One other valuable thing to include in almost any kind of visualization is a clear legend. You would be surprised how often this is forgotten!

And finally, I wanted to mention that if there is a geospatial component to your topic, mapping the area or showing a distribution based on location can be hugely valuable. Here’s a link to a great article on how a map played a major role in a federal jury’s decision: The Revolution Will Be Mapped.

I hope these suggestions are helpful!