I give presentations regularly, and not all of them come with the luxury of generous preparation time. Still, I want them to be engaging—and, ideally, remembered by the participants after the last slide has passed.
Over time, I have learned that memorability is not primarily a function of polish or complexity. It is often about visual clarity and emotional resonance, even when preparation time is limited.
Visuals as cognitive anchors
When time is scarce, I rely heavily on visuals to do some of the explanatory work for me. A well-chosen image or icon can act as a cognitive anchor: it provides structure, creates associations, and helps the audience recall key points later.
This does not require elaborate illustrations or custom design work. What matters is that visuals are clear, consistent, and purposeful.
Icons for structure and orientation
For icons, I frequently use Flaticon. Flaticon hosts millions of icons in formats like SVG, PNG, EPS, and PSD. Many icons are available under a free license that allows commercial use with attribution; a premium subscription removes the need for attribution altogether.
Icons are particularly useful for:
- structuring slides
- highlighting recurring concepts
- providing visual orientation without distracting detail
Because icons are inherently abstract, they work well when time does not allow for visual fine-tuning. They support the message instead of competing with it.
Stock photos for emotional context
For images that need to convey mood or emotion, I often turn to Pexels. All photos and videos on Pexels can be downloaded and used for free in personal and commercial contexts, and attribution is not required (though appreciated).
High-quality stock photos can quickly add emotional context to a slide—something text alone struggles to achieve.
An alternative to Pexels is generating images using AI tools. While this can be useful in some situations, I notice increasing fatigue among audiences when it comes to AI-generated visuals. They are often recognizable, slightly uncanny, or emotionally flat.
A good stock photo, on the other hand, can still convey genuine human emotion—sometimes more effectively than a perfectly generated image.
Choosing speed over perfection
When preparation time is limited, the goal is not to create the perfect slide deck. It is to create one that supports the narrative, keeps the audience engaged, and leaves behind a few memorable images or ideas.
Using readily available icons and stock photos allows me to focus on the content and delivery, rather than on visual craftsmanship. The result is often better than expected—and certainly better than rushing through a text-heavy deck.
Why this works
People rarely remember slides verbatim. What they remember are associations: a visual, a metaphor, a moment where something clicked.
By combining simple icons for structure and carefully chosen images for emotion, presentations can remain effective even under time pressure. The slides do not need to impress—they need to support understanding and recall.
And for that, a small set of reliable visual resources goes a long way.