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Should You Share Pictures and Videos Before a Big Presentation?
Sending your visuals early gives senior leadership more time to understand the material.
JD Solomon
Sep 15
Beware of Microsoft Word and PowerPoint for Checking Color and Contrast
Microsoft Word and PowerPoint’s built-in color and contrast checker doesn’t always perform well, especially when it comes to backgrounds involving images or gradients.
JD Solomon
Sep 3
Why Your Visuals Need More Than Canva for Accessibility and Alt Text
Canva makes these shortcomings worse by setting up the case of "flexibility that supports creativity" versus "structure that supports accessibility.”
JD Solomon
Aug 14
Microsoft Office Is Not Forgetting the Colorblind (and neither should you)
JD Solomon recommends reversing the traditional approach for developing reports and presentations by starting with accessibility.
JD Solomon
Aug 11
Are Guiding Graphics in Your Effective Communication Toolbox?
Remember to use a guiding graphic on your next big project and with every big presentation!
JD Solomon
Mar 3
Discover the Power of Canva for Stunning Visual Designs
Professional design tools like Canva are essential for effective communication.
JD Solomon
Dec 30, 2024
Do Merged Cells Create Better Tables in Excel?
Use shading, borders, and other formatting options to visually group related cells without merging.
JD Solomon
Nov 25, 2024
Include People in Your Visuals
Human-centered images help to bridge the gap between complex information and real-world applications.
JD Solomon
Nov 4, 2024
Trump Assassination Attempt Provides Example of Essential Visuals for Communicating with FINESSE
The Trump assassination attempt provides several good examples related to the FINESSE fishbone diagram and the I in FINESSE.
JD Solomon
Jul 15, 2024
How the I in FINESSE Creates Effective Communication to Senior Management
The I in FINESSE stands for Illustrate. Illustrate includes all the visuals, graphics, videos, and other media used in technical reports...
CWF
Mar 15, 2024
Got Excel? 3 Ways Technical Professionals Can Improve Data Visualization with FINESSE
This 3-part series on improving data visualization was inspired first by Microsoft Excel and second by Edward Tufte. Tufte is the guru of...
JD Solomon
Jan 8, 2024
Visualization Tip: Excel's Data Validation Empowers Effective Technical Communication
Using the Data Validation feature in Excel improves visualizations by ensuring data accuracy, consistency, and reliability. Using the...
JD Solomon
Dec 19, 2023
Visualization Tip: Maximize Data or Drop the Graphic
The data-to-ink ratio is a helpful way to create powerful graphics. Simultaneously, your graphics also become more accessible. And if you...
JD Solomon
Dec 5, 2023
5 Visuals to Use with Caution When Communicating to Senior Management
Scatter diagrams, matrices, histograms, pie charts, and box and whiskers diagrams are included in "graphics to use with caution" when...
Lester Ray Moore
Oct 31, 2023
Six Essential Visuals for Effective Technical Communication
Decision makers will give you about 10 minutes of attention. You do not have the time to explain complex visuals. Keep it concise with...
Lester Ray Moore
Oct 15, 2023
Why Tables Are More Effective Than Graphs in Business Communication
A table is a systematic arrangement of data. Graphs are simply a concise method for depicting large amounts of data. The central issue in...
JD Solomon
Aug 31, 2023
Beware of Deception When Using Shapes for Data Visualization
Fortune gets it right! In its annual publication of Fortune 500 companies, Fortune correctly used two-dimensional shapes (circles) to...
JD Solomon
Jul 19, 2023
Don't Forget This One Big Thing When Facilitating a Strategic Plan
I was recently wandering around the lobby at Grand Strand Medical Center when I suddenly ran into an oversized bulletin board. I expected...
JD Solomon
Jan 18, 2023
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