January 2009

Communicating With Color

by Speaking Tips | January 19, 2004

Color can be a powerful tool for enhancing your presentations. It can help shape what an audience sees, feels and remembers, and provides presenters with an additional method for communicating ideas and conveying meaning. Research confirms that color has a strong impact on basic learning behaviors.

Color is convenient and inexpensive to use whether you are in a high or low tech venue. Yet, many people feel insecure about working with colors. What we often fail to appreciate is that we each have a lifetime of experience which began with baby toys and continues through life in nature, art, the media, clothes and furnishings.

Places where you can communicate with color in your presentations and training include:

Brochures and announcements
Programs and agendas
Maps and diagrams
Content metaphors
Handouts, job aids and instructional materials
Visuals aids
Physical environment
Evaluation and feedback instruments
Name tags and name tents
Garments the presenter/trainer wears

Objectives you can realize with color in the above places include:

Get attention
Emphasize a point or point of view
Highlight one item in a group
Identify specific features of equipment such as the "on" switch
Differentiate variables in a graph or chart
Signal the transition to a new topic
Prioritize information or data
Show direction
Indicate sequence of operations
Group categories of activities
Add impact and clarity to drawings
Control where the eye goes first and whether it moves vertically or horizontally
Identify recurring themes
Replicate reality
Illustrate structure, relationships and patterns
Map routes and destinations
Make large collections of data easier to use
Speed the sorting of information
Help learners recall key information
Code information by use
Make information in manuals, instruction sheets and job aids easier to find
Create or change a mood
Help group and re-group the audience for interactive exercises
Energize the physical space
Give yourself a jolt of energy

Communicating With Color

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