use a navigation scheme
In the following post, I share one of my secrets for both planning and delivering a powerful presentation—the navigation scheme. Before I go into detail on exactly what this is and how you can use one to take your communications to the next level, I invite you to see one in action: join our Oct 25th free mini-workshop. It will be an engaging virtual hour, where I’ll take you through my process of turning disparate data into great graphs and weaving them into a compelling narrative to drive understanding and action. I structure it using the same kind of navigation scheme that you’ll read about in this post. Before you do that, take a moment to register below for the upcoming session. See you there!
Like the table of contents in a book, a navigation scheme sets the structure of a presentation for the audience so they know what to expect and in what general order. Presentation creators often overlook this basic and helpful step. When you are creating a communication, you know it well, so it’s easy to jump straight in. However, your audience is never as close to your work as you are. Letting them know the general plan up front helps set their expectations in useful ways. As an added benefit, it also helps you—the presenter—stay on track both as you create and deliver the content.
In addition to setting the stage for what’s coming, a navigation scheme employed well will help orient the audience in the midst of content. When making use of one, I advocate introducing it somewhere close to the beginning. Then revisit it as you transition from one section or topic to the next. In this manner, you can make it clear to your audience where you are presently in the presentation as it relates to both where you’ve been and where you’re going.
Let’s get more concrete. Presume, for example, that you’re preparing to present the results of a supplier analysis you’ve undertaken. You’ve plotted your story arc and realized that you can divide your content into five sections. You can use a simple slide with numbers and text to introduce these topics. See below.
After introducing this path at the onset, you would talk through the details of section one, using the various slides you will have built to assist you. Then you would repeat this slide, with some minor formatting adjustments to draw attention to section two.
You’d follow a similar process to transition from each section to the next as you progress through your content.
The specific look and feel of your navigation scheme will vary by situation. For a business presentation, the slide you use as your navigation scheme might be simple numbers or text, as we’ve just seen. For a conference presentation, you likely have more freedom to be creative, perhaps integrating images or other visual stimuli. For example, in a session I presented at the Tableau Conference in 2019 (low-tech superpowers for data storytelling), I kicked things off with a story about my kids that was relevant to what I intended to cover. I used images of them on a slide to introduce three lessons, then revisited this slide when I transitioned from each lesson to the next. The following image shows the navigation scheme that I introduced after my story to set up the three sections.
After introducing the lessons briefly, I focused attention visually on the first one—Super Writer—to transition into the details.
After the slides in this first lesson, I repeated the slide, this time with attention drawn to the middle panel introducing the second lesson to be learned from the Curious Cat. Then I did that again to move into the final section. I repeated it a final time at the end of my presentation (in full color) as I recapped the primary lessons we had covered.
Whether simple or more creative, I recommend making your navigation scheme aesthetically distinct from the body of your communication. This acts as a visual cue to your audience (and you) that something is changing.
In addition to the structure it brings for both creating and consuming your materials, the navigation scheme also works as an excellent buffer. If you have a set duration you’re aiming for (for example, the 45-minute time slot I had at the Tableau Conference in the previous example), the navigation scheme will help you hit it. If you’re running ahead, you can take your time recapping the main points covered or even pause to take questions or frame discussion in the transitioning from the given section into the next. If you’re running behind on time, you can show the transition slide briefly to remind people what you’ve covered and where you’re going, moving swiftly into the rest of the content. This is a trick I use to stay exactly on time every time I present.
Consider when you* might benefit by using a navigation scheme in your visual communications. Don’t forget to tune in on October 25th at 11AM ET to see another example in action—and learn some simple, practical tips to transform graphs from good to great and integrate data into a stellar story. See you then!
*The preceding article was excerpted from my book storytelling with you: plan, create, and deliver a stellar presentation (Chapter 5). Check it out for additional strategies and examples to improve your communications.
