Finishing your portfolio requires countless hours of choosing just the right way to present your selections. As a designer, you meticulously research and select the best case, the best spray glue, the best ringed binder. But how much time have you invested in practicing how you speak about your work during your portfolio reviews?
A strong portfolio presentation is a complete package of work samples, case, binder and verbal presentation. Reviewing your portfolio in a school setting is one thing. Reviewing your portfolio with a prospective employer is very different. Practicing what to say and how to say it is a sure-fire way to increase your job offers in the market.
Explain Each Piece
During a portfolio review, your job is to engage the reviewer by briefly, but clearly, explaining your strategies from color scheme to the significance of your sans-serif font choice. Clearly articulating the choices behind your work provides the reviewer with an understanding of your creative and communication abilities.
A good way to practice is to present your portfolio to a friend, teacher, or parent in a quiet room with absolutely no distractions. Experience your voice being the only noise in the room and the feeling of being the center of attention as you turn each page and speak about each piece. With each portfolio piece explain the following things:
Explaining your involvement in a team will relay that you work well in both team and solo environments.
Get right to the point when speaking about your work. The industry professionals who look at your portfolio will glean much of what went into the work upon turning the page. Use this opportunity to make each project distinctive.
Take Your Best Shot
You only get one shot to promote yourself and that's during your portfolio review with your future boss. During that review, you have the absolute luxury of speaking to a captive audience. How you speak about your work is a direct reflection on your confidence in your skills and talents. Showing confidence and explaining your role with each piece in your portfolio will lend professionalism and polish to each portfolio review you're lucky enough to land. Displaying the right amount of confidence also separates you from your competition.
As the originator of your work, you will inevitably find mistakes no one else will notice. Remain focused on the positive during your portfolio presentation. Pointing out mistakes shifts attention to the negative and takes up precious time that you could better use to promote your work instead of bashing it!
A strong portfolio can be assembled digitally or by hand, but a winning portfolio is a complete package of well-conceived and rendered projects, combined with a confident, thoughtful presentation.
Sharon Potsch is a Talent Rep with Artisan, one of the largest creative staffing agencies in the U.S.. She's also a portfolio advisor, available to meet advertising and design students by appointment.
