“Ripe. Oaky. Spicy.” They’re the kind of words that were used to describe white wine in a famous French experiment. That’s odd, because they’re the kind of words typically associated with Red wines. How did French oenophiles get it so wrong? had someone paid off the tasters? In this case, it wasn’t the wine connoisseurs that had been nobbled, it was the wine. Researchers had dyed white wines red with a flavorless die. The sight of the wine influenced it’s taste. Or rather, the cognoscenti’s perception of taste.

It’s not surprising that we’re heavily influenced by what we see, and that small things can affect us in big ways. This applies to our efforts to persuade. Presenting is as much about visual communication as verbal communication. The rule of thirds is a simple guide to help you clean up your act, and your slides.

If you’ve taken a basic design or…