Business English:
Using Visual Aids to Improve
your Presentation
Visual Aids help you Deliver
You
can get your message across
much more successfully by
using visual aids than you
can by just talking.
Your
presentation will be more
effective and more
memorable.
Research shows that people
will only remember about 20%
of what they hear and about
50% of what they see. But
they will remember about 80%
of what they see AND hear !
Using
visual aids is a good thing,
but remember that they are
just aids. Far too many
presentations go wrong when
speakers spend all their
time producing attractive
visual aids and not thought
enough about what their
message and how to use the
visual aids to help deliver
the message.
Your
visual aids can be something
as simple as flip charts or
as complicated as Power
Point presentations with
integrated audio and video.
BUT!
The basic approach should
always be the same: Use the
aid ONLY if it helps you
achieve your goal.
Here
are three questions you
should ask yourself about
your visual aids:
Are they
appropriate for your
audience?
If you are making an
after-lunch presentation at
a conference, you will want
to have loud and brash
visual aids that will keep
your audience amused and
awake. However, if you are
presenting to the board of
directors, you will want to
have more sober visual aids.
Are they
relevant to your mission?
Creating visual aids can be
great fun. However, don’t
get carried away. If they
don’t help your mission, you
shouldn’t use them. Just
because you have the ability
to develop them, doesn’t
mean you have to.
Are they visible to your
audience?
Wherever possible, you need
to check out the room where
you will be giving your
presentation in advance.
In a
large room, a flip chart is
usually unreadable from the
back of the room. You will
be much better off using an
Overhead Projector (OHP).
If you
write by hand, write big and
clearly. If you type, use a
large font. If you are
giving a Power Point
presentation, check how it
is going to be projected on
the screen; stand at the
back of the room and flip
through the slides using
your wireless mouse.
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