Effectively In Qualitative Market Research Presentations
Graphics are great for conveying how consumers think at a glance. For example, consumer segments may be mapped in quadrants showing how they are differentiated. A flow chart can show the progression of decision making, or a typical day in the life including use of a particular product. Here are some specific tools that can help:
- A visual processor called “Smart Draw,” makes it possible to create mind maps, timelines, organization charts and more in no time at all. It’s extremely user friendly, automatic and compatible with PowerPoint as well as Word and Excel. The program costs just under $200, but it may be well worth it to anyone who wants to create an elegant looking presentation easily and quickly.
- Power Frameworks is another program that provides thousands of pre-formatted tables and charts, including ways of presenting hierarchies, flow charts, concentric ideas, and flow charts. New options are updated on a regular basis. Rather than buying the program outright, there is a subscription fee of about $150 for 6 months, $250 a year.
- Wordle, is a technique used to create word clouds from lists of attributes, benefits, likes versus dislikes, and more, in colorful ways. While the program has no option for saving the Worlde on your computer once it’s created, there’s a way to get around that, which is to use screen capture to copy the image from the website. Important to know, too, is that phrases can be used intact as long as a tilde (~ ) is used to link words that go together (e.g., qualitative~research).
- WordItOut is another program designed to create word clouds, which may have more options than Wordle in terms of customizing output.
3. Use Stock Photos, or Visual Material Created By Respondents Themselves
Collages created as homework assignments or during focus groups are another great source of visual input. A single image from a collage about a brand, for example, may speak volumes about how the brand is perceived.
- Stock Photography may be used to illustrate the “typical” consumer profile of different segments, in ways that immediately convey age, personality, character, and other aspects that differentiate among types. And pictures provide convenient handles for referring to segments faster and more accurately than verbal descriptions could ever do. Several sites provide free photos that could serve the purpose, including Morguefile.com, Freefotos.com, and iStockphoto.com, to name a few. If stock photos are used, it's important to follow guidelines for citing attribution, linking back to the site that has the photo, and requirements for use.
- Photographs of Respondents themselves (taken with their permission) can also provide a human element to the findings, providing, similar to verbatims, a way of adding “color” to any qualitative report. Verbatims may also be used with graphics or photos to add more visual interest and convey the essence of participants beyond just the facts.
PowerPoint is a valuable resource for qualitative market researchers, offering tools and techniques that help convey findings effectively and powerfully. Three key ways to optimize PowerPoint presentations were reviewed in this article. As discussed, using the tools and techniques judiciously is one way to make the most of PowerPoint. Including visual information in the form of graphics and photos is another. The use of videos, animation, and other such valuable resources are growing by leaps and bounds, and offer additional ways of enhancing PowerPoint presentations.
Interested in presentations with video? See Lights, Camera, Action in Qualitative Research PowerPoints
Elizabeth Harrington - Poet, Freelance Writer, Marketing Research Professional, Blogger (www.allaboutqualitative.com)
