Presentation Is Everything

I am always amazed about chefs who create 3 star dishes. The way they take only a few ingredients and make it look like a work of art is so inspiring! They take 3 kinds of vegetable, a little bit of sauce and… voila, edible art is created.

When you watch amateur chefs who try to do this, the result looks strange, busy or even unorganized perhaps. TV shows where these aspiring chefs show their dishes is very beneficial. You know what the biggest mistakes are they make (according to the people who judge them)?

1. The presentation is too busy. They introduce a lot of noise

2. Their choice of food is not right. The flavors are too overwhelming or just don’t complement each other.

Now before you go on and have a little snack, I want to ask you something.

What do you assume people think of your mindmaps and visual maps?

Are they filled with too much noise?

Is the content perhaps too overwhelming or harmful to the message?

I see this happen a lot with people who mindmap. They want to put all the information they’ve got into one overview. This just doesn’t work! Even if you are using the map for your own planning or inspiration!

Simplicity is key in this.

Only use a couple of ingredients, keep it simple and make sure the maps you create from now on help you move forward.

How you can do this right now is easy. Take a look at your own mindmap and ask yourself these two important questions.

Does it fit on one screen or normal sheet of paper?
The best overviews are created on just one sheet of paper. Should you have a bigger map, you better split the map up into multiple parts plus one showing you the big picture/overview.

Do you feel overwhelmed when you see the map?
Solve this by removing the noise from your map. I bet there is lots of information which is double or not needed in your map.

Here are a number of wonderful benefits of keeping your map simple.

When you are used to working this way, you will do this not just in your maps. Your life will be clearer. You will communicate better. It will take far less time than before to explain concepts. The reason for this is because you create a good presentation of information.

Enjoy your next meal and your next visual map.

Tags: improve, mindmap, presentation, simplicity