6 ways to enhance your architectural presentations

Be prepared. Be passionate. Be precise. There’s a lot to think about when presenting an architectural project to a client.

That might be because visuals only tell half the story. You also need to walk the client through design concepts and essentially create the best show-and-tell ever.

Getting it wrong can be costly, because no matter how brilliant your design, it could be considered mediocre unless it’s presented well.

While presenting an architectural project is as important as designing it, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. There are, however, plenty of tips to help you get it right.

Let’s take a look at how you can create an architectural presentation that will impress and persuade your audience.

1. Know your stuff

When it comes to client presentations, there’s no such thing as being too prepared. If you’re organised during your presentation, you’re demonstrating how the project will be managed. You want the presentation to be effortless, creating a clear impact on the audience. As well as knowing the design inside out, you also need to be prepared to answer questions on the product, pricing and lead times.

2. Think about your audience

If a presentation is to be a success, it needs to hit home with the audience. What will fascinate some people may bore others. In fact, the most important part of any presentation isn’t what you say, but who you say it to. Think about your audience’s goals and what features are most important to them and use that to craft your content.

3. Keep it short

An architectural presentation needs to convey some pretty large-scale design concepts, so it can’t be too short and sweet. However, keeping the presentation concise and focusing on the key concepts are really important. Roughly speaking, a presentation should last around 20 minutes, with time for questions and discussion after.

4. Avoid jargon

Unless you’re presenting to a room full of fellow architects, it’s best to avoid jargon. Using specialist terms is not going to make you appear more professional or knowledgeable, it’s only going to leave the audience feeling confused. And if your audience doesn’t know what you’re talking about, you’re going to lose them. So, don’t get too technical and remember, you don’t need to include every detail.

5. Include plenty of visuals

Too many words and too few images is an easy mistake to make when presenting. Most of your content needs to be conveyed through illustrations and images. Colour schemes and fonts can also be used to further clarify and complement. CGI helps bring the unbuilt environment to life. That means less time spent building scale models to be photographed, and more time perfecting the presentation.

6. Create a narrative

It’s all very well explaining the features, functions and materials of a design, but what the client really wants to know is how people will experience the space. Taking the audience on a 360° tour allows you to explain what visitors will see, the feeling they will get, and how they will navigate their way around. And it could just win you the pitch.

Service Graphics: We talk your language

Architecture has many moving parts – and so will your presentation. That’s why it makes sense to work with a team that can help you with everything from creative design to printing to digital archiving.

At Service Graphics, we’ve been immersed in the world of architecture for more than 100 years. Get in touch to find out how we can help make your vision – and your presentation – come to life.