explain the importance of visual aids in presentation

Visual Aids In Presentations: The Complete Guide

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Published Date : August 21, 2020

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A picture, they say, is worth a thousand words. Using visual aids in presentations helps you pass a lot of information in a relatively shorter time. With the right visual aids, you can create the desired impact that you want your presentation to make on your audience. Learning how to use visual aids effectively will boost the quality of your presentations. We discuss some of the top visual aids in our recent YouTube video :

Visual Aid Definition

What are visual aids? Simply put, visual aids are things that your listening can look at while you give your Speech <p data-sourcepos="3:1-3:271">A form of communication involving spoken language, it is used to express ideas, share information, tell stories, persuade, or entertain. Public speaking is a powerful tool used in diverse contexts, ranging from casual conversations to formal presentations.</p><br /><h2 data-sourcepos="5:1-5:27"><strong>Components of a Speech:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="7:1-10:0"> <li data-sourcepos="7:1-7:73"><strong>Content:</strong> The information, message, or story conveyed through words.</li> <li data-sourcepos="8:1-8:106"><strong>Delivery:</strong> The vocal and physical presentation, including clarity, volume, gestures, and eye contact.</li> <li data-sourcepos="9:1-10:0"><strong>Structure:</strong> The organization of the content, typically following an introduction, body, and conclusion.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="11:1-11:21"><strong>Speech in Action:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="13:1-17:0"> <li data-sourcepos="13:1-13:88"><strong>Informing:</strong> Sharing knowledge and facts, educating an audience on a specific topic.</li> <li data-sourcepos="14:1-14:119"><strong>Persuading:</strong> Advocating for a particular viewpoint, using arguments and evidence to influence thoughts or actions.</li> <li data-sourcepos="15:1-15:93"><strong>Motivating:</strong> Inspiring and energizing an audience, fostering action and positive change.</li> <li data-sourcepos="16:1-17:0"><strong>Entertaining:</strong> Engaging and delighting an audience through humor, storytelling, or creative language.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="18:1-18:32"><strong>Public Speaking and Anxiety:</strong></h2> <p data-sourcepos="20:1-20:227">Many people experience <strong>public speaking anxiety</strong>, a fear of speaking in front of an audience. While it's common, effective preparation, practice, and breathing techniques can significantly reduce anxiety and improve delivery.</p><br /><h2 data-sourcepos="22:1-22:32"><strong>Different Types of Speeches:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="24:1-28:0"> <li data-sourcepos="24:1-24:81"><strong>Informative speech:</strong> Focuses on conveying information clearly and concisely.</li> <li data-sourcepos="25:1-25:102"><strong>Persuasive speech:</strong> Aims to convince the audience to adopt a particular viewpoint or take action.</li> <li data-sourcepos="26:1-26:99"><strong>Motivational speech:</strong> Inspires and energizes the audience, building enthusiasm and commitment.</li> <li data-sourcepos="27:1-28:0"><strong>Entertaining speech:</strong> Aim to amuse and delight the audience, often using humor, storytelling, or anecdotes.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="29:1-29:33"><strong>Crafting a Compelling Speech:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="31:1-35:0"> <li data-sourcepos="31:1-31:106"><strong>Know your audience:</strong> Tailor your content and delivery to their interests, needs, and prior knowledge.</li> <li data-sourcepos="32:1-32:107"><strong>Have a clear message:</strong> Identify the main point you want to convey and structure your speech around it.</li> <li data-sourcepos="33:1-33:111"><strong>Engage your audience:</strong> Use varied vocal techniques, storytelling, and visual aids to keep them interested.</li> <li data-sourcepos="34:1-35:0"><strong>Practice, practice, practice:</strong> Rehearse your speech out loud to refine your delivery and build confidence.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="36:1-36:13"><strong>Remember:</strong></h2> <p data-sourcepos="38:1-38:281">Speech is a powerful tool for communication, connection, and influence. By understanding its elements, addressing potential anxieties, and tailoring your delivery to different contexts, you can harness the power of speech to achieve your intended goals and captivate your audience.</p> " href="https://orai.com/glossary/speech/" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">speech or presentation. Visual aid appeals to the audience’s vision more than any other sensory organ.

Why use visuals for presentations?

There is no such thing as a perfect Speech <p data-sourcepos="3:1-3:271">A form of communication involving spoken language, it is used to express ideas, share information, tell stories, persuade, or entertain. Public speaking is a powerful tool used in diverse contexts, ranging from casual conversations to formal presentations.</p><br /><h2 data-sourcepos="5:1-5:27"><strong>Components of a Speech:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="7:1-10:0"> <li data-sourcepos="7:1-7:73"><strong>Content:</strong> The information, message, or story conveyed through words.</li> <li data-sourcepos="8:1-8:106"><strong>Delivery:</strong> The vocal and physical presentation, including clarity, volume, gestures, and eye contact.</li> <li data-sourcepos="9:1-10:0"><strong>Structure:</strong> The organization of the content, typically following an introduction, body, and conclusion.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="11:1-11:21"><strong>Speech in Action:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="13:1-17:0"> <li data-sourcepos="13:1-13:88"><strong>Informing:</strong> Sharing knowledge and facts, educating an audience on a specific topic.</li> <li data-sourcepos="14:1-14:119"><strong>Persuading:</strong> Advocating for a particular viewpoint, using arguments and evidence to influence thoughts or actions.</li> <li data-sourcepos="15:1-15:93"><strong>Motivating:</strong> Inspiring and energizing an audience, fostering action and positive change.</li> <li data-sourcepos="16:1-17:0"><strong>Entertaining:</strong> Engaging and delighting an audience through humor, storytelling, or creative language.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="18:1-18:32"><strong>Public Speaking and Anxiety:</strong></h2> <p data-sourcepos="20:1-20:227">Many people experience <strong>public speaking anxiety</strong>, a fear of speaking in front of an audience. While it's common, effective preparation, practice, and breathing techniques can significantly reduce anxiety and improve delivery.</p><br /><h2 data-sourcepos="22:1-22:32"><strong>Different Types of Speeches:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="24:1-28:0"> <li data-sourcepos="24:1-24:81"><strong>Informative speech:</strong> Focuses on conveying information clearly and concisely.</li> <li data-sourcepos="25:1-25:102"><strong>Persuasive speech:</strong> Aims to convince the audience to adopt a particular viewpoint or take action.</li> <li data-sourcepos="26:1-26:99"><strong>Motivational speech:</strong> Inspires and energizes the audience, building enthusiasm and commitment.</li> <li data-sourcepos="27:1-28:0"><strong>Entertaining speech:</strong> Aim to amuse and delight the audience, often using humor, storytelling, or anecdotes.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="29:1-29:33"><strong>Crafting a Compelling Speech:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="31:1-35:0"> <li data-sourcepos="31:1-31:106"><strong>Know your audience:</strong> Tailor your content and delivery to their interests, needs, and prior knowledge.</li> <li data-sourcepos="32:1-32:107"><strong>Have a clear message:</strong> Identify the main point you want to convey and structure your speech around it.</li> <li data-sourcepos="33:1-33:111"><strong>Engage your audience:</strong> Use varied vocal techniques, storytelling, and visual aids to keep them interested.</li> <li data-sourcepos="34:1-35:0"><strong>Practice, practice, practice:</strong> Rehearse your speech out loud to refine your delivery and build confidence.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="36:1-36:13"><strong>Remember:</strong></h2> <p data-sourcepos="38:1-38:281">Speech is a powerful tool for communication, connection, and influence. By understanding its elements, addressing potential anxieties, and tailoring your delivery to different contexts, you can harness the power of speech to achieve your intended goals and captivate your audience.</p> " href="https://orai.com/glossary/speech/" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">speech . However, there are ways to make a presentation closer to perfection. What are they? Simple: Visual aids. Visual aids can bring life back into a tedious Speech <p data-sourcepos="3:1-3:271">A form of communication involving spoken language, it is used to express ideas, share information, tell stories, persuade, or entertain. Public speaking is a powerful tool used in diverse contexts, ranging from casual conversations to formal presentations.</p><br /><h2 data-sourcepos="5:1-5:27"><strong>Components of a Speech:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="7:1-10:0"> <li data-sourcepos="7:1-7:73"><strong>Content:</strong> The information, message, or story conveyed through words.</li> <li data-sourcepos="8:1-8:106"><strong>Delivery:</strong> The vocal and physical presentation, including clarity, volume, gestures, and eye contact.</li> <li data-sourcepos="9:1-10:0"><strong>Structure:</strong> The organization of the content, typically following an introduction, body, and conclusion.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="11:1-11:21"><strong>Speech in Action:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="13:1-17:0"> <li data-sourcepos="13:1-13:88"><strong>Informing:</strong> Sharing knowledge and facts, educating an audience on a specific topic.</li> <li data-sourcepos="14:1-14:119"><strong>Persuading:</strong> Advocating for a particular viewpoint, using arguments and evidence to influence thoughts or actions.</li> <li data-sourcepos="15:1-15:93"><strong>Motivating:</strong> Inspiring and energizing an audience, fostering action and positive change.</li> <li data-sourcepos="16:1-17:0"><strong>Entertaining:</strong> Engaging and delighting an audience through humor, storytelling, or creative language.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="18:1-18:32"><strong>Public Speaking and Anxiety:</strong></h2> <p data-sourcepos="20:1-20:227">Many people experience <strong>public speaking anxiety</strong>, a fear of speaking in front of an audience. While it's common, effective preparation, practice, and breathing techniques can significantly reduce anxiety and improve delivery.</p><br /><h2 data-sourcepos="22:1-22:32"><strong>Different Types of Speeches:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="24:1-28:0"> <li data-sourcepos="24:1-24:81"><strong>Informative speech:</strong> Focuses on conveying information clearly and concisely.</li> <li data-sourcepos="25:1-25:102"><strong>Persuasive speech:</strong> Aims to convince the audience to adopt a particular viewpoint or take action.</li> <li data-sourcepos="26:1-26:99"><strong>Motivational speech:</strong> Inspires and energizes the audience, building enthusiasm and commitment.</li> <li data-sourcepos="27:1-28:0"><strong>Entertaining speech:</strong> Aim to amuse and delight the audience, often using humor, storytelling, or anecdotes.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="29:1-29:33"><strong>Crafting a Compelling Speech:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="31:1-35:0"> <li data-sourcepos="31:1-31:106"><strong>Know your audience:</strong> Tailor your content and delivery to their interests, needs, and prior knowledge.</li> <li data-sourcepos="32:1-32:107"><strong>Have a clear message:</strong> Identify the main point you want to convey and structure your speech around it.</li> <li data-sourcepos="33:1-33:111"><strong>Engage your audience:</strong> Use varied vocal techniques, storytelling, and visual aids to keep them interested.</li> <li data-sourcepos="34:1-35:0"><strong>Practice, practice, practice:</strong> Rehearse your speech out loud to refine your delivery and build confidence.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="36:1-36:13"><strong>Remember:</strong></h2> <p data-sourcepos="38:1-38:281">Speech is a powerful tool for communication, connection, and influence. By understanding its elements, addressing potential anxieties, and tailoring your delivery to different contexts, you can harness the power of speech to achieve your intended goals and captivate your audience.</p> " href="https://orai.com/glossary/speech/" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">speech , and they take less time to come up with than long notes. This article discusses how you can use visual aids effectively and conquer an audience. Before that, we discuss how visuals can help you achieve a better presentation.

They help you structure your work.

Using the right types of visual aids can help you create a perfect picture of what you want your audience to see in your presentations. Instead of struggling to condense a lot of information into a long text, you can present your information in one straightforward image or video and save yourself the stress.

It is easier to engage the audience.

An excellent visual setup can help elicit audience interest and sometimes their input in the presentation. When the audience is engaged, they tend to be more interested in the presenter’s work. Also, an interactive audience can boost your morale and encourage you.

You save time on your presentation.

