From generic to genuine

How to become memorable

Science & Tech • Business • Writing

Reducing cognitive friction in business presentations

November 04, 2024

I am noticing that businesses often promise their customers personalized services as a means of differentiation. We offer “tailored solutions,” “customized experiences,” or we “focus on what matters most to you”…. they typically say. Yet, these promises are packaged in standardized presentations filled with generic stock photos. You must have seen slides like the one below many times: Images of generic meetings, people at laptops, or happy people looking at phones. Despite the claim of a “tailored approach,” the content feels like it could belong to any brand.

This conflict between the promise of personalization and templatized design creates cognitive friction for the viewer, who unconsciously senses a disconnect between the message of uniqueness and the impersonal images they’re seeing. Cognitive friction occurs when an audience encounters content that feels out of sync with the promised message. The brain, always searching for coherence, struggles to reconcile this gap, making the message less memorable and even eroding trust.

There are several ways to fix this, but here are three. Use images and compositions that help your audience envision:

The experience they will have while working with you
The process they will complete to achieve business results and/or
Outcomes they are seeking

The following slides are from a sales presentation we designed for a platform used in predictive and prescriptive analytics. Each slide exemplifies one of the guidelines above.

Visualizing experiences

Using this slide, the vendor visualizes a proposed journey and explains to his customers how they can oscillate between action and insight by using various software capabilities. The screenshots are from the real application; they are not stock photos.

Visualizing process

These segments are displayed gradually (note how some are numbered) to explain how the process of working with the vendor and the software will unfold. This step-by-step breakdown gives a concrete sense of how collaboration happens in real life.

Visualizing outcomes

This slide is presented multiple times to remind customers why this vendor’s solution is useful. Displaying expected results reinforces the value that a solution can bring.

Throughout these examples, notice the absence of overly staged smiles and generic stock photos—the kind that make presentations feel interchangeable, standard, and impersonal.

By anchoring your message in authentic experiences, clear processes, and real outcomes, you’re aligning your content with the brain’s natural drive for coherence. This approach reduces cognitive friction and reinforces the trust you’ve promised through personalization. The result? A presentation that feels unique, credible, and memorable—one that embodies the tailored experience you’ve promised.

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Carmen Simon@carmensimon

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So, how can you use this in your own content, even if you’re not a designer?

Use gentle transitions: Instead of sharp cuts or rapid slides, try slow fades. They subtly signal the brain to slow down, encouraging a deeper mental pause.
Create a few minimalist moments: Include a slide with just one word or a blank pause with a simple background. This "mental whitespace" gives viewers time to digest what came before, making it effective even in tech-heavy presentations (as long as it's kept to a minimum).
Slow down the summary: Consider using a reflective tone to signal a shift from information delivery to introspection. This change in pace cues your audience that it’s time to absorb and reflect on what they’ve learned, reinforcing their memory of the content as they mentally summarize it themselves.

Sometimes, the mind finds depth not in speed but in the silent pull of what might come next.

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Carmen Simon@carmensimon

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