To corporate or not co-operate?

There is little that depresses me more at a meeting than a poor presentation, save for a poor presentation awash with corporate logos. The (poor) argument for their use on every slide runs something along the lines of making it clear to the audience, at every point, exactly where the speaker works and by whom they are supported. (Sometimes I think it would be better if that was actually to remain a secret.)

The first problem with a logo on every slide is an implicitly patronising attitude to the audience. If you have been introduced as Dr X from Y Institute, the audience should now know this fact. It is probable that your introductory slide repeats any introduction you had been given and begins the redundancy. Just how many times does that redundancy needs repeating visually? Twice? Three times? Thirty SEVEN times? Do repeat the salient facts of the presentation a similar number of times?

Secondly, as discussed in many previous posts, the audience is already challenged to process auditory and visual input from a speaker and the supportive media. No slide is made better by the addition of extra or extraneous information. The complexity of your illustration is not made clearer by the logo of your organisation and supporting organisations.



At the conclusion of your presentation it is hoped that the audience will take away the point of your presentation, the eloquence with which you delivered that and the finesse with which your media supported your story. Here is a perfect place to leave them with details of your provenance. Or your email address.

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