The importance of structure first

Last week I was consulting with a client who was developing a presentation that will be put online to attract potential employees to their organization. Originally, they had asked me to help with the design and construction of the slides. But as we started to talk, it was obvious that they did not have a clear structure to their message, and this was inhibiting our ability to move forward with the slides.

So I took out a pad of paper and we stepped back and talked about what the call to action was and what reasons led to the conclusion that someone should take this action. Once we were clear on the structure, we could move forward with the slides. My client commented that it was so refreshing to find someone who understood what they were trying to do in their business and could help think through the process instead of just focus on the graphics.

In my consulting work, I often pass on requests for simply making a set of slides look better to other designers . It's not that I can't do it, but my expertise is in crafting the right message and creating slides that work to support that message. If a potential client does not have the time or desire to look at the message, I am happy to refer them to others. And, as happened twice in the last two weeks, the potential client thanks me for the referral and says that when they do have the time for my services, they will be calling me.