The purpose of visual aids is to support a message, most commonly, a presentation of information, to a group of people. Visual aids are important because we all have different ways of learning and processing new information. Simply hearing information is not enough for most people to retain it; visual aids provide another avenue to receive and retain information.
Meet the Needs of Visual People
Many people grasp information visually more easily than they do verbally. A pie chart, for example, gives them a clear picture of information and they are able to keep that image in their minds long after the presentation is over. Graphs, charts, diagrams and maps are all tools that speak volumes to visually inclined people.
Clarity
Visual aids strengthen the clarity of a speaker's message. Key points can be highlighted by visual aids as well as key vocabulary. An outline of the presentation helps listeners pick up the key points and to be prepared for what is coming. This helps the audience listen better, which, in turn, helps them retain the information longer.
Concepts
Visual aids should be more than words on an overhead projector, flip chart or a slide presentation. Visual aids should be used to portray concepts that are more easily understood visually than verbally. For example, a profit pattern displayed in a bar graph is much easier to understand than a list of detailed data. Tangible objects are a good example of visual aids that express concepts. New concepts can be easily understood via hands-on experience. So providing the audience with real life examples and simulations will serve the purpose of making the content easier to understand and remember.
Confidence
Visual aids not only serve a purpose to support the listeners of a presentation but they also serve to support the speaker as well. Presenters can use visual aids to prompt themselves to the next section in their speech or the next key concept they want to present. Presenters often use an outline to guide them through the overall plan of their presentation and visual aids throughout the presentation to move them from one point to the next.
Summary
The primary purpose of visual aids is to make any kind of information easy for an audience to understand. Visual aids offer variety, diversion, memorable images, examples and opportunities for audience participation and interaction with the information.
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