Over the past few months, Warren and I have shared some thoughts (and hopefully some useful tips) about presentations, and visualising data.  Today, I'd like to suggest that one of the most valuable tools you'll use in your work isn't something you learned on a course, and isn't an object provided by your employer (if you have one) - it's a camera.

Now, if you're a regular reader, you'll know that both Warren and I feel that improving the quality of your images - whether graphical figures, or illustrative pictures - can have a huge impact on the efficacy of your argument.  But while the internet has revolutionised our ability to access images, I think it's well worth considering pictures you can take yourself.  

We've all seen the stock images of well groomed people in suits, shaking hands in airy, light-filled offices.

But who wouldn't prefer to see the meeting they're actually in?

It's not unusual for me to dig out my camera when I want to use images to illustrate a concept in a presentation.  Here are a couple of examples.

Scenario 1

When working with researchers or analysts, they often find it tricky to step back from the detail of their work, in order for them to decide what the key messages are, and how best to present them.  In order to communicate this message, I decided to use the metaphor of a recipe.  If you wanted to create a tasty dish, it would be a mistake to use all of the ingredients at your disposal.

You need to trust your experience and expertise to pick out the really important stuff.

Thank God, a custard and kiwi-free tomato sauce.

Scenario 2

As Warren has described previously, there is something of a magical (and memorable quality about grouping items in threes.  Setting aside ancient rules of rhetoric, I wanted to use a mnemonic to help people remember that I'd make three points; remembering that there are three points is the first step to remembering what they were, after all.  As conceptual points, I lacked an obviously visual way of communicating them.  So I decided to use an image which focused on the 'three-ness' instead.

You might think that you need a big swanky camera to take pictures good enough to be used in a presentation or report, but in fact the majority of the images I've used are taken on a small digital point-and-click camera.  What's more important is getting reasonable lighting (which is why, in both of my examples, the pictures were taken on my kitchen worksurfaces, where I could add all sorts of lights).  I then used a free image editor (Microsoft Picture Editor, in my case) to crop the images and increase the saturation, or make other changes.  And if you really don't have time to conduct a mini photoshoot, don't forget the power of the cameraphone - if you're out and about, and spot a nice image, perhaps an entertaining contrast or even a 3D exploded pie chart in the wild, you can quickly snap it and put it into your next presentation; after all, when you're taking your own pictures, you can be certain there are no issues with permission to use them!

 

The lizard brain likes the familiar, and will tend to our 'default setting' whenever possible. Google is great for finding information, but relying on it for our image needs can lead to some pretty ppor results which wil reflect badly on you and your research. So why do we need to unGoogle when searching for snaps?

1. Quality. Search engines will scour the internet for any images they can find which may be related to your enquiry. These will generally have been optimised to fit onto a web page. That is, they will be low resolution 'thumbnail' images specifically designed to be viewed on a small monitor.

When you blow that image up to fit on a Powerpoint slide, you'll find yourself with something blocky and distinctly amateurish which will detract from the information you're presenting.

2. Copyright. Google Image searches will list *any* images it can find. As such, they are likely to contain a lot of copyrighted material which you have no right to lift and use in your presentation. It only takes one email of your slides to an interested audience member and they could easily end up in the public domain, with or without your knowledge. If those slides contain copyrighted images, you could find yourself in hot water.

Even if you vow never to email your slides to anyone, there's no sense in getting in bad habits you'll just have to undo later. Learning how to use images properly gives you the skill you'll need for a publication or big conference presentation.

3. Ditch Google, get Creative. Images under Creative Commons (CC) licence are your friends. There are a variety of licences under the CC umbrella, but as long as you credit the image creator (generally, the photographer) and aren't planning to do any major re-editing of the original, you'll be OK to re-use any images with a CC licence.

Where to find them? Flickr has a huge range of images, many of which are Creative Commons. A good way to search them is through the Compfight search engine. Just click on 'creative commons' in the sidebar, enter your search term and away you go. Clicking an image takes you to its Flickr page:

Check the image licence (1, above) - it's summarised on the page but you can get more details by clicking through. This one says you are free to copy and transmit the work as long as you attribute the creator of the image, don't use it for commercial benefit and agree not to alter it.

Then move up to 'actions' and click on 'view all sizes' (2):

Here's where you get your hands on the image. You need a pretty big one if you're using for a full Powerpoint slide. In this case, choose original (3) as it's the biggest on offer - remember you want it to look good on the 'big screen'. Go large!

Then just download (4) and paste it into your Powerpoint with some text crediting the image. For this image I would suggest: Flickr user 'mobile disco': "I Love Peckham post-its" (there's no real name given for this user, if there is one, use that instead).

Ta-da! You have a high quality, correctly licensed image from the very creative Flickr community, rather than the lo-res, copyrighted fare of Google Images.

Further reading:

11 ways to use your image poorly - classic Presentation Zen post on the best way to use your image in a slide (hint: *fill* the screen).

Easy-peasy guide to crediting images - great flowchart to help you check you're doing it right.

Where can you find good images? - more Presentation Zen goodness, list of alternative sites for good, roylaty-free images.

Over the last couple of weeks we've concentrated on data visualisation, emphasising the importance of clear, unfussy methods which don't obscure the story of the data. A good figure can be very powerful, but may not be enough on its own to convey a message. In particular, if you are giving a presentation in person, I suggest that projecting a succession of figures onto a screen - no matter how well put together they are - is not the best way to get your point across.

Memorable images are key in giving a good presentation - even if you have 10 killer figures that you'd like to present to your audience, run through them all on Powerpoint and their power will quickly wither away to naught as your audience suffers information overload. They spend so much time squinting at the screen, it really doesn't matter what you're saying as they've stopped listening.

A better idea: select the very best two or three figures which support your argument and mix them up with some visual aids which, while not carrying the same intellectual weight as your carefully compiled data, are just as important in making sure your ideas stick in the mind of your audience.

Let's say you're giving a presentation on those accused of offences during the recent English riots. It would be very easy to put together a series of figures cutting the data in various ways, as the Guardian have done here. Without commenting on the attributes of these particular figures, showing too many of them in a presentation risks diluting their power through loss of context.

There is an argument that sticking to plain figures serve a purpose in taking the political heat out of an issue, and refocusing on the evidence. There is some truth in that, but I would argue that researchers often go too far the other way and forget that after looking at umpteen tables and figures, it's all too easy to forget what we were talking about in the first place.

The riots are clearly a politically charged issue; images should be chosen with care. They might convey a message of community recovery such as the one above, or could emphasise lawlessness, as with this powerful but more conventional image from Greece in 2008 (mouseover both images for credits):

Garr Reynolds (Presentation Zen author and Thunderfly pin-up) puts it well:

Statistics...are just abstractions. But when we hear the story amplified by compelling photography...the issue becomes concrete.

As long as the image is a good fit with your evidence, then it provides a crucial hook for your audience, reminding them of what the data contained in your carefully crafted figure means in the 'real world'.

Next week, we'll look at how to quickly find high quality images that can be reproduced in your presentation or report. For now, I'd love to hear your views on using images in conjunction with the traditional academic figure. Do you think they help make an argument? Or does using images like those above risk overshadowing the research data?