When presenting, time is of the essence. So, you can effectively reduce your presentation time if you have useful visual aids and use them properly. Would you prefer to go on and on for minutes about a topic when you can cut your Speech <p data-sourcepos="3:1-3:271">A form of communication involving spoken language, it is used to express ideas, share information, tell stories, persuade, or entertain. Public speaking is a powerful tool used in diverse contexts, ranging from casual conversations to formal presentations.</p><br /><h2 data-sourcepos="5:1-5:27"><strong>Components of a Speech:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="7:1-10:0"> <li data-sourcepos="7:1-7:73"><strong>Content:</strong> The information, message, or story conveyed through words.</li> <li data-sourcepos="8:1-8:106"><strong>Delivery:</strong> The vocal and physical presentation, including clarity, volume, gestures, and eye contact.</li> <li data-sourcepos="9:1-10:0"><strong>Structure:</strong> The organization of the content, typically following an introduction, body, and conclusion.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="11:1-11:21"><strong>Speech in Action:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="13:1-17:0"> <li data-sourcepos="13:1-13:88"><strong>Informing:</strong> Sharing knowledge and facts, educating an audience on a specific topic.</li> <li data-sourcepos="14:1-14:119"><strong>Persuading:</strong> Advocating for a particular viewpoint, using arguments and evidence to influence thoughts or actions.</li> <li data-sourcepos="15:1-15:93"><strong>Motivating:</strong> Inspiring and energizing an audience, fostering action and positive change.</li> <li data-sourcepos="16:1-17:0"><strong>Entertaining:</strong> Engaging and delighting an audience through humor, storytelling, or creative language.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="18:1-18:32"><strong>Public Speaking and Anxiety:</strong></h2> <p data-sourcepos="20:1-20:227">Many people experience <strong>public speaking anxiety</strong>, a fear of speaking in front of an audience. While it's common, effective preparation, practice, and breathing techniques can significantly reduce anxiety and improve delivery.</p><br /><h2 data-sourcepos="22:1-22:32"><strong>Different Types of Speeches:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="24:1-28:0"> <li data-sourcepos="24:1-24:81"><strong>Informative speech:</strong> Focuses on conveying information clearly and concisely.</li> <li data-sourcepos="25:1-25:102"><strong>Persuasive speech:</strong> Aims to convince the audience to adopt a particular viewpoint or take action.</li> <li data-sourcepos="26:1-26:99"><strong>Motivational speech:</strong> Inspires and energizes the audience, building enthusiasm and commitment.</li> <li data-sourcepos="27:1-28:0"><strong>Entertaining speech:</strong> Aim to amuse and delight the audience, often using humor, storytelling, or anecdotes.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="29:1-29:33"><strong>Crafting a Compelling Speech:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="31:1-35:0"> <li data-sourcepos="31:1-31:106"><strong>Know your audience:</strong> Tailor your content and delivery to their interests, needs, and prior knowledge.</li> <li data-sourcepos="32:1-32:107"><strong>Have a clear message:</strong> Identify the main point you want to convey and structure your speech around it.</li> <li data-sourcepos="33:1-33:111"><strong>Engage your audience:</strong> Use varied vocal techniques, storytelling, and visual aids to keep them interested.</li> <li data-sourcepos="34:1-35:0"><strong>Practice, practice, practice:</strong> Rehearse your speech out loud to refine your delivery and build confidence.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="36:1-36:13"><strong>Remember:</strong></h2> <p data-sourcepos="38:1-38:281">Speech is a powerful tool for communication, connection, and influence. By understanding its elements, addressing potential anxieties, and tailoring your delivery to different contexts, you can harness the power of speech to achieve your intended goals and captivate your audience.</p> " href="https://orai.com/glossary/speech/" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">speech down by inserting a few images or videos?

What are visual aids?

A visual aid is any material that gives shape and form to words or thoughts. Types of visual aids include physical samples, models, handouts, pictures, videos, infographics, etc. Visual aids have come a long way, including digital tools such as overhead projectors, PowerPoint presentations, and interactive boards.

Different Types Of Creative Visual Aid Ideas To Awe Your Audience

Have you ever been tasked with making a Speech <p data-sourcepos="3:1-3:271">A form of communication involving spoken language, it is used to express ideas, share information, tell stories, persuade, or entertain. Public speaking is a powerful tool used in diverse contexts, ranging from casual conversations to formal presentations.</p><br /><h2 data-sourcepos="5:1-5:27"><strong>Components of a Speech:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="7:1-10:0"> <li data-sourcepos="7:1-7:73"><strong>Content:</strong> The information, message, or story conveyed through words.</li> <li data-sourcepos="8:1-8:106"><strong>Delivery:</strong> The vocal and physical presentation, including clarity, volume, gestures, and eye contact.</li> <li data-sourcepos="9:1-10:0"><strong>Structure:</strong> The organization of the content, typically following an introduction, body, and conclusion.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="11:1-11:21"><strong>Speech in Action:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="13:1-17:0"> <li data-sourcepos="13:1-13:88"><strong>Informing:</strong> Sharing knowledge and facts, educating an audience on a specific topic.</li> <li data-sourcepos="14:1-14:119"><strong>Persuading:</strong> Advocating for a particular viewpoint, using arguments and evidence to influence thoughts or actions.</li> <li data-sourcepos="15:1-15:93"><strong>Motivating:</strong> Inspiring and energizing an audience, fostering action and positive change.</li> <li data-sourcepos="16:1-17:0"><strong>Entertaining:</strong> Engaging and delighting an audience through humor, storytelling, or creative language.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="18:1-18:32"><strong>Public Speaking and Anxiety:</strong></h2> <p data-sourcepos="20:1-20:227">Many people experience <strong>public speaking anxiety</strong>, a fear of speaking in front of an audience. While it's common, effective preparation, practice, and breathing techniques can significantly reduce anxiety and improve delivery.</p><br /><h2 data-sourcepos="22:1-22:32"><strong>Different Types of Speeches:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="24:1-28:0"> <li data-sourcepos="24:1-24:81"><strong>Informative speech:</strong> Focuses on conveying information clearly and concisely.</li> <li data-sourcepos="25:1-25:102"><strong>Persuasive speech:</strong> Aims to convince the audience to adopt a particular viewpoint or take action.</li> <li data-sourcepos="26:1-26:99"><strong>Motivational speech:</strong> Inspires and energizes the audience, building enthusiasm and commitment.</li> <li data-sourcepos="27:1-28:0"><strong>Entertaining speech:</strong> Aim to amuse and delight the audience, often using humor, storytelling, or anecdotes.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="29:1-29:33"><strong>Crafting a Compelling Speech:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="31:1-35:0"> <li data-sourcepos="31:1-31:106"><strong>Know your audience:</strong> Tailor your content and delivery to their interests, needs, and prior knowledge.</li> <li data-sourcepos="32:1-32:107"><strong>Have a clear message:</strong> Identify the main point you want to convey and structure your speech around it.</li> <li data-sourcepos="33:1-33:111"><strong>Engage your audience:</strong> Use varied vocal techniques, storytelling, and visual aids to keep them interested.</li> <li data-sourcepos="34:1-35:0"><strong>Practice, practice, practice:</strong> Rehearse your speech out loud to refine your delivery and build confidence.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="36:1-36:13"><strong>Remember:</strong></h2> <p data-sourcepos="38:1-38:281">Speech is a powerful tool for communication, connection, and influence. By understanding its elements, addressing potential anxieties, and tailoring your delivery to different contexts, you can harness the power of speech to achieve your intended goals and captivate your audience.</p> " href="https://orai.com/glossary/speech/" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">speech or a presentation but don’t know how to make it truly remarkable? Well, visual aid is your answer.

Giving a presentation or Speech <p data-sourcepos="3:1-3:271">A form of communication involving spoken language, it is used to express ideas, share information, tell stories, persuade, or entertain. Public speaking is a powerful tool used in diverse contexts, ranging from casual conversations to formal presentations.</p><br /><h2 data-sourcepos="5:1-5:27"><strong>Components of a Speech:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="7:1-10:0"> <li data-sourcepos="7:1-7:73"><strong>Content:</strong> The information, message, or story conveyed through words.</li> <li data-sourcepos="8:1-8:106"><strong>Delivery:</strong> The vocal and physical presentation, including clarity, volume, gestures, and eye contact.</li> <li data-sourcepos="9:1-10:0"><strong>Structure:</strong> The organization of the content, typically following an introduction, body, and conclusion.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="11:1-11:21"><strong>Speech in Action:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="13:1-17:0"> <li data-sourcepos="13:1-13:88"><strong>Informing:</strong> Sharing knowledge and facts, educating an audience on a specific topic.</li> <li data-sourcepos="14:1-14:119"><strong>Persuading:</strong> Advocating for a particular viewpoint, using arguments and evidence to influence thoughts or actions.</li> <li data-sourcepos="15:1-15:93"><strong>Motivating:</strong> Inspiring and energizing an audience, fostering action and positive change.</li> <li data-sourcepos="16:1-17:0"><strong>Entertaining:</strong> Engaging and delighting an audience through humor, storytelling, or creative language.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="18:1-18:32"><strong>Public Speaking and Anxiety:</strong></h2> <p data-sourcepos="20:1-20:227">Many people experience <strong>public speaking anxiety</strong>, a fear of speaking in front of an audience. While it's common, effective preparation, practice, and breathing techniques can significantly reduce anxiety and improve delivery.</p><br /><h2 data-sourcepos="22:1-22:32"><strong>Different Types of Speeches:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="24:1-28:0"> <li data-sourcepos="24:1-24:81"><strong>Informative speech:</strong> Focuses on conveying information clearly and concisely.</li> <li data-sourcepos="25:1-25:102"><strong>Persuasive speech:</strong> Aims to convince the audience to adopt a particular viewpoint or take action.</li> <li data-sourcepos="26:1-26:99"><strong>Motivational speech:</strong> Inspires and energizes the audience, building enthusiasm and commitment.</li> <li data-sourcepos="27:1-28:0"><strong>Entertaining speech:</strong> Aim to amuse and delight the audience, often using humor, storytelling, or anecdotes.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="29:1-29:33"><strong>Crafting a Compelling Speech:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="31:1-35:0"> <li data-sourcepos="31:1-31:106"><strong>Know your audience:</strong> Tailor your content and delivery to their interests, needs, and prior knowledge.</li> <li data-sourcepos="32:1-32:107"><strong>Have a clear message:</strong> Identify the main point you want to convey and structure your speech around it.</li> <li data-sourcepos="33:1-33:111"><strong>Engage your audience:</strong> Use varied vocal techniques, storytelling, and visual aids to keep them interested.</li> <li data-sourcepos="34:1-35:0"><strong>Practice, practice, practice:</strong> Rehearse your speech out loud to refine your delivery and build confidence.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="36:1-36:13"><strong>Remember:</strong></h2> <p data-sourcepos="38:1-38:281">Speech is a powerful tool for communication, connection, and influence. By understanding its elements, addressing potential anxieties, and tailoring your delivery to different contexts, you can harness the power of speech to achieve your intended goals and captivate your audience.</p> " href="https://orai.com/glossary/speech/" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">speech is hard. You have to strike a balance between persuading or informing your audience while also maintaining their attention. The fear of your audience slipping away is very real. And a visual aid can help.

We surveyed the Orai community to vote for their preferred visual aid. Here are the top ten creative visual aid ideas that you could use in your next presentation:

Videos emerged as the clear winner in all our surveys. We ran these surveys on all our social handles and contacted successful speakers. 27.14% of all respondents prefer visual aids because they are easy to understand, can be paused during a presentation, and can trigger all sorts of emotions. That being said, it is also very tough to create good videos. However, more and more tools are available to help you create amazing videos without professional help.

Hans Rosling’s TED talk, titled ‘the best stats you have ever seen,’ is one of the best speeches.  He uses video for the Speech <p data-sourcepos="3:1-3:271">A form of communication involving spoken language, it is used to express ideas, share information, tell stories, persuade, or entertain. Public speaking is a powerful tool used in diverse contexts, ranging from casual conversations to formal presentations.</p><br /><h2 data-sourcepos="5:1-5:27"><strong>Components of a Speech:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="7:1-10:0"> <li data-sourcepos="7:1-7:73"><strong>Content:</strong> The information, message, or story conveyed through words.</li> <li data-sourcepos="8:1-8:106"><strong>Delivery:</strong> The vocal and physical presentation, including clarity, volume, gestures, and eye contact.</li> <li data-sourcepos="9:1-10:0"><strong>Structure:</strong> The organization of the content, typically following an introduction, body, and conclusion.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="11:1-11:21"><strong>Speech in Action:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="13:1-17:0"> <li data-sourcepos="13:1-13:88"><strong>Informing:</strong> Sharing knowledge and facts, educating an audience on a specific topic.</li> <li data-sourcepos="14:1-14:119"><strong>Persuading:</strong> Advocating for a particular viewpoint, using arguments and evidence to influence thoughts or actions.</li> <li data-sourcepos="15:1-15:93"><strong>Motivating:</strong> Inspiring and energizing an audience, fostering action and positive change.</li> <li data-sourcepos="16:1-17:0"><strong>Entertaining:</strong> Engaging and delighting an audience through humor, storytelling, or creative language.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="18:1-18:32"><strong>Public Speaking and Anxiety:</strong></h2> <p data-sourcepos="20:1-20:227">Many people experience <strong>public speaking anxiety</strong>, a fear of speaking in front of an audience. While it's common, effective preparation, practice, and breathing techniques can significantly reduce anxiety and improve delivery.</p><br /><h2 data-sourcepos="22:1-22:32"><strong>Different Types of Speeches:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="24:1-28:0"> <li data-sourcepos="24:1-24:81"><strong>Informative speech:</strong> Focuses on conveying information clearly and concisely.</li> <li data-sourcepos="25:1-25:102"><strong>Persuasive speech:</strong> Aims to convince the audience to adopt a particular viewpoint or take action.</li> <li data-sourcepos="26:1-26:99"><strong>Motivational speech:</strong> Inspires and energizes the audience, building enthusiasm and commitment.</li> <li data-sourcepos="27:1-28:0"><strong>Entertaining speech:</strong> Aim to amuse and delight the audience, often using humor, storytelling, or anecdotes.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="29:1-29:33"><strong>Crafting a Compelling Speech:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="31:1-35:0"> <li data-sourcepos="31:1-31:106"><strong>Know your audience:</strong> Tailor your content and delivery to their interests, needs, and prior knowledge.</li> <li data-sourcepos="32:1-32:107"><strong>Have a clear message:</strong> Identify the main point you want to convey and structure your speech around it.</li> <li data-sourcepos="33:1-33:111"><strong>Engage your audience:</strong> Use varied vocal techniques, storytelling, and visual aids to keep them interested.</li> <li data-sourcepos="34:1-35:0"><strong>Practice, practice, practice:</strong> Rehearse your speech out loud to refine your delivery and build confidence.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="36:1-36:13"><strong>Remember:</strong></h2> <p data-sourcepos="38:1-38:281">Speech is a powerful tool for communication, connection, and influence. By understanding its elements, addressing potential anxieties, and tailoring your delivery to different contexts, you can harness the power of speech to achieve your intended goals and captivate your audience.</p> " href="https://orai.com/glossary/speech/" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">speech ’s entirety while not diverting the audience’s attention away from him. He does all this while also bringing out some optimism for the world’s future. We highly recommend this TED talk to learn how to use videos effectively as a visual aid and inject some positivity into your lives during these trying times.

2. Demonstrations

Demonstrations, also known as demos, are undoubtedly among the most effective visual aids for communication. You can use demonstrations in two ways. One as a hook to captivate your audience. Prof. Walter Lewin was famous for using demonstrations as a hook during lectures. In his most famous lecture, he puts his life in danger by releasing a heavy pendulum to show that a pendulum’s period remains constant despite the mass. 

Demonstrations can also be used to show how some things are done or work. We use demonstrations to showcase how Orai works and how you can use them to improve your speaking skills.

18.57% voted for demonstrations because they are unique, interactive, up close, and have a personal touch.

3. Roleplays

Jokes aside, why do you think comedy shows are memorable? You guessed it right. Roleplays! Role – play is any speaking activity when you put yourself into somebody else’s shoes or stay in your shoes but put yourself into an imaginary situation! 

Nothing is more boring than a comedian delivering lines straight from a joke book.  Legendary comedians like George Carlin, Kevin Hart, Chris Rock, and Bill Burr use roleplays effectively and make a mundane joke genuinely memorable. 

Jokes aside, you can use roleplays in business presentations and speeches. Use real-life stories or examples in your role plays to make them authentic. 

15.71% of the survey respondents voted for roleplays because they are very close to real life and do not take the audience’s attention away from the speaker.

With 12.86% of the votes, Props is number 4. A prop is any concrete object used to deliver a Speech <p data-sourcepos="3:1-3:271">A form of communication involving spoken language, it is used to express ideas, share information, tell stories, persuade, or entertain. Public speaking is a powerful tool used in diverse contexts, ranging from casual conversations to formal presentations.</p><br /><h2 data-sourcepos="5:1-5:27"><strong>Components of a Speech:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="7:1-10:0"> <li data-sourcepos="7:1-7:73"><strong>Content:</strong> The information, message, or story conveyed through words.</li> <li data-sourcepos="8:1-8:106"><strong>Delivery:</strong> The vocal and physical presentation, including clarity, volume, gestures, and eye contact.</li> <li data-sourcepos="9:1-10:0"><strong>Structure:</strong> The organization of the content, typically following an introduction, body, and conclusion.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="11:1-11:21"><strong>Speech in Action:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="13:1-17:0"> <li data-sourcepos="13:1-13:88"><strong>Informing:</strong> Sharing knowledge and facts, educating an audience on a specific topic.</li> <li data-sourcepos="14:1-14:119"><strong>Persuading:</strong> Advocating for a particular viewpoint, using arguments and evidence to influence thoughts or actions.</li> <li data-sourcepos="15:1-15:93"><strong>Motivating:</strong> Inspiring and energizing an audience, fostering action and positive change.</li> <li data-sourcepos="16:1-17:0"><strong>Entertaining:</strong> Engaging and delighting an audience through humor, storytelling, or creative language.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="18:1-18:32"><strong>Public Speaking and Anxiety:</strong></h2> <p data-sourcepos="20:1-20:227">Many people experience <strong>public speaking anxiety</strong>, a fear of speaking in front of an audience. While it's common, effective preparation, practice, and breathing techniques can significantly reduce anxiety and improve delivery.</p><br /><h2 data-sourcepos="22:1-22:32"><strong>Different Types of Speeches:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="24:1-28:0"> <li data-sourcepos="24:1-24:81"><strong>Informative speech:</strong> Focuses on conveying information clearly and concisely.</li> <li data-sourcepos="25:1-25:102"><strong>Persuasive speech:</strong> Aims to convince the audience to adopt a particular viewpoint or take action.</li> <li data-sourcepos="26:1-26:99"><strong>Motivational speech:</strong> Inspires and energizes the audience, building enthusiasm and commitment.</li> <li data-sourcepos="27:1-28:0"><strong>Entertaining speech:</strong> Aim to amuse and delight the audience, often using humor, storytelling, or anecdotes.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="29:1-29:33"><strong>Crafting a Compelling Speech:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="31:1-35:0"> <li data-sourcepos="31:1-31:106"><strong>Know your audience:</strong> Tailor your content and delivery to their interests, needs, and prior knowledge.</li> <li data-sourcepos="32:1-32:107"><strong>Have a clear message:</strong> Identify the main point you want to convey and structure your speech around it.</li> <li data-sourcepos="33:1-33:111"><strong>Engage your audience:</strong> Use varied vocal techniques, storytelling, and visual aids to keep them interested.</li> <li data-sourcepos="34:1-35:0"><strong>Practice, practice, practice:</strong> Rehearse your speech out loud to refine your delivery and build confidence.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="36:1-36:13"><strong>Remember:</strong></h2> <p data-sourcepos="38:1-38:281">Speech is a powerful tool for communication, connection, and influence. By understanding its elements, addressing potential anxieties, and tailoring your delivery to different contexts, you can harness the power of speech to achieve your intended goals and captivate your audience.</p> " href="https://orai.com/glossary/speech/" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">speech or presentation. Props add another dimension to our Speech <p data-sourcepos="3:1-3:271">A form of communication involving spoken language, it is used to express ideas, share information, tell stories, persuade, or entertain. Public speaking is a powerful tool used in diverse contexts, ranging from casual conversations to formal presentations.</p><br /><h2 data-sourcepos="5:1-5:27"><strong>Components of a Speech:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="7:1-10:0"> <li data-sourcepos="7:1-7:73"><strong>Content:</strong> The information, message, or story conveyed through words.</li> <li data-sourcepos="8:1-8:106"><strong>Delivery:</strong> The vocal and physical presentation, including clarity, volume, gestures, and eye contact.</li> <li data-sourcepos="9:1-10:0"><strong>Structure:</strong> The organization of the content, typically following an introduction, body, and conclusion.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="11:1-11:21"><strong>Speech in Action:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="13:1-17:0"> <li data-sourcepos="13:1-13:88"><strong>Informing:</strong> Sharing knowledge and facts, educating an audience on a specific topic.</li> <li data-sourcepos="14:1-14:119"><strong>Persuading:</strong> Advocating for a particular viewpoint, using arguments and evidence to influence thoughts or actions.</li> <li data-sourcepos="15:1-15:93"><strong>Motivating:</strong> Inspiring and energizing an audience, fostering action and positive change.</li> <li data-sourcepos="16:1-17:0"><strong>Entertaining:</strong> Engaging and delighting an audience through humor, storytelling, or creative language.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="18:1-18:32"><strong>Public Speaking and Anxiety:</strong></h2> <p data-sourcepos="20:1-20:227">Many people experience <strong>public speaking anxiety</strong>, a fear of speaking in front of an audience. While it's common, effective preparation, practice, and breathing techniques can significantly reduce anxiety and improve delivery.</p><br /><h2 data-sourcepos="22:1-22:32"><strong>Different Types of Speeches:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="24:1-28:0"> <li data-sourcepos="24:1-24:81"><strong>Informative speech:</strong> Focuses on conveying information clearly and concisely.</li> <li data-sourcepos="25:1-25:102"><strong>Persuasive speech:</strong> Aims to convince the audience to adopt a particular viewpoint or take action.</li> <li data-sourcepos="26:1-26:99"><strong>Motivational speech:</strong> Inspires and energizes the audience, building enthusiasm and commitment.</li> <li data-sourcepos="27:1-28:0"><strong>Entertaining speech:</strong> Aim to amuse and delight the audience, often using humor, storytelling, or anecdotes.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="29:1-29:33"><strong>Crafting a Compelling Speech:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="31:1-35:0"> <li data-sourcepos="31:1-31:106"><strong>Know your audience:</strong> Tailor your content and delivery to their interests, needs, and prior knowledge.</li> <li data-sourcepos="32:1-32:107"><strong>Have a clear message:</strong> Identify the main point you want to convey and structure your speech around it.</li> <li data-sourcepos="33:1-33:111"><strong>Engage your audience:</strong> Use varied vocal techniques, storytelling, and visual aids to keep them interested.</li> <li data-sourcepos="34:1-35:0"><strong>Practice, practice, practice:</strong> Rehearse your speech out loud to refine your delivery and build confidence.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="36:1-36:13"><strong>Remember:</strong></h2> <p data-sourcepos="38:1-38:281">Speech is a powerful tool for communication, connection, and influence. By understanding its elements, addressing potential anxieties, and tailoring your delivery to different contexts, you can harness the power of speech to achieve your intended goals and captivate your audience.</p> " href="https://orai.com/glossary/speech/" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">speech and help the listeners visualize abstract concepts like vision, milestones, targets, and expectations. It ties verbal to visual. Introducing a prop into your Speech <p data-sourcepos="3:1-3:271">A form of communication involving spoken language, it is used to express ideas, share information, tell stories, persuade, or entertain. Public speaking is a powerful tool used in diverse contexts, ranging from casual conversations to formal presentations.</p><br /><h2 data-sourcepos="5:1-5:27"><strong>Components of a Speech:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="7:1-10:0"> <li data-sourcepos="7:1-7:73"><strong>Content:</strong> The information, message, or story conveyed through words.</li> <li data-sourcepos="8:1-8:106"><strong>Delivery:</strong> The vocal and physical presentation, including clarity, volume, gestures, and eye contact.</li> <li data-sourcepos="9:1-10:0"><strong>Structure:</strong> The organization of the content, typically following an introduction, body, and conclusion.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="11:1-11:21"><strong>Speech in Action:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="13:1-17:0"> <li data-sourcepos="13:1-13:88"><strong>Informing:</strong> Sharing knowledge and facts, educating an audience on a specific topic.</li> <li data-sourcepos="14:1-14:119"><strong>Persuading:</strong> Advocating for a particular viewpoint, using arguments and evidence to influence thoughts or actions.</li> <li data-sourcepos="15:1-15:93"><strong>Motivating:</strong> Inspiring and energizing an audience, fostering action and positive change.</li> <li data-sourcepos="16:1-17:0"><strong>Entertaining:</strong> Engaging and delighting an audience through humor, storytelling, or creative language.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="18:1-18:32"><strong>Public Speaking and Anxiety:</strong></h2> <p data-sourcepos="20:1-20:227">Many people experience <strong>public speaking anxiety</strong>, a fear of speaking in front of an audience. While it's common, effective preparation, practice, and breathing techniques can significantly reduce anxiety and improve delivery.</p><br /><h2 data-sourcepos="22:1-22:32"><strong>Different Types of Speeches:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="24:1-28:0"> <li data-sourcepos="24:1-24:81"><strong>Informative speech:</strong> Focuses on conveying information clearly and concisely.</li> <li data-sourcepos="25:1-25:102"><strong>Persuasive speech:</strong> Aims to convince the audience to adopt a particular viewpoint or take action.</li> <li data-sourcepos="26:1-26:99"><strong>Motivational speech:</strong> Inspires and energizes the audience, building enthusiasm and commitment.</li> <li data-sourcepos="27:1-28:0"><strong>Entertaining speech:</strong> Aim to amuse and delight the audience, often using humor, storytelling, or anecdotes.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="29:1-29:33"><strong>Crafting a Compelling Speech:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="31:1-35:0"> <li data-sourcepos="31:1-31:106"><strong>Know your audience:</strong> Tailor your content and delivery to their interests, needs, and prior knowledge.</li> <li data-sourcepos="32:1-32:107"><strong>Have a clear message:</strong> Identify the main point you want to convey and structure your speech around it.</li> <li data-sourcepos="33:1-33:111"><strong>Engage your audience:</strong> Use varied vocal techniques, storytelling, and visual aids to keep them interested.</li> <li data-sourcepos="34:1-35:0"><strong>Practice, practice, practice:</strong> Rehearse your speech out loud to refine your delivery and build confidence.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="36:1-36:13"><strong>Remember:</strong></h2> <p data-sourcepos="38:1-38:281">Speech is a powerful tool for communication, connection, and influence. By understanding its elements, addressing potential anxieties, and tailoring your delivery to different contexts, you can harness the power of speech to achieve your intended goals and captivate your audience.</p> " href="https://orai.com/glossary/speech/" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">speech or presentation should not seem forced. Use them sparingly to highlight your address’s most critical points or stories.

