Breaking News Siren Slide

This is the siren emoji. Which is, the internet tells me, aka “Police Cars Revolving Light”. It’s also what returns top if you search ‘klaxon emoji’.

I’ve seen it used liberally by tweeters. Desperate to give their mini ‘breaking news’ style broadcast extra heft. Used across the spectrum from the most casual of user to mainstream media account.

It made me wonder, can emojis ever play a role in a sales presentation?

The short answer is probably, ‘no’. Yet the longer response possibly allows for a ‘maybe’…

First up, let’s consider who on earth still uses bullets on slides?

They are most definitely not in vogue for the modern-day pro.

Yet there are times when a few words may warrant being spread across a screen.

The current go-to treatment is for the words and phrases to stand alone. Shorn of any tiny circle (or goodness knows, an even worse glyph) to their left.

Let’s say you have a trio of short phrases. Listed together in the traditional way. Three single-line rows. Whether left- or centre-justified, they fill your screen.

Imagine one of them is a stand-out. A message of particular importance. Perhaps even, a main take-away. Something to be repeated throughout. Even maybe in time-honoured triplicate to better stick.

Then how would you highlight such?

Use a different font colour for it? Have it in reverse; in a box where the background is the other pair’s text colour with its own font in the colour of the slide background?

Encircle it in some way? Or underline? Put a big arrow pointing towards it? Make it sparkle or flash using (deep breath…) animation?

As you may have seen before, I lean towards minimalist design. So none of the above may suit my everyday needs.

Yet can our sales bucket come up over-flowing from this emoji well?

How about you simply place a single emoji to the left of your chosen bullet-line?

If it were a piece of breaking news, I reckon the siren may well work. I can imagine other temptations. The fire, 100, medal, cherries, memo, dizzy stars, or even red heart spring instantly to mind. Maintaining a professional air whilst getting your point across that this singled out message is the punch. Or should I have written rather…

There is a theory among digital marketeers that emojis boost engagement. Can this cover both retail and b2b?

As long as your chosen one is discreet enough, aware of any – ahem – more adult double-meanings (careful, cherry!), and doesn’t veer down the screen-fixated teen route, I think it could work well.

You daredn’t go all clipart (ask someone with grey hair if you don’t know the horror), but you could also have such as the siren as a huge, standalone image on a slide with a simple written message. Stating ‘ breaking news’ as you deliver your talk.