Response: Module 25

            Module 25 focuses on using visuals effectively and ethically. The text suggests using visuals when planning and drafting our oral presentations or documents, because they can help us find data relationships and see if our information is complete. For the final presentation or document, visuals are useful because they emphasize main points that we want the audience to remember. It is very important to double check our information and make sure it comes from a reliable source.

            According to the text “every visual should tell a story,” and that story can be expressed in a sentence. We can use that sentence as the visual’s title. For instance, it is more effective to use the title “Growth Was Greatest in the South” than “U.S. Sales, 1999-2005.”  It is essential to make sure the information we have supports the story we want to tell.

            Every visual must have:

·         A title

·         A clear indication of what the data are

·         Clearly labeled units, axes, symbols, and so forth

·         The source of the data and the visual

            I find interesting the information about tables, pie charts, and bar charts. It is better to use tables when we want the audience to remember specific numbers. Bar charts are more effective than pie charts because people judge position and length more accurately than area.

            I find useful the following advices: simplify the paper visuals for presentations, do not mislead the audience by using distorted visual shapes, and know where each visual is in case someone asks about it during the questioning session.