People voted for props because they feel 3D visualization is more useful than 2D visualization. Props will make your presentations stand out because few people use them today.

When we sent out the survey to the Orai community and some highly successful speakers, we were sure that slides/presentations would come out on top. However, we were surprised by the results. With 12.86% votes, slides are number five on our list.

Presentations are effortless to create and, therefore, the most commonly used visual aid in business communications. Today, dozens of software programs are available to help you make beautiful presentations. Microsoft PowerPoint is the pioneer in the space and holds a significant market share.

Whatever is your preferred software, you need to keep your audience at the center while making presentations.

People described the ease of creation and the ability to incorporate other visual aids when asked why they chose presentations as their top visual aid.

The inclusion of Audio in this list can appear controversial. But it got a significant vote share in our survey and cannot be ignored. Audio can add a new dimension to your presentations where the audience is hearing your voice and other sound cues that can trigger various emotional responses. Especially when coupled with other visual aids, audio can be a powerful tool for making impactful presentations.

Vote share:

Audio aid is number six, with 4.29% of the votes.

7. Handouts

What is a handout.

A handout is a structured view of your presentation or Speech <p data-sourcepos="3:1-3:271">A form of communication involving spoken language, it is used to express ideas, share information, tell stories, persuade, or entertain. Public speaking is a powerful tool used in diverse contexts, ranging from casual conversations to formal presentations.</p><br /><h2 data-sourcepos="5:1-5:27"><strong>Components of a Speech:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="7:1-10:0"> <li data-sourcepos="7:1-7:73"><strong>Content:</strong> The information, message, or story conveyed through words.</li> <li data-sourcepos="8:1-8:106"><strong>Delivery:</strong> The vocal and physical presentation, including clarity, volume, gestures, and eye contact.</li> <li data-sourcepos="9:1-10:0"><strong>Structure:</strong> The organization of the content, typically following an introduction, body, and conclusion.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="11:1-11:21"><strong>Speech in Action:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="13:1-17:0"> <li data-sourcepos="13:1-13:88"><strong>Informing:</strong> Sharing knowledge and facts, educating an audience on a specific topic.</li> <li data-sourcepos="14:1-14:119"><strong>Persuading:</strong> Advocating for a particular viewpoint, using arguments and evidence to influence thoughts or actions.</li> <li data-sourcepos="15:1-15:93"><strong>Motivating:</strong> Inspiring and energizing an audience, fostering action and positive change.</li> <li data-sourcepos="16:1-17:0"><strong>Entertaining:</strong> Engaging and delighting an audience through humor, storytelling, or creative language.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="18:1-18:32"><strong>Public Speaking and Anxiety:</strong></h2> <p data-sourcepos="20:1-20:227">Many people experience <strong>public speaking anxiety</strong>, a fear of speaking in front of an audience. While it's common, effective preparation, practice, and breathing techniques can significantly reduce anxiety and improve delivery.</p><br /><h2 data-sourcepos="22:1-22:32"><strong>Different Types of Speeches:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="24:1-28:0"> <li data-sourcepos="24:1-24:81"><strong>Informative speech:</strong> Focuses on conveying information clearly and concisely.</li> <li data-sourcepos="25:1-25:102"><strong>Persuasive speech:</strong> Aims to convince the audience to adopt a particular viewpoint or take action.</li> <li data-sourcepos="26:1-26:99"><strong>Motivational speech:</strong> Inspires and energizes the audience, building enthusiasm and commitment.</li> <li data-sourcepos="27:1-28:0"><strong>Entertaining speech:</strong> Aim to amuse and delight the audience, often using humor, storytelling, or anecdotes.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="29:1-29:33"><strong>Crafting a Compelling Speech:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="31:1-35:0"> <li data-sourcepos="31:1-31:106"><strong>Know your audience:</strong> Tailor your content and delivery to their interests, needs, and prior knowledge.</li> <li data-sourcepos="32:1-32:107"><strong>Have a clear message:</strong> Identify the main point you want to convey and structure your speech around it.</li> <li data-sourcepos="33:1-33:111"><strong>Engage your audience:</strong> Use varied vocal techniques, storytelling, and visual aids to keep them interested.</li> <li data-sourcepos="34:1-35:0"><strong>Practice, practice, practice:</strong> Rehearse your speech out loud to refine your delivery and build confidence.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="36:1-36:13"><strong>Remember:</strong></h2> <p data-sourcepos="38:1-38:281">Speech is a powerful tool for communication, connection, and influence. By understanding its elements, addressing potential anxieties, and tailoring your delivery to different contexts, you can harness the power of speech to achieve your intended goals and captivate your audience.</p> " href="https://orai.com/glossary/speech/" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">speech that you can distribute to the audience.

What are the benefits of a handout?

Like how this blog gives more information than our YouTube video on the different visual aids, handouts can be used to furnish more information than your discourse itself. They give your audience something to take away after your presentation, making you and your presentation more memorable. 

Are you going to be speaking about something overly technical? Then handouts are your friends. Handouts are also an opportunity to facilitate follow-ups if you specify your contact details. 

Handouts are tied with whiteboards and got 2.86% of the votes in our survey.

8. Physical & Online Whiteboards

What is a whiteboard.

Traditionally, whiteboards are white, shiny, and smooth boards on which texts and diagrams are made using non-permanent markers. It is widely used in professional presentations, Brainstorming <p data-sourcepos="3:1-3:132">A collaborative process to generate ideas freely and spontaneously, fostering creative thinking and problem-solving.</p><br /><h2 data-sourcepos="5:1-5:12"><strong>Purpose:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="7:1-11:0"> <li data-sourcepos="7:1-7:73">Develop a wide range of innovative ideas without judgment or criticism.</li> <li data-sourcepos="8:1-8:60">Overcome creative blocks and stimulate fresh perspectives.</li> <li data-sourcepos="9:1-9:67">Encourage participation and engagement from diverse team members.</li> <li data-sourcepos="10:1-11:0">Build upon and combine individual ideas to reach breakthrough solutions.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="12:1-12:17"><strong>Key elements:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="14:1-19:0"> <li data-sourcepos="14:1-14:96"><strong>Openness:</strong> All ideas are welcomed, regardless of their initial feasibility or practicality.</li> <li data-sourcepos="15:1-15:109"><strong>Quantity over quality:</strong> Focus on generating as many ideas as possible, even if they seem unconventional.</li> <li data-sourcepos="16:1-16:93"><strong>Spontaneity:</strong> Encourage quick thinking and rapid-fire suggestions without overanalyzing.</li> <li data-sourcepos="17:1-17:114"><strong>Building upon ideas:</strong> Combine, adapt, and improve upon existing ideas to generate even more unique solutions.</li> <li data-sourcepos="18:1-19:0"><strong>Positive environment:</strong> Maintain a supportive atmosphere where participants feel comfortable sharing their thoughts freely.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="20:1-20:13"><strong>Benefits:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="22:1-26:0"> <li data-sourcepos="22:1-22:68">Sparks creativity and innovation, leading to unexpected solutions.</li> <li data-sourcepos="23:1-23:95">Encourages participation and team building, fostering collaboration and a sense of ownership.</li> <li data-sourcepos="24:1-24:78">It breaks down communication barriers and allows diverse perspectives to shine.</li> <li data-sourcepos="25:1-26:0">It helps identify potential flaws and roadblocks early in the ideation process.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="27:1-27:16"><strong>Application:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="29:1-32:0"> <li data-sourcepos="29:1-29:69">Idea generation for new products, projects, or marketing campaigns.</li> <li data-sourcepos="30:1-30:78">Problem-solving for existing challenges or obstacles within an organization.</li> <li data-sourcepos="31:1-32:0">Developing communication strategies or messaging frameworks.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="33:1-33:38"><strong>Brainstorming for Public Speaking:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="35:1-38:0"> <li data-sourcepos="35:1-35:86">Use brainstorming with your team to research and develop <strong>public speaking topics</strong>.</li> <li data-sourcepos="36:1-36:122">Generate creative ideas for introductions, transitions, and conclusions in your <strong>professional speaking</strong> presentations.</li> <li data-sourcepos="37:1-38:0">Brainstorm innovative ways to incorporate storytelling, humor, or visuals into your speeches.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="39:1-39:190"><strong>Remember:</strong></h2> <p data-sourcepos="39:1-39:190">While brainstorming offers numerous advantages, it's crucial to have a strong facilitator, clear objectives, and a follow-up process to evaluate and refine the generated ideas.</p> " href="https://orai.com/glossary/brainstorming/" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">brainstorming sessions, and group discussions. Post-COVID, more and more companies are moving to online whiteboards. Online whiteboards are software that provides a space where individuals across the globe can collaborate online. Many companies have moved beyond the whiteboard and started using online whiteboards for meetings and discussions.

What are the benefits of a whiteboard?

A whiteboard helps listeners better visualize thoughts, concepts, and ideas. It is also a better alternative to the blackboard for a smaller audience as it is tidier and easier to use. Online whiteboards can be used instead of traditional whiteboards without being limited by space constraints. Online whiteboards will transform virtual meetings into a collaborative experience.

With 2.86% of the votes, whiteboards stand at eight on our list.

9. Blackboard

What is a blackboard.

A blackboard (aka chalkboard) is a surface on which texts or diagrams are made using chalk made from calcium sulfate or calcium carbonate. Blackboards are typically used in classrooms for large groups of students. 

What are the benefits of blackboards?

Blackboard is one of the foremost and most popular teaching aids. Blackboard is useful for teaching as it helps instructors move from easy to complex topics in an organized manner. Diagrams, symbols, charts, and drawings can be introduced in discourse to bring life to rather dull topics. Blackboards are highly interactive, where the teacher and students can participate during a Speech <p data-sourcepos="3:1-3:271">A form of communication involving spoken language, it is used to express ideas, share information, tell stories, persuade, or entertain. Public speaking is a powerful tool used in diverse contexts, ranging from casual conversations to formal presentations.</p><br /><h2 data-sourcepos="5:1-5:27"><strong>Components of a Speech:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="7:1-10:0"> <li data-sourcepos="7:1-7:73"><strong>Content:</strong> The information, message, or story conveyed through words.</li> <li data-sourcepos="8:1-8:106"><strong>Delivery:</strong> The vocal and physical presentation, including clarity, volume, gestures, and eye contact.</li> <li data-sourcepos="9:1-10:0"><strong>Structure:</strong> The organization of the content, typically following an introduction, body, and conclusion.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="11:1-11:21"><strong>Speech in Action:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="13:1-17:0"> <li data-sourcepos="13:1-13:88"><strong>Informing:</strong> Sharing knowledge and facts, educating an audience on a specific topic.</li> <li data-sourcepos="14:1-14:119"><strong>Persuading:</strong> Advocating for a particular viewpoint, using arguments and evidence to influence thoughts or actions.</li> <li data-sourcepos="15:1-15:93"><strong>Motivating:</strong> Inspiring and energizing an audience, fostering action and positive change.</li> <li data-sourcepos="16:1-17:0"><strong>Entertaining:</strong> Engaging and delighting an audience through humor, storytelling, or creative language.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="18:1-18:32"><strong>Public Speaking and Anxiety:</strong></h2> <p data-sourcepos="20:1-20:227">Many people experience <strong>public speaking anxiety</strong>, a fear of speaking in front of an audience. While it's common, effective preparation, practice, and breathing techniques can significantly reduce anxiety and improve delivery.</p><br /><h2 data-sourcepos="22:1-22:32"><strong>Different Types of Speeches:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="24:1-28:0"> <li data-sourcepos="24:1-24:81"><strong>Informative speech:</strong> Focuses on conveying information clearly and concisely.</li> <li data-sourcepos="25:1-25:102"><strong>Persuasive speech:</strong> Aims to convince the audience to adopt a particular viewpoint or take action.</li> <li data-sourcepos="26:1-26:99"><strong>Motivational speech:</strong> Inspires and energizes the audience, building enthusiasm and commitment.</li> <li data-sourcepos="27:1-28:0"><strong>Entertaining speech:</strong> Aim to amuse and delight the audience, often using humor, storytelling, or anecdotes.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="29:1-29:33"><strong>Crafting a Compelling Speech:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="31:1-35:0"> <li data-sourcepos="31:1-31:106"><strong>Know your audience:</strong> Tailor your content and delivery to their interests, needs, and prior knowledge.</li> <li data-sourcepos="32:1-32:107"><strong>Have a clear message:</strong> Identify the main point you want to convey and structure your speech around it.</li> <li data-sourcepos="33:1-33:111"><strong>Engage your audience:</strong> Use varied vocal techniques, storytelling, and visual aids to keep them interested.</li> <li data-sourcepos="34:1-35:0"><strong>Practice, practice, practice:</strong> Rehearse your speech out loud to refine your delivery and build confidence.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="36:1-36:13"><strong>Remember:</strong></h2> <p data-sourcepos="38:1-38:281">Speech is a powerful tool for communication, connection, and influence. By understanding its elements, addressing potential anxieties, and tailoring your delivery to different contexts, you can harness the power of speech to achieve your intended goals and captivate your audience.</p> " href="https://orai.com/glossary/speech/" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">speech . 

