Presentation Skills Instructor: Toby Daniel

Audio-visual Aids
Audio-visual aids are used to enhance the presentation. They can be handouts, photos,
whiteboard, flip chart, OHT, powerpoint slide show, microphone, music. Be sure to
focus your preparation on the speech more than the audio-visual aids.
Select and Use Visual Aids Effectively
Because we live in a time when communication is visual and verbal, visual aids that
reinforce your meaning can enhance any oral presentation. Research has shown that oral
presentations that use visuals are more persuasive, more interesting, more credible, and
more professional--i.e., more effective--than presentations without such aids. articularly
if your presentation is long--!" minutes or more--visual aids can help your audience
follow your ideas easily and with fewer lapses in attention.
The benefits of using visual aids include#
They help your audience understand your ideas. $ou can use visual aids to
announce each main point as you begin discussion of that point. $ou can also use
visual aids to accentuate and illuminate important ideas. However, the message
that the visual carries should be immediately apparent. %f audience members have
to study the visual to interpret its meaning, they will not be listening to you.
They help the audience follow your argument, your &train& of thought. %n both oral
and written presentations, readers'listeners must perceive the pattern of
organi(ation to comprehend effectively. )ven if you don*t use formal visual aids,
Presentation Skills Instructor: Toby Daniel
you may want to write the outline for the main body of your presentation on a
board or use a transparency to let your audience see your plan and trace your
movement from one section of your presentation to another. . owerpoint is an
effective tool for developing and presenting outlines to aid listeners
They ma+e your presentation more memorable and thus increase the chances that
what you said will be remembered.
Guidelines for using visual aids:
,any of the guidelines for using visual aids in oral presentations mirror those for written
documents# they need to fit the needs of the audience- they must be simple- they must be
clear and easy to understand.
How many visual aids should I use?
.ome +inds of oral presentations will re/uire one +ind of visual aid- presentations
conveying comple0 information may re/uire several +inds of visual aids.
What type of visual aids should I use?
$ou can use drawings, graphs, props and ob1ects, a blac+board with an outline, charts,
demonstrations, pictures, statistics, cartoons, photographs, maps, etc. 2se anything that
will help people .)) what you ,)A34
How do I design effective visual aids?
Because your visual aids will be seen while the audience is listening to you, you will need
to be sure that all visuals are as simple as possible and as easy to read#
Avoid too much information on any single visual.
2se boldface type in a font si(e that can be easily read.
2se sans serif type because if produces a sharper image for slides and
transparencies.
5imit the fonts you use to two per visual.
Avoid all caps.
2se a type--si(e and font--that contrasts distinctly with the bac+ground.
Avoid visuals that use too many colors--more than four on any one aid.
%f you are preparing slides or transparencies for video conferencing, use the plain
bac+ground and a color--such as yellow or light green--and blac+ te0t. 6olor can
enhance a visual, but it can also reduce the effectiveness of the message. The point
is to use good 1udgment in visual design. 2se visual aids, but don*t overdo color or
te0t.
Presentation Skills Instructor: Toby Daniel
Templates available in programs such as owerpoint are tempting, but they may
not be readable when te0t is placed on them4
Avoid ma+ing your audience study your aids. %f they are busy trying to decipher
your visual aid, they will not be listening to you.
Bar graphs, circle graphs, simple diagrams, pictures, and lists are standard types of
visual aids. 7hatever aid you decide to use, limit the aid to only the concept, data,
or point you are trying to ma+e. 2se bar graphs, line graphs, or circle graphs rather
than tables, particularly if the table has more than one column.. Tables are harder
to interpret than a graphic presentation of the content. Also, tables can easily
contain too much information and are more acceptable in written reports, where
the reader has time to study them.
Be sure that what the visual says is immediately evident.
6omputer graphics and programs such as Harvard 8raphics, owerpoint, and
)0cel in combination with color printers and slide pro1ection e/uipment give you
the opportunity to e0periment with graphic design. Try developing visual aids that
are visually pleasing as well as clear.
2se technology whenever possible. .ome web sites have visuals that you can use
for presentations about that topic.
Technology allows spea+ers to download graphs, drawings, and figures from the
7orld 7ide 7eb. The 7eb is perhaps one of the richest, newest, most colorful
sources of visual aids.
,any presentation rooms now have ethernet connections and even computers that have
the appropriate software to run a browser such as 3etscape. 7hen the computer is
connected to an overhead pro1ector, 7eb images can be shown on a screen. Because of
the increasingly rich range of materials available on the 7orld 7ide 7eb, resources
available to enhance any oral presentations are almost limitless. )ven if the room in
which you will give a presentation does not have ethernet connections, you can still print
7eb materials via a color copier onto paper or transparency masters.
