I've heard more than a few comments that the images projected on the screens behind speakers at the Republican National Convention were less than helpful. Garr Reynolds already wrote up a great piece about the imagery used during John McCain's acceptance speech, but I think one of the worst cases of disjointedness came during Senator Lindsey Graham's speech: We Are Winning.

Graham's Graves

Jon Stewart of The Daily Show was the first person I saw mention this, and I had to rush to the Republican Convention YouTube page to see if it was real. Sure enough, as Senator Graham was proclaiming, "We are on the road to victory," Arlington National Cemetary loomed over him as if taunting Republican critics not to take advantage of this moment.


"We are on the road to victory!"

As usual, I'm trying my best to check all political opinions at the door. That's not within the scope of these posts, but why this image? Doesn't the image of a cemetary – particularly a military cemetary – contradict his theme of impending victory in Iraq? I can't find any logic behind the choice of imagery outside what a Campaign staffer said about McCain's visuals: "The changing image-screen was linked to the American thematics of the speech..."

Purposeful Visuals

Background images do not exist merely for the sake of themselves. They are there to reinforce you. Better to use no images or graphics at all than use those that distract from (or worse yet, contradict) the message you are delivering. In the case of John McCain's speech, the images behind him simply distracted from his talk. They didn't help support his delivery, but they didn't hurt him either. In contrast, this image of Arlington National Cemetary undermines Sen. Graham's words.

Images in presentations need meaning. They need context and purpose. Usie imagery wisely, and your message is the stronger for it. Think about what your audience is seeing while they are hearing your words. Are your images purposeful or distracting?

Tags: graphics, atmosphere