With 1.43% of the vote share, the blackboard stands at the bottom, along with flipcharts.

10. Flipchart

What is a flipchart.

Flipcharts consist of a pad of large sheets of paper bound together. It is typically fixed to the upper edge of a whiteboard or canvas. Flipcharts are easy to create and inexpensive fit for small groups of people.

What are the benefits of presenting using a flipchart?

Nowadays, everybody seems only interested in making presentations powered by computer-generated slide decks. However, the flip chart has its charm. Since most presentations consist of less than ten people, flip charts can be a refreshing change to the standard slide deck. Moreover, flipchart does not require electricity. No electricity and no software means fewer of those last-minute hick-ups. 

Flipchart got 1.43% of the vote and shared the bottom position with its counterpart, which we will discuss in the next section.

Master the art of Speech <p data-sourcepos="3:1-3:271">A form of communication involving spoken language, it is used to express ideas, share information, tell stories, persuade, or entertain. Public speaking is a powerful tool used in diverse contexts, ranging from casual conversations to formal presentations.</p><br /><h2 data-sourcepos="5:1-5:27"><strong>Components of a Speech:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="7:1-10:0"> <li data-sourcepos="7:1-7:73"><strong>Content:</strong> The information, message, or story conveyed through words.</li> <li data-sourcepos="8:1-8:106"><strong>Delivery:</strong> The vocal and physical presentation, including clarity, volume, gestures, and eye contact.</li> <li data-sourcepos="9:1-10:0"><strong>Structure:</strong> The organization of the content, typically following an introduction, body, and conclusion.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="11:1-11:21"><strong>Speech in Action:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="13:1-17:0"> <li data-sourcepos="13:1-13:88"><strong>Informing:</strong> Sharing knowledge and facts, educating an audience on a specific topic.</li> <li data-sourcepos="14:1-14:119"><strong>Persuading:</strong> Advocating for a particular viewpoint, using arguments and evidence to influence thoughts or actions.</li> <li data-sourcepos="15:1-15:93"><strong>Motivating:</strong> Inspiring and energizing an audience, fostering action and positive change.</li> <li data-sourcepos="16:1-17:0"><strong>Entertaining:</strong> Engaging and delighting an audience through humor, storytelling, or creative language.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="18:1-18:32"><strong>Public Speaking and Anxiety:</strong></h2> <p data-sourcepos="20:1-20:227">Many people experience <strong>public speaking anxiety</strong>, a fear of speaking in front of an audience. While it's common, effective preparation, practice, and breathing techniques can significantly reduce anxiety and improve delivery.</p><br /><h2 data-sourcepos="22:1-22:32"><strong>Different Types of Speeches:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="24:1-28:0"> <li data-sourcepos="24:1-24:81"><strong>Informative speech:</strong> Focuses on conveying information clearly and concisely.</li> <li data-sourcepos="25:1-25:102"><strong>Persuasive speech:</strong> Aims to convince the audience to adopt a particular viewpoint or take action.</li> <li data-sourcepos="26:1-26:99"><strong>Motivational speech:</strong> Inspires and energizes the audience, building enthusiasm and commitment.</li> <li data-sourcepos="27:1-28:0"><strong>Entertaining speech:</strong> Aim to amuse and delight the audience, often using humor, storytelling, or anecdotes.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="29:1-29:33"><strong>Crafting a Compelling Speech:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="31:1-35:0"> <li data-sourcepos="31:1-31:106"><strong>Know your audience:</strong> Tailor your content and delivery to their interests, needs, and prior knowledge.</li> <li data-sourcepos="32:1-32:107"><strong>Have a clear message:</strong> Identify the main point you want to convey and structure your speech around it.</li> <li data-sourcepos="33:1-33:111"><strong>Engage your audience:</strong> Use varied vocal techniques, storytelling, and visual aids to keep them interested.</li> <li data-sourcepos="34:1-35:0"><strong>Practice, practice, practice:</strong> Rehearse your speech out loud to refine your delivery and build confidence.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="36:1-36:13"><strong>Remember:</strong></h2> <p data-sourcepos="38:1-38:281">Speech is a powerful tool for communication, connection, and influence. By understanding its elements, addressing potential anxieties, and tailoring your delivery to different contexts, you can harness the power of speech to achieve your intended goals and captivate your audience.</p> " href="https://orai.com/glossary/speech/" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">speech , practice with Orai

How to make an informative speech with visual aids in presentations

If you have a presentation coming up soon, you can follow the instructions below to learn how you can take advantage of visual aids: 

Determine your overall objective

The aim of your presentations depends on you, what information is being presented, and your audience. The motivational speaker and the classroom teacher may approach the same types of visual aids differently due to differences in overall objectives. For instance, if you aim to inspire and remind your audience of salient points, a poster template should serve well; infographics work well when trying to show relationships between complex information. A chart will be quite effective if you seek to explain a given data set. For additional inspiration, you might consider using an AI poster generator to create visually appealing and informative posters that captivate your audience.

Choose appropriate visual aids in presentations.

After identifying the overall aim of your presentation, you have to match it with the right visual aids example. Will a graph, picture, or video suffice?  

If you use the PowerPoint Presenter, focus mainly on the media that best conveys your message. Make sure that the notes you add are bold and brief. Try to keep your sentence in one line of text.

Prepare thoroughly 

You will spend some time preparing your visual aids before the day of your presentation. It is good to allow yourself enough time to prepare so you can perfect your work accordingly. Take note of when, where, and how you will use your visual aids. If you discover some inconsistencies, you can compensate for them by adjusting your choice or using visual aids in presentations.

After you have a final draft of your visual aids, run a series of sessions with them. Let your friends or colleagues be your audience and ask for their honest feedback. Make appropriate adjustments where necessary.

During presentation

First, you need to be comfortable and confident. A neat and appropriate dress should boost your Confidence <p data-sourcepos="3:1-3:305">In the context of <strong>public speaking</strong>, <strong>confidence</strong> refers to the belief in one's ability to communicate effectively and deliver one's message with clarity and impact. It encompasses various elements, including self-belief, composure, and the ability to manage one's <strong>fear of public speaking</strong>.</p><br /><h2 data-sourcepos="5:1-5:16"><strong>Key Aspects:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="7:1-12:0"> <li data-sourcepos="7:1-7:108"><strong>Self-belief:</strong> A strong conviction in your knowledge, skills, and ability to connect with your audience.</li> <li data-sourcepos="8:1-8:95"><strong>Composure:</strong> Maintaining calmness and poise under pressure, even in challenging situations.</li> <li data-sourcepos="9:1-9:100"><strong>Assertiveness:</strong> Expressing your ideas clearly and concisely, avoiding hesitation or self-doubt.</li> <li data-sourcepos="10:1-10:104"><strong>Positive self-talk:</strong> Countering negative thoughts with affirmations and focusing on your strengths.</li> <li data-sourcepos="11:1-12:0"><strong>Strong body language:</strong> Using gestures, posture, and eye contact that project confidence and professionalism.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="13:1-13:27"><strong>Benefits of Confidence:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="15:1-19:0"> <li data-sourcepos="15:1-15:99"><strong>Reduced anxiety:</strong> Feeling confident helps manage <strong>fear of public speaking</strong> and stage fright.</li> <li data-sourcepos="16:1-16:133"><strong>Engaging delivery:</strong> Confident speakers project their voices, hold eye contact, and connect with their audience more effectively.</li> <li data-sourcepos="17:1-17:137"><strong>Increased persuasiveness:</strong> A confident presentation inspires belief and motivates your audience to listen and remember your message.</li> <li data-sourcepos="18:1-19:0"><strong>Greater impact:</strong> Confidently delivered speeches leave a lasting impression and achieve desired outcomes.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="20:1-20:15"><strong>Challenges:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="22:1-26:0"> <li data-sourcepos="22:1-22:112">Overcoming <strong>fear of public speaking</strong>: Many people experience some level of anxiety when speaking publicly.</li> <li data-sourcepos="23:1-23:101"><strong>Imposter syndrome:</strong> Doubting your abilities and qualifications, even when objectively qualified.</li> <li data-sourcepos="24:1-24:92"><strong>Negative self-talk:</strong> Internalized criticism and limiting beliefs can hamper confidence.</li> <li data-sourcepos="25:1-26:0"><strong>Past negative experiences:</strong> Unsuccessful presentations or negative feedback can erode confidence.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="27:1-27:24"><strong>Building Confidence:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="29:1-36:0"> <li data-sourcepos="29:1-29:102"><strong>Practice and preparation:</strong> Thoroughly rehearse your speech to feel comfortable with the material.</li> <li data-sourcepos="30:1-30:101"><strong>Visualization:</strong> Imagine yourself delivering a successful presentation with confidence and poise.</li> <li data-sourcepos="31:1-31:100"><strong>Positive self-talk:</strong> Actively replace negative thoughts with affirmations about your abilities.</li> <li data-sourcepos="32:1-32:106"><strong>Seek feedback:</strong> Ask trusted individuals for constructive criticism and use it to improve your skills.</li> <li data-sourcepos="33:1-33:157">Consider a <strong>speaking coach</strong>: Working with a coach can provide personalized guidance and support to address specific challenges and confidence barriers.</li> <li data-sourcepos="34:1-34:114"><strong>Start small:</strong> Gradually increase the size and complexity of your speaking engagements as you gain experience.</li> <li data-sourcepos="35:1-36:0"><strong>Focus on progress:</strong> Celebrate small successes and acknowledge your improvement over time.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="37:1-37:282"><strong>Remember:</strong></h2> <p data-sourcepos="37:1-37:282"><strong>Confidence</strong> in public speaking is a journey, not a destination. By actively practicing, embracing feedback, and focusing on your strengths, you can overcome <strong>fear of public speaking</strong> and develop the <strong>confidence</strong> to deliver impactful and memorable presentations.</p> " href="https://orai.com/glossary/confidence/" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">confidence . Follow the tips below during presentations.

• Keep your face on your audience. It may help to look a little above their heads while presenting.
• Only point to or take the visual aid when needed. When you do, explain what you mean immediately.
• Do not read texts on your visual aids verbatim.
• Once a visual aid has served its purpose, you should keep it away from your audience’s view.