How do I use my visual aids effectively?
The +ey to using graphics and visual aids effectively re/uires using them so that they
ma+e the ma0imum impact. Begin your presentation with no aids, as you want your
audience to be listening to you, not loo+ing at props, specimens, or other visual aids.
resent the aid at the appropriate point in your presentation, then remove it immediately.
resent the aid- give your audience a few seconds to comprehend it, and then comment on
the aid. 2se a pointer, such as a laser pointer, to focus your audience on the part of the
graphic you are discussing.
Be sure to spea+ slowly and deliberately as you e0plain or use a graphic to avoid
confusing your audience. %n addition, remember to tal+ to your audience members,
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+eeping eye contact with them, not your visual aid.
7hen you use slides, tell the audience what they will see, show them the slide-
give them time to digest what they are seeing- then comment on the slide.
Turn off the pro1ector lamp between slides. 9o not begin tal+ing about another
topic while a slide, depicting a past topic, is still showing. Remember# people
cannot see and listen at the same time.
Use color to influence mood and emotion. The colors for type, illustrations and
bac+grounds influence the way they are perceived. Here is a basic guide to using color in
your presentations#
Red : e0citement, alert
8reen : growth
$ellow : confidence, warmth, wisdom
urple : dignity, sophistication
7hite : professionalism, new, innocence
Blue : truth, trust, 1ustice
Blac+ : authority, strength
Orange : action, optimism
Brown : friendliness, warmth
8rey : integrity, maturity
Poweroint Presentations
oweroint uses slides with a hori(ontal or &5andscape& orientation. The software was
designed as a convenient way to display graphical information that would support the
spea+er and supplement the presentation. The slides themselves were never meant to be
the &star of the show&. eople came to hear you and be moved or informed ;or both< by
you and your message. 9on*t let your message and your ability to tell a story get derailed
by slides that are unnecessarily complicated, busy, or full of 1un+.
Remember : Keep the powerpoint simple!
5imit bullet points and te0t.
$our presentation is for the benefit of the audience. But boring an audience with bullet
point after bullet point is of little benefit to them. 7hich brings us to the issue of te0t.
The best slides may have no te0t at all. This may sound insane given the dependency of
te0t slides today, but the best oweroint slides will be virtually meaningless with out the
narration ;that is you<. Remember, the slides are meant to support the narration of the
spea+er.
Presentation Skills Instructor: Toby Daniel
)0amples of owerpoint slides#

This slide has too much te0t, it will be difficult to read
and does not get the message across.
This slide is simpler, and contains the message. The
audience can get the information in a few seconds.
This slide is even better. Remember you should be
telling the audience the information at the same time.
Also notice that the first slide has a distracting bac+ground and cartoon clip art. The last
two slides have a solid colour and a more professional image.
7hich loo+s better= 7hy=
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Animation and Sound effects
owerpoint will allow you to animate te0t ;ma+e it move around< and does fancy
transitions ;as the slides change<. %t can also have sound effects.
,y personal opinion is !"#$T use them.
These are distracting from what you are saying.
3ever be afraid to turn the slide show off during your presentation, or even put some
blan+ slides in so the audience has to loo+ at you.
Practice
%f you are using slides, OHT or any other visual aid, remember to practice using it with
your speech.
%icrohones
7ith a good microphone, used properly, you can spea+ softly and personably, and then
emphasi(e your points with more force. The variations are limitless.
The problems with microphones are that you are either limited to one place, or that you
have a cord on the floor.
&hec' the microhone ahead of time.
%t is important to arrive early for every presentation, so you have time to chec+ the room
setup and the e/uipment. And, of course, the microphone is part of that e/uipment.
To test the mi+e, never tap or blow into it. Both are hard on the e/uipment and signs of an
amateur. .ay something friendly and conversational li+e, >8ood afternoon. Am % being
heard clearly=? ,ost people will be happy to help. %t is wise to chec+ both sides of the
room and moving to both sides of the platform or stage. Also you can find out with a
stationary mi+e how far away you can be and still be heard. Try spea+ing both loudly and
softly to get a feel for the balance.
@now how to turn the microphone on and off. %f the sound system starts acting up by
distorting, s/uealing, producing a lot of static, howling, clic+ing, cutting-in-and-out,
going from loud to soft A this can happen more often than you can imagine A you must
turn it off immediately. %f you suddenly start coughing or snee(ing, either turn off the
mi+e or step away from it.