People are drawn to things projected on a screen. And because of that, TV screens or large monitors are a great way to showcase dashboards, internal announcements, or other important information in the workplace. Using technology in your facility this way can help ensure that everyone is provided with the most important information in a timely manner, keeping things fresh and front of mind. A reliable way to harness the captivating power of a display in your facility is to use it for digital presentations composed of multiple slides centered around a common theme.
Once you grab someone’s attention, you have an excellent opportunity to deliver an important message. But keep in mind, everyone encountering your TV screen presentation will be moving at their own pace, in their own time. By designing presentations specifically meant to play on a loop, your message can reach employees whenever they pass by the screen—clocking in or out for a shift, returning from a break, or moving between departments. It’s a consistent and potent form of communication that’s proven effective at engaging employees and making them feel like they’re part of the organization.
From a safety standpoint, this is also a great way to reinforce training by displaying the message in a way that’s both clearly communicated and aesthetically pleasing. And while it might seem simple to visualize, once PowerPoint is booted up and the cursor is blinking on a blank slide, many people find the actual making of a presentation that presents itself (without a presenter to explain it) to be difficult and time-consuming. Thankfully, once you get the hang of the basics, all you need to worry about is having something to say.
The key with digital presentations is to think about how they will be received by your audience, and then strike a balance between familiar concepts and new ideas and information. Here are a few tips that will help you design powerful slideshows that inform, educate and engage the folks in your facility.
Break down the text
Determining what to include in a presentation can be hard, and it’s even harder when that presentation is purely visual. Unlike conference sessions, digital display features in your facility don’t have an audio component. If you want to educate people watching your presentation, it can be tempting to overcompensate for the lack of narration by including a lot of text to share as much information as possible. But that would be a mistake—text is only effective if people are willing to read it.
Too much information on one slide can overwhelm the person viewing it, disengaging them so that they skim the words or ignore the text entirely. That’s counterproductive. The slides in your presentation need to captivate the audience and reel them in to watch the whole thing. The trick is to break down each line of text into keywords or key messages. Well-crafted presentations will take the necessary words and create a visual element to help demonstrate the point. Be sparing with your slide composition and you’ll keep viewers focused.
At first, this might feel restrictive, but remember, there’s no limit to the number of slides you can include in a digital display presentation. Feel free to have multiple slides per message, grouping numerous points under an overarching topic. Stats and quotes are great attention grabbers—try displaying a relevant quote on one slide, then expanding it on the next two or three with brief lines of text and accompanying images. Include an appropriate stat, perhaps with an accompanying graph or chart to really help the information in your slide sequence sink in.
Use headlines on your slides
It may seem redundant but trust us, including headlines on your digital display slides is a fantastic way to get your audience to read the accompanying text. Make sure the headline catches the reader’s eye and does its job delivering key information. The headline needs to describe exactly what each slide is about directly and succinctly. If your slide is only an image, the headline will provide the necessary context to deliver the overall message and help it fit in with the rest of the presentation.
Headlines can also serve as a throughline between slides, indicating that the content of the display is related to what was on the previous screen. In situations where multiple slides cover the same topic, as we discussed in the above section, viewers will look at the headline first in order to know whether the information on the screen is a continuation of what they were just reading or if they need to switch mental gears to process the new topic.
No two minds process information the same way, so having a clear headline on the screen can help even passersby digest what they’re seeing. If something is familiar to a person, they’ll likely pay more attention to that message because it’s easier to understand. Knowledge related to topics an audience is already familiar with tends to stick better and that familiarity can increase retention by connecting new information or new context to existing knowledge.
Paint a picture
Unless your presentation is for an art gallery, you probably don’t want to literally paint a picture for your digital display presentation. However, it’s important to use images to set the scene, keep your viewers’ attention and better communicate your message. After all, that message is on TV—a technology designed to communicate with pictures and video.
The best images to use for your display presentations are ones taken within your facility, ideally focusing on staff working safely, working together or celebrating success. Seeing people from other functional areas will cause people passing by to stop and find out why that image is on the screen. Plus, they’ll see an example of the great culture you have and give them a reason to high-five a colleague the next time they see them. That said, try not to use images with too much going on in the photo. Just like with your text, you want viewers to understand what they are seeing on the screen within a moment’s glance. By that same token, avoid using too many photos on the same slide. If a single slide is too busy, you risk overwhelming your audience and losing their attention.
If photos within your facility aren’t an option, the next best thing is to get photos from outside your facility by asking employees to submit photos of them working safely at home or photos showing the reason why they work safely at work (usually their family). But for cases where these types of photos aren’t applicable or available, you can use stock images or generative AI to demonstrate your point. But take care when selecting visual aids. Photos need a high enough resolution for the digital display you’re using while not so large that it bogs down your presentation so that it isn’t transitioning smoothly. Low-resolution images that are blurry, badly resized or low-quality are a quick way to repel precious eyeballs. And pay attention to the finer details of the pictures you use—certain things can undercut the message if you’re not careful. In a safety presentation, depicting workers who aren’t wearing the correct PPE can hurt your credibility when it comes time to enforce the rules. And this can also be detrimental if an image is obviously a stock photo—with the telltale awkward poses, fake smiles, and overdone emotions—or in the case of AI, maybe an extra finger or two. Humor can be a helpful communication tool when used purposefully, but the last thing you want when sharing a safety presentation is giving the audience something unrelated to laugh about. Taking the time to really consider your image use always pays off in audience retention and engagement. When viewers see you demonstrating care by not taking shortcuts with the presentation, hopefully, it will inspire them to not take shortcuts with safety too.
Of course, your digital display’s visual options aren’t limited to photos. Depending on the information you are trying to deliver, consider alternate methods of displaying the information like graphs, charts and infographics. Humans are visual creatures and images tend to last in our long-term memory banks. The brain can process an image much faster than it can process words. And don’t forget video clips, which are another great way to convey complex information visually. Even though you likely won’t be able to use audio, short clips can sometimes demonstrate processes or actions more effectively than descriptions or diagrams. And subtitles could be displayed for short instances of dialogue.
Include a call to action
Information for safety awareness’s sake is great, but it’s even better if you know how to apply it. At the end of your presentation, scrolling throughout, or at the end of each section be sure to list resources and next steps for viewers. If your presentation is on poison safety, for instance, the poison control hotline number could be displayed throughout while a strong finale would be to post a picture of the poison control contact sticker you have dispersed throughout your facility. That way, viewers have a fresh reminder of what to look for in a poison-related emergency and they have a practical reason to retain the information they just acquired from your slides. Consistency and repetition are keys to success with these types of presentations.
In addition to a satisfying sense of closure, a clear call to action gives the presentation a purpose. If an employee watched the entire presentation, they now know what to do with the information. What’s more, some social calls to action will encourage engagement and positive communication among colleagues. Advertise group activities and see them spread by word of mouth: “Hey, did you sign up for the company softball tournament for next Saturday?”
If you hear employees talking about your display, you know you’ve nailed it. Conversations sparked from a digital presentation are a surefire sign of their success.
Now that you have the tools to make a display that will get your workplace talking, make sure your display screen is in an ideal location. If your target audience is your employees, the TV in the lobby is not likely an ideal place to display information geared toward them. Consider putting the display in an area where they can stop safely like the breakroom, staff area or large hallway that is sure to have employee traffic. Catch their attention, keep them informed, and see the people you work with engage even more thoroughly with the safety culture you’re building.