If you need more help boosting your Confidence <p data-sourcepos="3:1-3:305">In the context of <strong>public speaking</strong>, <strong>confidence</strong> refers to the belief in one's ability to communicate effectively and deliver one's message with clarity and impact. It encompasses various elements, including self-belief, composure, and the ability to manage one's <strong>fear of public speaking</strong>.</p><br /><h2 data-sourcepos="5:1-5:16"><strong>Key Aspects:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="7:1-12:0"> <li data-sourcepos="7:1-7:108"><strong>Self-belief:</strong> A strong conviction in your knowledge, skills, and ability to connect with your audience.</li> <li data-sourcepos="8:1-8:95"><strong>Composure:</strong> Maintaining calmness and poise under pressure, even in challenging situations.</li> <li data-sourcepos="9:1-9:100"><strong>Assertiveness:</strong> Expressing your ideas clearly and concisely, avoiding hesitation or self-doubt.</li> <li data-sourcepos="10:1-10:104"><strong>Positive self-talk:</strong> Countering negative thoughts with affirmations and focusing on your strengths.</li> <li data-sourcepos="11:1-12:0"><strong>Strong body language:</strong> Using gestures, posture, and eye contact that project confidence and professionalism.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="13:1-13:27"><strong>Benefits of Confidence:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="15:1-19:0"> <li data-sourcepos="15:1-15:99"><strong>Reduced anxiety:</strong> Feeling confident helps manage <strong>fear of public speaking</strong> and stage fright.</li> <li data-sourcepos="16:1-16:133"><strong>Engaging delivery:</strong> Confident speakers project their voices, hold eye contact, and connect with their audience more effectively.</li> <li data-sourcepos="17:1-17:137"><strong>Increased persuasiveness:</strong> A confident presentation inspires belief and motivates your audience to listen and remember your message.</li> <li data-sourcepos="18:1-19:0"><strong>Greater impact:</strong> Confidently delivered speeches leave a lasting impression and achieve desired outcomes.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="20:1-20:15"><strong>Challenges:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="22:1-26:0"> <li data-sourcepos="22:1-22:112">Overcoming <strong>fear of public speaking</strong>: Many people experience some level of anxiety when speaking publicly.</li> <li data-sourcepos="23:1-23:101"><strong>Imposter syndrome:</strong> Doubting your abilities and qualifications, even when objectively qualified.</li> <li data-sourcepos="24:1-24:92"><strong>Negative self-talk:</strong> Internalized criticism and limiting beliefs can hamper confidence.</li> <li data-sourcepos="25:1-26:0"><strong>Past negative experiences:</strong> Unsuccessful presentations or negative feedback can erode confidence.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="27:1-27:24"><strong>Building Confidence:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="29:1-36:0"> <li data-sourcepos="29:1-29:102"><strong>Practice and preparation:</strong> Thoroughly rehearse your speech to feel comfortable with the material.</li> <li data-sourcepos="30:1-30:101"><strong>Visualization:</strong> Imagine yourself delivering a successful presentation with confidence and poise.</li> <li data-sourcepos="31:1-31:100"><strong>Positive self-talk:</strong> Actively replace negative thoughts with affirmations about your abilities.</li> <li data-sourcepos="32:1-32:106"><strong>Seek feedback:</strong> Ask trusted individuals for constructive criticism and use it to improve your skills.</li> <li data-sourcepos="33:1-33:157">Consider a <strong>speaking coach</strong>: Working with a coach can provide personalized guidance and support to address specific challenges and confidence barriers.</li> <li data-sourcepos="34:1-34:114"><strong>Start small:</strong> Gradually increase the size and complexity of your speaking engagements as you gain experience.</li> <li data-sourcepos="35:1-36:0"><strong>Focus on progress:</strong> Celebrate small successes and acknowledge your improvement over time.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="37:1-37:282"><strong>Remember:</strong></h2> <p data-sourcepos="37:1-37:282"><strong>Confidence</strong> in public speaking is a journey, not a destination. By actively practicing, embracing feedback, and focusing on your strengths, you can overcome <strong>fear of public speaking</strong> and develop the <strong>confidence</strong> to deliver impactful and memorable presentations.</p> " href="https://orai.com/glossary/confidence/" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">confidence , we have written a detailed piece on how to conquer your fear of speaking in front of people.

What is the importance of using visuals in giving a presentation?

Visual aids in presentations are invaluable to you and the audience you hope to enlighten. They make the job easier for you, and the audience leaves feeling like they learned something. Apart from their time-saving abilities, here are some reasons why you need to incorporate visual aids in your presentations:

• Visual aids can help your audience retain the information long-term. 
• The human brain processes images faster than text, so visuals make us understand things faster.
• Using visual aids makes your presentations more enjoyable, interactive, and memorable.
• Visual aids help your audience connect and relate with you better
• Presentations with visual aids are less likely to be misunderstood or misrepresented. They are usually easier to understand and leave little room for confusion
• Visual designs help stimulate cognition and they are great for people with learning disabilities.
• Visual aids act as key cards and pointers for the presenter and help you keep track of what you’re saying

What are the ideas for speech topics using visual aids?

• Use a picture or image that closely represents the topic. A one-hundred-dollar note can suggest topics revolving around money and finances.
• Use a chart showing trends or statistics that your audience finds appealing. You can use popular sayings or quotes to generate topics your audience can relate to.
• Newspaper headlines on related issues can be good starters for opinion-based topics.

Why is the use of color important in presentations, according to research?

Color plays a crucial role in presentations, boosting audience engagement with its ability to enhance motivation and create visually appealing visuals. By understanding color theory and using shades thoughtfully, presenters can ensure their work is professional and organized and accessible to a diverse audience, considering color blindness and cultural associations.

What are the key points to consider when using visual aids in a presentation?

Ensure effective and engaging visuals in your presentation by considering the space, practicing beforehand, utilizing and limiting color strategically (considering color blindness), and maintaining consistency throughout your presentation.

What are some tips for using objects or artifacts as visual aids in presentations?

Objects in presentations can captivate your audience! Choose relevant objects for demonstrations or explanations. In small groups, pass the object around but manage time. For larger audiences, move it around for clear visibility. Reveal the object at the right moment with context and explanation. If demonstrating, use deliberate movements and explain each step clearly to keep them engaged.

What are some tips for using visual aids to engage the audience and maintain their interest?

Capture and keep your audience’s attention with impactful visuals! Ensure clear visibility, maintain eye contact, and use visuals to complement your spoken words, not replace them. Explain each visual promptly and remove it seamlessly when finished to refocus attention on your message.

How can visual aids be tailored to suit the audience and make the presentation more effective?

Craft impactful presentations by tailoring visuals to your audience and goals. Choose relevant and resonant visuals, be it a graph, picture, or video, accompanied by clear, concise notes. Prepare thoroughly, refining visuals and considering timing, context, and integration. Seek feedback to fine-tune for optimal audience connection.

How should one prepare and use visual aids effectively during a presentation?

Prepare polished visuals beforehand, considering timing, context, and integration. Seek feedback. During your presentation, prioritize Clarity <p data-sourcepos="3:1-3:269">In <strong>public speaking</strong>, <strong>clarity</strong> refers to the quality of your message being readily understood and interpreted by your audience. It encompasses both the content and delivery of your speech, ensuring your message resonates and leaves a lasting impact.</p><br /><h2 data-sourcepos="5:1-5:16"><strong>Key Aspects:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="7:1-13:0"> <li data-sourcepos="7:1-7:133"><strong>Conciseness:</strong> Avoid unnecessary details, digressions, or excessive complexity. Focus on delivering the core message efficiently.</li> <li data-sourcepos="8:1-8:149"><strong>Simple language:</strong> Choose words and phrases your audience understands readily, avoiding jargon or technical terms unless you define them clearly.</li> <li data-sourcepos="9:1-9:145"><strong>Logical structure:</strong> Organize your thoughts and ideas logically, using transitions and signposts to guide your audience through your message.</li> <li data-sourcepos="10:1-10:136"><strong>Effective visuals:</strong> If using visuals, ensure they are clear, contribute to your message, and don't distract from your spoken words.</li> <li data-sourcepos="11:1-11:144"><strong>Confident delivery:</strong> Speak clearly and articulately, avoiding mumbling or rushing your words. Maintain good eye contact with your audience.</li> <li data-sourcepos="12:1-13:0"><strong>Active voice:</strong> Emphasize active voice for better flow and avoid passive constructions that can be less engaging.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="14:1-14:24"><strong>Benefits of Clarity:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="16:1-20:0"> <li data-sourcepos="16:1-16:123"><strong>Enhanced audience engagement:</strong> A clear message keeps your audience interested and helps them grasp your points easily.</li> <li data-sourcepos="17:1-17:123"><strong>Increased credibility:</strong> Clear communication projects professionalism and expertise, building trust with your audience.</li> <li data-sourcepos="18:1-18:111"><strong>Improved persuasiveness:</strong> A well-understood message is more likely to resonate and win over your audience.</li> <li data-sourcepos="19:1-20:0"><strong>Reduced confusion:</strong> Eliminating ambiguity minimizes misinterpretations and ensures your message arrives as intended.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="21:1-21:15"><strong>Challenges:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="23:1-27:0"> <li data-sourcepos="23:1-23:129"><strong>Condensing complex information:</strong> Simplifying complex topics without sacrificing crucial details requires skill and practice.</li> <li data-sourcepos="24:1-24:128"><strong>Understanding your audience:</strong> Tailoring your language and structure to resonate with a diverse audience can be challenging.</li> <li data-sourcepos="25:1-25:85"><strong>Managing nerves:</strong> Nerves can impact your delivery, making it unclear or rushed.</li> <li data-sourcepos="26:1-27:0"><strong>Avoiding jargon:</strong> Breaking technical habits and simplifying language requires constant awareness.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="28:1-28:22"><strong>Improving Clarity:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="30:1-35:0"> <li data-sourcepos="30:1-30:117"><strong>Practice and rehearse:</strong> The more you rehearse your speech, the more natural and clear your delivery will become.</li> <li data-sourcepos="31:1-31:107"><strong>Seek feedback:</strong> Share your draft speech with others and ask for feedback on clarity and comprehension.</li> <li data-sourcepos="32:1-32:161"><strong>Consider a public speaking coach:</strong> A coach can provide personalized guidance on structuring your message, simplifying language, and improving your delivery.</li> <li data-sourcepos="33:1-33:128"><strong>Join a public speaking group:</strong> Practicing in a supportive environment can help you gain confidence and refine your clarity.</li> <li data-sourcepos="34:1-35:0"><strong>Listen to effective speakers:</strong> Analyze how clear and impactful others achieve communication.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="36:1-36:250"><strong>Remember:</strong></h2> <p data-sourcepos="36:1-36:250"><strong>Clarity</strong> is a cornerstone of impactful <strong>public speaking</strong>. By honing your message, focusing on delivery, and actively seeking feedback, you can ensure your audience receives your message clearly and leaves a lasting impression.</p> " href="https://orai.com/glossary/clarity/" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">clarity , avoid overwhelming the audience, and use visuals purposefully to enhance, not replace, your message. Practice beforehand and maintain audience engagement through confident delivery.

The visual aid definition is very clear on how much impact using visual aids in Public Speaking <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Public speaking refers to any live presentation or speech. It can cover a variety of topics on various fields and careers (you can find out more about public speaking careers here: https://orai.com/blog/public-speaking-careers/.  Public speaking can inform, entertain, or educate an audience and sometimes has visual aids.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --><br /><!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Public speaking is done live, so the speakers need to consider certain factors to deliver a successful speech. No matter how good the speech is, if the audience doesn't connect with the speaker, then it may fall flat. Therefore, speakers have to use a lot more nonverbal communication techniques to deliver their message. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --><br /><!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Tips for public speaking</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --><br /><!-- wp:list --> <ul> <li>Have a sense of humor.</li> <li>Tell personal stories that relate to the speech you're giving.</li> <li>Dress appropriately for the event. Formal and business casual outfits work best.</li> <li>Project a confident and expressive voice.</li> <li>Always try to use simple language that everyone can understand.</li> <li>Stick to the time given to you.</li> <li>Maintain eye contact with members of your audience and try to connect with them.</li> </ul> <!-- /wp:list --> " href="https://orai.com/glossary/public-speaking/" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">public speaking has on an audience. With a great selection of visual aids, you can transform your presentations into a pleasant experience that you and your audience will always look forward to.

Become a confident speaker. Practice with Orai and get feedback on your tone,  tempo, Conciseness <p data-sourcepos="3:1-3:326">In the realm of <strong>public speaking</strong>, <strong>conciseness</strong> refers to the ability to express your message clearly and effectively using the fewest possible words. It's about conveying your ideas precisely, avoiding unnecessary details and rambling while maintaining your message's essence and impact.</p><br /><h2 data-sourcepos="5:1-5:33"><strong>Benefits for Public Speakers:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="7:1-11:0"> <li data-sourcepos="7:1-7:137"><strong>Engaged audience:</strong> A concise speech keeps your audience focused and prevents them from losing interest due to excessive information.</li> <li data-sourcepos="8:1-8:117"><strong>Increased clarity:</strong> By removing unnecessary clutter, your core message becomes clearer and easier to understand.</li> <li data-sourcepos="9:1-9:137"><strong>Enhanced credibility:</strong> Concise communication projects professionalism and efficiency, making you appear more confident and prepared.</li> <li data-sourcepos="10:1-11:0"><strong>Reduced anxiety:</strong> Knowing you have a clear and concise message can help manage <strong>public speaking anxiety</strong> by minimizing the pressure to fill time.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="12:1-12:35"><strong>Challenges for Public Speakers:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="14:1-17:0"> <li data-sourcepos="14:1-14:126"><strong>Striking a balance:</strong> Knowing where to draw the line between conciseness and omitting important information can be tricky.</li> <li data-sourcepos="15:1-15:115"><strong>Avoiding oversimplification:</strong> Complex topics may require elaboration to ensure clarity and understanding.</li> <li data-sourcepos="16:1-17:0"><strong>Overcoming natural tendencies:</strong> Some speakers naturally use more words than others, requiring a conscious effort to be concise.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="18:1-18:41"><strong>Strategies for Achieving Conciseness:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="20:1-25:0"> <li data-sourcepos="20:1-20:92"><strong>Identify your core message:</strong> What is your audience's main point to remember?</li> <li data-sourcepos="21:1-21:128"><strong>Prioritize and eliminate:</strong> Analyze your content and remove any information not directly supporting your core message.</li> <li data-sourcepos="22:1-22:133"><strong>Use strong verbs and active voice:</strong> This makes your sentences more impactful and avoids passive constructions that can be wordy.</li> <li data-sourcepos="23:1-23:109"><strong>Simplify your language:</strong> Avoid jargon and technical terms unless they are essential and clearly defined.</li> <li data-sourcepos="24:1-25:0"><strong>Practice and refine:</strong> Rehearse your speech aloud and identify areas where you can tighten your wording or eliminate redundancies.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="26:1-26:20"><strong>Additional Tips:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="28:1-31:0"> <li data-sourcepos="28:1-28:93"><strong>Use storytelling:</strong> Engaging narratives can convey complex ideas concisely and memorably.</li> <li data-sourcepos="29:1-29:110"><strong>Focus on the visuals:</strong> Powerful visuals can support your message without extensive explanation.</li> <li data-sourcepos="30:1-31:0"><strong>Embrace silence:</strong> Pausing deliberately can emphasize key points and give your audience time to absorb your message.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="32:1-32:404"><strong>Remember:</strong></h2> <p data-sourcepos="32:1-32:404"><strong>Conciseness</strong> is a powerful tool for <strong>public speakers</strong>. By eliminating unnecessary words and focusing on your core message, you can create a more engaging, impactful, and memorable presentation for your audience. This can also help manage <strong>public speaking anxiety</strong> by reducing the pressure to fill time and enabling you to focus on delivering your message with clarity and confidence.</p> " href="https://orai.com/glossary/conciseness/" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">conciseness , and Confidence <p data-sourcepos="3:1-3:305">In the context of <strong>public speaking</strong>, <strong>confidence</strong> refers to the belief in one's ability to communicate effectively and deliver one's message with clarity and impact. It encompasses various elements, including self-belief, composure, and the ability to manage one's <strong>fear of public speaking</strong>.</p><br /><h2 data-sourcepos="5:1-5:16"><strong>Key Aspects:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="7:1-12:0"> <li data-sourcepos="7:1-7:108"><strong>Self-belief:</strong> A strong conviction in your knowledge, skills, and ability to connect with your audience.</li> <li data-sourcepos="8:1-8:95"><strong>Composure:</strong> Maintaining calmness and poise under pressure, even in challenging situations.</li> <li data-sourcepos="9:1-9:100"><strong>Assertiveness:</strong> Expressing your ideas clearly and concisely, avoiding hesitation or self-doubt.</li> <li data-sourcepos="10:1-10:104"><strong>Positive self-talk:</strong> Countering negative thoughts with affirmations and focusing on your strengths.</li> <li data-sourcepos="11:1-12:0"><strong>Strong body language:</strong> Using gestures, posture, and eye contact that project confidence and professionalism.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="13:1-13:27"><strong>Benefits of Confidence:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="15:1-19:0"> <li data-sourcepos="15:1-15:99"><strong>Reduced anxiety:</strong> Feeling confident helps manage <strong>fear of public speaking</strong> and stage fright.</li> <li data-sourcepos="16:1-16:133"><strong>Engaging delivery:</strong> Confident speakers project their voices, hold eye contact, and connect with their audience more effectively.</li> <li data-sourcepos="17:1-17:137"><strong>Increased persuasiveness:</strong> A confident presentation inspires belief and motivates your audience to listen and remember your message.</li> <li data-sourcepos="18:1-19:0"><strong>Greater impact:</strong> Confidently delivered speeches leave a lasting impression and achieve desired outcomes.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="20:1-20:15"><strong>Challenges:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="22:1-26:0"> <li data-sourcepos="22:1-22:112">Overcoming <strong>fear of public speaking</strong>: Many people experience some level of anxiety when speaking publicly.</li> <li data-sourcepos="23:1-23:101"><strong>Imposter syndrome:</strong> Doubting your abilities and qualifications, even when objectively qualified.</li> <li data-sourcepos="24:1-24:92"><strong>Negative self-talk:</strong> Internalized criticism and limiting beliefs can hamper confidence.</li> <li data-sourcepos="25:1-26:0"><strong>Past negative experiences:</strong> Unsuccessful presentations or negative feedback can erode confidence.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="27:1-27:24"><strong>Building Confidence:</strong></h2> <ul data-sourcepos="29:1-36:0"> <li data-sourcepos="29:1-29:102"><strong>Practice and preparation:</strong> Thoroughly rehearse your speech to feel comfortable with the material.</li> <li data-sourcepos="30:1-30:101"><strong>Visualization:</strong> Imagine yourself delivering a successful presentation with confidence and poise.</li> <li data-sourcepos="31:1-31:100"><strong>Positive self-talk:</strong> Actively replace negative thoughts with affirmations about your abilities.</li> <li data-sourcepos="32:1-32:106"><strong>Seek feedback:</strong> Ask trusted individuals for constructive criticism and use it to improve your skills.</li> <li data-sourcepos="33:1-33:157">Consider a <strong>speaking coach</strong>: Working with a coach can provide personalized guidance and support to address specific challenges and confidence barriers.</li> <li data-sourcepos="34:1-34:114"><strong>Start small:</strong> Gradually increase the size and complexity of your speaking engagements as you gain experience.</li> <li data-sourcepos="35:1-36:0"><strong>Focus on progress:</strong> Celebrate small successes and acknowledge your improvement over time.</li> </ul> <h2 data-sourcepos="37:1-37:282"><strong>Remember:</strong></h2> <p data-sourcepos="37:1-37:282"><strong>Confidence</strong> in public speaking is a journey, not a destination. By actively practicing, embracing feedback, and focusing on your strengths, you can overcome <strong>fear of public speaking</strong> and develop the <strong>confidence</strong> to deliver impactful and memorable presentations.</p> " href="https://orai.com/glossary/confidence/" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">confidence .

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Visual Aids Presentations: How to Make a Powerful Impact

When you step up to give a presentation, you want to make sure that your message won’t get lost in translation. Enter the power of Visual Aids.

Whether you’re giving a business presentation to a room of colleagues, or speaking to a hundred people at a seminar, using visual aids can really help capture their attention. When used effectively, visual presentations are like taking a mental roller coaster—you start with a few warm-up slides , then you’re off to the races, and by the time you finish, it feels as if you’ve been on an unforgettable journey.

But how do you make sure your visual presentation sticks the landing? In this blog post, we’ll discuss the key components of creating a powerful visual aid presentation that will have the impact you desire. So, warm up the engines, get ready for takeoff and let’s learn how to make a powerful visual presentation!

Why Use Visual Aids for Presentations?

As technologies and audiences continually evolve, visual aids play an increasingly vital role in how presenters engage with their audience. Visuals can stimulate the audience’s interest, help them stay focused, and ultimately make a far more powerful impression. Below are some of the key reasons why presenters should incorporate visuals into their presentations: 1. Enhance Comprehension: It has been shown that visuals can significantly enhance comprehension by up to 89%. This is because visuals provide a clear, easy-to-understand way of displaying complex concepts and data that would take far longer to explain using words alone. Additionally, presenting information with visuals reinforces key points and encourages viewers to remember the main message of the presentation. 2. Attention Grabbing: Because visuals can quickly capture the attention of a viewer they make it easier for presenters to focus their audience’s attention on the most important parts of the presentation. This means presenters do not need to rely solely on verbal explanations and often dramatic charts or results can draw audiences in at just the right moment. This can be especially effective during board meetings or high-level projects when stakeholders need to quickly grasp important information. 3. Improved Memorability: In an age where most of us are bombarded with information from screens, emails and text messages, simply reading aloud from a script often loses its impact over time. By leveraging visuals such as graphs, infographics and compelling images, it is much easier for speakers to keep their audience interested and engaged for extended periods of time. This helps both parties maintain a clear understanding of what is being presented and makes it easier for attendees to remember crucial facts months down the road. The potential downsides of visual aids presentations include clutter, distraction and a lack of engagement if visuals are poorly executed or there is too much discussion around individual slides that gets away from the core message or goal of each slide. To avoid this problem it is critical that the presenter prepares visuals carefully so that each one reinforces the message being conveyed without becoming overly focused on data points or causing distraction. Visual aids offer numerous benefits for improving communication , engagement, engagement and memorability when used correctly within presentations, which will be discussed further in the next section on “Improved Communication and Engagement.

Improved Communication and Engagement

For a presentation to be truly successful, communicative and engaging elements are essential. Through the use of visuals, communication during presentations can be greatly enhanced and interactive dialogue can easily be spurred. The simple addition of visual aids can help attendees pay closer attention to the speaker and better understand the main points of the presentation. This helps prevent confusion as attendees are drawn to different slides as topics transition throughout the presentation. Arguments have been raised that visual aids have a higher potential for confusing rather than clarifying content when used inappropriately. It is possible for some presenters to place too much focus on their slides, taking away from their own storytelling or providing additional and unnecessary information than what is needed. Although there is potential for visuals to obscure communication, the counter argument suggests that with appropriate preparation, visual aids can lead to deeper understanding rather than confusion. With careful preparation and understanding of one’s audience and material, presentations can be influential tools to educate attendees and draw them in with captivating visuals that engage. By understanding engagement patterns, presenters should strive for adding visuals as supplements to chosen content that further illustrate topics of discussion rather than subtracting from them. With this approach in mind, presenters should ensure they are engaging with their audience while using visuals as an extra layer of communication, rather than a distraction from their main message. The thoughtful consideration of these aspects during preparation is integral for making a powerful impact during visual aid presentations. This leads into the next section which will discuss tips on how to prepare effectively before giving a presentation with visuals.

Preparation for Visual Aids Presentations

Prior to giving a visual aid presentation, there are some key steps to ensure optimum success. An important aspect of any presentation is preparation and proper planning . Planning entails organizing the information one wishes to impart as well as understanding who the audience is and what they need or expect from the presentation. Preparation helps identify weaknesses before the day of the presentation so they can be addressed beforehand. The other key element is the content itself. When creating a presentation, it’s important to ensure that all material is accurate, relevant, and well-researched. If using graphical elements such as diagrams and images, assess their relevance and accuracy in order to make sure the visuals add value instead of detracting from your message. Furthermore, find a way to explain complex concepts in simple terms using visuals as an aid rather than relying solely on a lengthy explanation. It might also be beneficial to choose a tool that allows for interactivity with attendees . This could come in the form of an audience poll or game that engages participants and allows them to gain more insight into your topic during the presentation. When constructing the slides themselves, keep them simple with minimal text and use appropriate colors that coordinate with each other while allowing different aspects of your visuals to stand out. Also avoid long paragraphs; instead, break up content into chunks within separate slides. As a general rule of thumb, fewer slides usually means more successful presentations. Lastly, time spent rehearsing will pay off during the live performance; if you feel comfortable enough presenting to coworkers or peers beforehand, do so in order to receive feedback and perfect your craft ahead of time. In this way, you can be confident in knowing what to expect once standing in front of a larger crowd about to deliver your presentation with visual aids. Having gone through these preparatory steps for a powerful visual aid presentation, the next step is determining exactly how these visuals will communicate your message effectively: What are you trying to communicate?

What Are You Trying to Communicate?

When determining the goal of a presentation , it is important to consider what one is trying to communicate. Visual aids can be used to demonstrate an idea or concept , show relationships between data, uncover social trends and patterns, or illustrate complex information in an easier-to-understand way. Depending on the type of visual aids, presenters may opt for a straightforward approach or choose methods designed to evoke emotion from their audience. For analytical presentations where technical visuals such as graphs are used, precision and accuracy are paramount. Presenters need to ensure that their data is accurate and their visuals clearly convey the message they are trying to communicate. On the other hand, when creating emotional visuals geared towards storytelling, identifying the right images or videos to represent the story can help ensure viewers understand the desired message. Both analytical presentations using technical visuals and emotional storytelling visuals are essential tools in making an impactful and powerful presentation. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses that should be taken into consideration when deciding which format best suits the presented materials and content. With this knowledge, speakers can leverage both types of visual aids to create powerful presentations tailored to their unique needs. Finally, as a presenter, you should have a clear understanding of what you are trying to communicate in your presentation before selecting any visual aides. With this knowledge in mind, you can move forward to the next section about Visual Aids Tools and Examples for helpful tips on choosing the right tools for your presentation.

