The visual motivation slide

On last week's tip I suggested that the first slide in a presentation could be the "set up" slide that establishes the overarching question. It is often useful to proceed the "set up" slide with a "visual motivation" slide. This is a simple and dramatic slide that dramatizes a problem and gets the audience ready for the "set up" slide. Below is a "visual motivation" slide I used a few years back when giving a presentation to a group of U.S. Army generals. The topic was the impact of Endangered Species Act restrictions on Army training lands. The graphic shows the training restricted zones at Fort Bragg, North Carolina caused by the need to protect endangered plants (green) and the red cockaded woodpecker (red).

This slide immediately let the audience know there was a big problem and got them interested in the overarching question which was presented on the next "set up" slide. That question was, "Can the Army responsibly manage endangered species with fewer restrictions?"