Visual Aids

A very important part of any speech is the visual aids that are used. A visual aid is anything presented in a form that the listener can see to supplement the information the listener hears.

1. Visual Aids Save Time and Add Interest – The old saying, "A picture is worth a thousand words" is usually true. A visual aid may save you many words and, therefore, time.
2. Visual Aids Improve Listener Understanding – Listeners interpret the meaning of your words from their own frames of reference. Even if you use simple, specific language, each listener’s image of your ideas will differ in certain ways from your own. A visual aid such as an actual object, chart, picture, or graph, improves understanding by giving the listeners something concrete to see and therefore makes their mental image more exact and more like the image you have in mind.
3. Visual Aids Improve Listener Retention – Research on listening indicates that a few days after your presentation, most listeners will remember only about 10-25 percent of your presentation. However, visual aids can definitely improve what the audience remembers. Research by the University of Minnesota and 3M found that presentations using visual aids (especially color visuals) improved audience retention.

Presenters should no longer consider visual aids as optional but as absolute necessities!

1. Overhead Transparencies – Transparencies can be shown to any size audience. They can be projected in normal room light. This allows the speaker to maintain eye contact with the audience and still glance down at the transparency when needed. Don’t turn to look at the screen, placing your back to the audience. If you want to point at the screen back up within a few inches of the screen so that you are parallel with it. Also, make sure you are not standing in front of the screen. Move out of the way so the audience can see. Transparencies can be made with minimal effort. With computer software, such as Word or PowerPoint, a variety of fonts and clip art can help you create a professional-looking text and graphics for your transparencies. Take the printed out sheets of your visuals to a copy shop where they can be made into transparencies.
2. Flip Charts and Poster – Posters and flip charts tend to set an informal mood and are simple to prepare. However, they are awkward to transport, markers tend to bleed, and they can only be used with small groups (fewer than thirty people). When there are several key ideas on the poster, you may want to have each idea covered with a strip of paper and remove the strip when you reach that idea in your speech. Posters and flip charts are also used to call attention to single words or phrases (technical words, new or seldom-used words, foreign words or phrases).
3. Objects Models and Handouts – Objects can be very effective visual aids as long as they are large enough to be seen yet small enough so you can display them easily. Don’t pass around objects until the end of your speech to keep from distracting the audience. If an object is either too small, too large, or too dangerous to be used as a visual aid, you may want to use a model instead. For example, a model car, a model office layout, or a model of an atom would all be effective visual aids. Handouts can be both a help (they limit the audience’s need to take notes) and a distraction (the audience may read the handout instead of listening to you). So, unless you need the audience to do something with the material while you are speaking, it’s better to give handouts at the conclusion of your speech.
4. PowerPoint and Audiovisual Aids – PowerPoint is an excellent visual aid. By projecting images on the computer screen onto a larger screen, PowerPoint can help you produce a professional show with color, animation, and sound. Audiovisual aids, if used with care, can also add interest to you presentation. You could use videotape to show a brief segment of something of special interest. Normally, the sound should be turned off so you can talk during the tape. Tapes and CDs can also enhance your presentation. For example, a presentation on types of jazz would be much more informative if the audience could hear brief cuts from well-known jazz selections.

One of the most common mistakes that speakers make in preparing visuals is using text that is too small for easy audience viewing.

To prepare posters and flip charts, the recommended sizes are: