In the association space, slideshow presentations are as ubiquitous as air. But your handy PowerPoint slides may be holding you back from getting your message across.

We have all heard that pictures are worth a thousand words, but public speaking expert Kindra Hall says that they could be a serious distraction when it comes to storytelling. “If you want to deliver an excellent speech, great storytelling is a must—and adding pictures to the slides to accompany the story is a critical mistake,” she writes in a recent post for Inc.

Hall contends that the images you add prevent the audience from using their imagination to create their own visuals. Getting the audience to imagine their own images while hearing your words “is how your message sticks and makes your presentations memorable,” writes Hall. “And it’s this unique connection that is violated when you give them visual images instead of letting the audience create their own.”

Hall recommends relying on words and not images to get your point across. But if you simply must have visual representation, stick to something abstract.

Bench Building

Help future leaders understand the responsibilities of board members & skills necessary for the job #assnchat https://t.co/LlhcsMQNEh

— Association Headquarters (@association_hq) October 31, 2017

Great board members are incredibly valuable to associations, but they can be difficult to find.

To improve your chances of nabbing excellent new leaders, make sure that your job description is direct and thorough. “Prospective board members are more likely to serve if they have a clear picture of what they are signing up for,” Kristy Cohen writes in a new post for Association Headquarters.

Cohen also makes suggestions for providing leadership-development resources and cultivating year-round relationships.

Other Links of Note

Nonprofits face a lot of challenges. The NonProfit Times reports on a new study that shows many of them struggle with leadership and management issues.

A new generation of wealthy individuals are changing the face of philanthropy. Stanford Social Innovation Review reveals how they’re doing it.

Are you looking to build a community? Meeting designer and facilitator Adrian Segar shares tools for creating communities of practice.

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