Many of you know that I’m a big fan of a little-noticed addition our President has made to the age-old tradition of the State of the Union address. The White House has recognized the visual, media-hungry, short attention span society we have become and has responded by adding slides to the President’s annual address of Congress and the nation.
No, there are no screens behind the President, and if you watch on TV, you won’t see the slides. But if you watch online in real-time or afterward, you can view the Enhanced State of the Union that includes composite video of the President and a sidebar of vertical visuals (slides) that hit key points of the President’s speech.
As usual, not every slide is perfect (really, they have got to lose the red text over blue backgrounds…), but I have noticed the visuals getting better each year. And what I noticed most of all this time was an increased use of imagery. The slides continue to become simpler and more effective for communicating their message in fractions of a second.
And if you just want to view the slides, they are on SlideShare.
