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Using visual aids can greatly enhance a presentation or speech, but when used incorrectly, can also detract from the message and sidetrack your audience. If using visual aids in a presentation, make sure you do so properly, so that they further bring home a point, rather than confuse it.
Keep It Simple
When using visual aids, don't be tempted to rest your entire presentation upon them. In a digital age, where an entire presentation can be made with one computer program, you might wonder about having all the text for your presentation on the visual aids. However, putting too much of your presentation on visual aids can cloud the visual aid's meaning and be confusing to your audience. Remember, why type it out if you can say it? Reserve visual aids for graphs, anecdotal evidence or small quotations, but avoid using it to write out long pieces of text or as the anchor for your presentation.
Use Variety
It might be easier to just load your presentation with visual aids that are all the same, graphs and charts, graphics or photos, but it can get boring for your audience to constantly be looking at the same type of visual aid. Watching the same charts and graphs cycle through can be less than engaging for your audience. Change things up by using different visual aids to demonstrate different points to your audience. Try using a mixture of photos, charts, cartoons and even objects that the audience can look at as you speak.
Practice
Once you've decided on the number and type of visual aids to use, it's time to practice your presentation with them. There's nothing worse than a disorganized presenter who has to stop her presentation because of incorrect visual aids or a lag time in the program. Practice how you'll present the visual aids and the transitions you'll use. Practice using the different technologies for your visual aids, be it slides, a computer or an overhead projector. You should feel confident as you go through your presentation, with supportive visual aids that enhance your speech.
Tags: visual aids, your presentation, your audience, visual aids, presentation with
