Are Animated Presentations the Up-And-Coming Digital Trend for Business?

Never before have there been so many eyes on screens! With huge parts of the world stuck indoors, businesses have a seemingly captive audience and I don’t know about you but my inbox is full of ‘you're invited to a webinar’ and ‘join us for a virtual chat’. Having attended many of these, I can't help but think that while they're really interesting, surely there is more that can be done with the content - but what’s the other option? Two words - Animated. Presentation.

What is an animated presentation? 

When I say animated presentation, I don’t mean basic PowerPoint animations such as their infamous fade transition. No. I mean presentations that make your brand look a million bucks. With slick motion graphics, animated elements and sound design, these PowerPoint presentations not only stand out from the crowd but make your brand memorable to your target audience.

So what’s wrong with good ol’ PowerPoint? 

We’ve all been there. Sitting in a stuffy room, trying to stay focused on a pitch, product explanation, sales forecast etc. and have had to suffer through a ‘death by PowerPoint’ scenario. Most people just don’t have the time to put into making their presentations visually effective and often just show text and a couple of pie charts. A study conducted at the University of New South Wales in 2007 by John Sweller found that showing audiences the same words that are being spoken reduces, rather than increases, audience comprehension. In other words, when you throw up bullet points and then run through them, you're guaranteeing that no one will remember what you’re talking about. Don’t worry, it’s not because you're boring. People just can't read and listen at the same time.

But it's 2020... PowerPoint came out 33 years ago so we should be way past sending our audience to sleep with uninspiring slides and mediocre imagery that doesn’t portray our business in the light we would like. We need to start putting our best foot forward when it comes to presenting our information and, more importantly, our brand. 

What are the benefits of using animated presentations? 

If the aim of a presentation is to make your brand memorable or provide valuable information to either internal or external clients then presentations have to leave a lasting impression on your audience. It's a well-known fact that images are more engaging than text. 90% of information that is transmitted to the brain is visual and we process visuals 60,000x faster than text, and these stay in our long-term memory. 

Visuals in motion, however, are even better. Studies have shown that viewers retain 95% of a video’s message compared to just 10% when reading text. So, it’s a no brainer really. Including motion graphics in your presentation will increase the amount your audience retains and will leave a positive, lasting impression of your brand, showing that your company is not just the same as the rest out there.

How are they used in business?

Professionally animated PowerPoints are still in that sweet spot of being used by industry leaders and not being particularly mainstream in the business sphere. This means that the business people who are using them not only stand out from the crowd but they are perceived as the best in their field.

This could not be more applicable than right now. With WFH developing into our new ‘norm’, more and more people are tuning to webinars, virtual meetings and live events in order to make the transition into the digital business world. With lack of face-to-face interaction, businesses are now using online presentations for events such as webinars, conferences, product launches, sales pitches and showcases, many of which are essential for keeping their business afloat. 

From huge projection mapped shows, to 3D product previews, animated presentations run more like a slick interactive video. Whether you want something completely custom designed and animated, a semi-changeable piece with editable text, or just an animated template we can help power up your presentations. Check them out here.

Christine MacKay is CEO / producer at Salamandra