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Improve your visual media and slides

As part of your studies, you might sometimes be asked to complete an assessment task with a visual component. You might need to create a social media post, or summarise your research on a poster, or incorporate diagrams and figures into a digital presentation. Because these assessment tasks use different skills from those used in writing, this guide is here to help you enhance the visual components of your work.

What is the purpose of visual media?

Visual media is used to communicate complex information to an audience in a short timeframe. The goal of the communication might be to increase audience knowledge, to make a convincing argument, to cause an emotional response, or to prompt audiences into action. Having a goal is a key component of visual media.

How can you improve your visual media?

You can think about making improvements to your visual media and slides by focusing on strategic questions, such as:

What are you trying to communicate?
Who are you trying to reach?
What tools do you have available to create your visual media?

You can also focus on practical elements, such as:

The composition of the work, including positioning, emphasis on key elements, and a logical ordering and progression of ideas (reading pathway);
The language, and style of any text you use;
The combination of different hues, shades, and intensities;
The inclusion of visual objects such as images, figures, and charts.

Essential tips for better visual media and slides View

Strategic elements of visual media

When designing visual media and slides, each composition should have a clear goal for your audience.
The goal that you set for each composition should be constructed as something that you want your audience to achieve. When articulating your goal, expect to use verbs describing actions or changes: “My audience will understand the relationship between air temperature and atmospheric carbon dioxide;” “my audience will agree with my choice of investment options;” “my audience will sign up to my mailing list.” If you’re delivering a slideshow presentation with multiple slides, these goals can form your outline and ensure that you are creating a robust and persuasive argument. It’s most effective to keep individual goals short!
Once you’ve chosen your goal, make sure that all parts of your design help the audience to achieve it. Choose images that don’t present unnecessary or unclear information. Repeat key words and phrases to build familiarity, and use colours or fonts to amplify connections.
It can be tempting when creating visual media to make choices according to your personal preferences. However, it is important to recognise that your audience may not share those preferences, and that you may lose their attention by not considering their needs.
When thinking about your audience, you should consider the following questions:
- How much knowledge will my audience already have about my subject?
- How much time will my audience spend looking at my visual media?
- What vocabulary, phrases, or metaphors am I assuming my audience will understand, and is that assumption reasonable?
If you aren’t able to provide additional information for your visual media - for example, a poster displayed when you aren’t present - then it needs to be self-explanatory. Figures need to be captioned or annotated, references need to be clear, and conclusions or messages should be visually obvious and stated in direct language. Think about the format of your visual media as well:
- How big will my media be when seen by my audience? Will it be a phone screen, a bus advertisement, a classroom presentation, or something else?
- How long will my audience be able to look at my media? Will it be a duration of seconds, or several minutes?
- Will I be present to interact with my audience and address any confusion?
If your audience will see your media on a large screen, with a lot of time to look at it and with you available to correct any confusion, then you can make your message quite complex. Alternatively, if your audience will see your media on a phone screen for a few seconds while completing other activities, then your message should be very simple to understand.
Professional graphic design software is often expensive and complex to use. However, you can create a high-quality visual resource using just the programs available to you through Monash University.
Document creation programs will allow you to make slides, posters, leaflets, and digital media. Use these links to visit tutorials on using:
There are some free online visual design programs available. Free versions typically use pre-designed templates rather than a blank document, which will allow you to work quickly but might limit your creativity. Here are some examples:
As most programs will have overlapping functions, we recommend that you choose a program you are likely to use more than once and rely on it, rather than moving between programs and platforms.

	Each design choice should amplify your message By deciding exactly what you want your audience to learn, you gain a simple and effective way to reflect on your design. For each choice of colour, layout, or language, you can now ask yourself: does this make it easier to understand my message? Or will this be a distraction?
	Think about your audience first How will they interact with your content? How much time will they have, and will their attention be fully available? Thinking about your content from your audience’s perspective can help you to clarify your intended meaning.
	Be inclusive By accommodating impairments, and avoiding niche cultural references or slang, you can maximise the chance that your broader audience will find it easier to understand what you’re telling them.
	Test your product Before you submit your visual media, or deliver your presentation, get someone to review it. Ask them to repeat back to you what they learned from your media - this will tell you if they learned what you intended!

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