Visual Aids Tools and Examples

Visual aids – such as pictures, charts, and graphs – can be powerful tools for making presentations more effective. They are essential for helping people understand the concept being discussed, and for creating a more engaging experience. However, when used improperly, visual aids can distract from the main message or become a crutch. In order to maximize their impact, it is important to understand which types of visual aids are most appropriate for different kind of presentations. Commonly used visual aid tools include infographics, diagrams, photos, slideshows, videos, and other multimedia. Smartly designed diagrams can help simplify complex information into a graphic representation that is easier to understand and remember. Infographics are useful when you want to convey data in a visually appealing way while keeping the focus on the key points. Photos create an emotional connection with the audience and can be used to strengthen your point. Slideshows are popular options for making PowerPoint presentations more dynamic, while videos can upgrade any presentation by providing an entertaining yet informative way to engage listeners. On one hand, visuals help audiences remember information better by giving them something concrete to relate to and take away after the presentation is over. On the other hand, too many visuals may make it difficult for them to focus on what’s being said or cause confusion about which points are most important. Thus it is important to choose visuals thoughtfully and judiciously when designing a presentation in order to both capture attention and effectively convey the message intended. To make your presentation even more powerful, consider incorporating graphic design elements into the visuals you choose. Graphic design techniques such as color theory and typography can be used to help viewers recognize patterns or relationships among ideas being presented that would otherwise remain hidden beneath words alone. These techniques also create visual interest which engages viewers for longer periods of time and keeps them actively taking in new information as opposed to simply passing through it without learning anything along the way. So with careful consideration given toward both content and context of visuals selected for a presentation, combined with an understanding of how graphics design principles work together; massive impact can be created through effective visual aids. This brings us now to examine PowerPoint and graphic design in greater detail as part of our next section.

PowerPoint and Graphic Design

When considering visuals within presentations, few tools can rival the popularity of PowerPoint. Much of its success is due to its ease of use – slides are easy to create, and the program has a wealth of features that make it suitable for all levels of users. For example, the ready-made slide designs and templates can help even inexperienced presenters to create visually appealing slides in no time with minimal effort. At the same time, however, it is important to recognize that there are times when PowerPoint may be ill suited for a particular scenario. For example, when giving a lecture or seminar on a complex topic, or when wanting to engage an audience with creative visuals. In addition, though PowerPoint contains tools for incorporating graphics into slides, those tools are limited in scope and power. Creating advanced graphics and animated images often requires access to more sophisticated graphic design software. Enterprising presenters should consider taking advantage of both PowerPoint and graphic design skills when planning a presentation. When used together in tandem they can create amazing visuals that engage an audience while also conveying complex information in simple terms. With such powerful visuals it is possible to craft presentations that make lasting impressions on your audience and leave them inspired by what they have seen and heard. Having established how effective combination of PowerPoint and graphic design can be in creating presentations that make a powerful impact, the next section will discuss how to incorporate engaging visuals into a presentation so that it is truly memorable.

Engaging Visuals

Visuals can often be the most powerful and engaging element of a presentation . Using a variety of visuals, such as charts, graphs, or images, can help capture an audience’s attention in ways that words alone might not. However, some debates exists as to when and how often visuals should be used in a presentation. Those who prioritize visuals believe that they are essential in conveying a message or idea quickly and effectively. They argue that a good visual aids presentation will leave a lasting impression on the audience. Good visuals allow the presenter to focus on delivering information in an engaging manner, rather than wasting time with factual reciting. Additionally, visuals can also act as memorable reminders for what was covered during the presentation. Others point out that too many visuals can detract from the impact of each one. In overloaded presentations, each individual visual will be viewed less seriously and thus have less influence overall. The importance of visuals may also vary depending on the desired outcome for the presentation. Some audiences need more detailed factual data than others, and therefore visuals may not always be necessary. Overall, there is no single way to use visuals – every presenter needs to decide what makes the most sense for their audience and goals. But when done strategically and thoughtfully, using visuals in presentations can lead to more powerful and impactful experiences overall. As we move on to our next section about Examples and Graphic Design, let’s discuss how you can design your own unique visuals for maximum impact.

Examples and Graphic Design

The visual content in a presentation can be nearly as vital as the words. After all, a good graphic illustration can communicate complex data quickly and effectively. As such, it is important to choose your design elements and examples carefully when creating a visual aid. When it comes to examples, experts suggest keeping them to relevant, evidence-based statements that support the key points of your argument. For example, if you are making the case for why a new software system should be adopted by your company, include specific figures related to cost savings or increased productivity to back up your claim. With this type of evidence strongly displayed in graphics, it will more easily resonate with the audience and make an impact. It is also important to pay attention to the overall graphic design. That means selecting vivid colors, bold fonts, and interesting infographics. Too many images or bright colors can seem overwhelming though, so strike a balance between clear points communicated effectively and eye-catching visuals. This will help keep your audience engaged while still providing necessary information. When it comes to using visual aids effectively, there are certain tools and strategies that can make a powerful impact on how well data is received. In the next section we will discuss some of those tips for successful visual presentations.

Using Visual Aids Effectively

Using visual aids effectively is essential for a successful presentation. Visual aids can capture the audience’s attention and engage them in the material. When used correctly, visual aids can also give ideas more clarity and help to reinforce key points. Many speakers debate just how effective visual aids actually are in helping to convey a message. On one hand, many people believe that visuals are helpful to conveying a message because viewers are able to clearly understand what’s being said better than if it were presented through words alone. According to research done by the University of Minnesota, visual aids can increase the amount of information retained by viewers in comparison to solely verbal presentations. Plus, visuals can draw on viewers’ emotions, which helps them stay engaged throughout a presentation. The other side of the argument is that overusing visual aids can be distracting and take away from the primary purpose—the speech itself. Too much emphasis on visuals may lead viewers to focus solely on the graphics instead of absorbing the actual content of the presentation. Also, if visuals are too complex, viewers may not pay attention due to having trouble understanding or deciphering the data being presented. Visual aids play an important role in making a powerful impact during a presentation. It’s imperative that presenters use them effectively and strive for balance between words and visuals for a successful outcome. To learn more about how to use visual aids with professionalism, continue reading for further details in the next section.

How to Use Visual Aids With Professionalism

Visual aids can be an important component of any successful presentation; they make it easier to understand specialized topics, tell stories , and draw the audience in. When used correctly, visual aids can greatly amplify the impact of a message and help any speaker deliver a memorable lecture or speech . It is important to consider how using visual aids affects the professionalism of a presentation. Too many elements can detract from the focus or cause confusion among the audience, while too few can leave them lacking in interest or engagement. That said, some types of visuals may not be suitable for certain settings. Political cartoons, for example, could be deemed inappropriate in professional contexts. It is wise for speakers to exercise discretion when deciding what visuals are appropriate within their field. Good visual design is critical for effective presentations. Visuals should be chosen carefully based on their purpose and should follow a consistent color scheme, font size, and typographical conventions. Engaging visuals are easy to read and visually appealing, with limited use of text. Speakers should also ensure that any graphics are formatted properly so that elements do not get cut off or appear scrunched together during the presentation. When using multimedia technologies in live presentations such as slideshows or videos, it pays to plan ahead and practice using the technology beforehand. This will allow the speaker to be confident in handling technical issues should they arise during the event. Additionally, set-up steps and plugging in cables should be done before beginning a presentation as they can be disruptive if done mid-presentation. In conclusion, visual aids can go a long way toward making a powerful impact provided they are used wisely and professionally. To make sure everything looks good and works correctly before delivering a presentation with visuals, speakers should carefully plan their content and rehearse with any hardware and software prior to presenting. This will ensure that the visuals remain engaging throughout the presentation, adding to its impact instead of distracting from it. Moving on from this section about how to use visual aids with professionalism, let us now move to our conclusion which will cover key takeaways from this article:

In conclusion, visual aids are powerful tools in presentations, helping to make a lasting impression on both internal and external stakeholders. Visual aids present information effectively, allowing your audience to learn more efficiently and retain more information long-term. They can help to clarify complex concepts and bring life to otherwise mundane slides. Using visuals can also create a positive energy in the room that helps strengthen engagement among attendees. However, there are some downsides to using visuals that you should be aware of before deciding to use them in your presentation. Visual aids can take up more time during the presentation in terms of creation and incorporation into the deck, while they can also detract from the overall content if they are poorly designed or used excessively. It is important that you have a plan for incorporating visuals into your presentation and keeping it efficient instead of overwhelming the audience. Furthermore, depending on the context, you may need to consider the impact of accessibility for visual assets – for example, if you’re presenting remotely or on different devices. This is particularly important if you’re sharing sensitive or confidential information. Visual aids can be extremely beneficial when used correctly – as long as you plan ahead and manage expectations with your audience, there is no limit to how great of an impact visuals can have on your presentation and its results!

Answers to Common Questions with Detailed Explanations

What types of visual aids are most effective for a presentation.

The most effective visual aids for a presentation depend on the type of information you are presenting and your audience. For example, if you are presenting facts or data, graphs or charts are great ways to communicate that information quickly and efficiently. Animations (e.g. videos) can be used to break up monotony and add visuals that captivate the audience. Infographics can also be highly effective for summarizing complex ideas in a single image. If you have access to more sophisticated technology, 3D models and augmented reality may also be used as visual aids during presentations. Ultimately, it’s important to use visuals that will catch your audience’s attention and keep them engaged throughout the presentation.

How should visual aids be used to most effectively support the presenter’s message?

Visual aids should be used to enhance the presenter’s message, rather than overwhelm or overshadow it. Doing so effectively means including visuals that are easy to understand and relevant to the content of the presentation. This could come in the form of graphs, videos, tables, photographs, illustrations and more. The key is to ensure that the visual element is integral to the underlying message; it should complement and enhance messages as opposed to distract from them. Visuals should also be used to support key facts and figures that may be difficult for an audience to easily take on board, as well as providing an interesting talking point for further discussion with attendees during question time. In short, visuals should be used strategically to help make the presentation more memorable, engaging and informative.

What tips and tricks will help me create engaging visual aids for my presentation?

When creating visual aids for a presentation, it’s important to keep in mind how they will contribute to your overall goal. Here are some tips that can help you make engaging and effective visual aids: 1. Be aware of the environment. The size, brightness and color of the room, or even the lighting, can all affect how well your visuals pop. Take into account the physical setting when designing your visuals. 2. Keep it simple. Too much clutter on your slides can be distracting and impede understanding. Instead, keep visuals clean, with plenty of white space. Choose legible fonts and use colors sparingly—stick to 1-2 colors at most. 3. Focus on one idea per slide. Don’t try to cram too much information onto each slide; instead, break down complex topics into simple graphics or bullet points that focus on one concept at a time. That way, viewers will be more likely to comprehend what you’re presenting. 4. Get creative! Visuals don’t have to be limited to charts and graphs—think out of the box and consider incorporating multimedia elements such as videos or animations into your slides to make them more dynamic and engaging. 5. Test your visuals ahead of time. Make sure that any content you plan on displaying is optimized for the platform you’ll be using–whether it’s a laptop, projector, or something else–and test it out beforehand so you know what works best for the room setup and audience size.

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Using visual aids during a presentation or training session

June 21, 2018 - Gini Beqiri

Visual aids can enhance your presentations – they can increase the audience’s understanding of your topic, explain points, make an impact and create enthusiasm. It has become more important to make information visual:

“Something is happening. We are becoming a visually mediated society. For many, understanding of the world is being accomplished, not through words, but by reading images” – ( Lester, 2006 )

In this article, we discuss how to use visual aids for presentations or training sessions.

What are visual aids?

Visual aids are items of a visual manner, such as graphs, photographs, video clips etc used in addition to spoken information. Visual aids are chosen depending on their purpose, for example, you may want to:

• Summarise information.
• Reduce the amount of spoken words, for example, you may show a graph of your results rather than reading them out.
• Clarify and show examples.
• Create more of an impact, for example, if your presentation is on the health risks of smoking, you may show images of the effects of smoking on the body rather than describing this. You must consider what type of impact you want to make beforehand – do you want the audience to be sad, happy, angry etc?
• Emphasise what you’re saying.
• Make a point memorable.
• Enhance your credibility .
• Engage the audience and maintain their interest.
• Make something easier for the audience to understand.

Preparation and use of visual aids

Once you have decided that you want to use a visual aid, you must ensure that the audience is able to quickly understand the image – it must be clear. They can be used throughout your speech but try to only use visual aids for essential points as it can be tiring for the audience to skip from one visual to another.

Preparation

• Think about how can a visual aid can support your message. What do you want the audience to do?
• Ensure that your visual aid follows what you’re saying or this will confuse the audience.
• Avoid cluttering the image as it may look messy and unclear.
• Visual aids must be clear, concise and of a high quality.
• Keep the style consistent, such as, the same font, colours, positions etc
• Use graphs and charts to present data.
• The audience should not be trying to read and listen at the same time – use visual aids to highlight your points.
• One message per visual aid, for example, on a slide there should only be one key point.
• Use visual aids in moderation – they are additions meant to emphasise and support main points.
• Ensure that your presentation still works without your visual aids in case of technical problems.
• Practice using the visual aids in advance and ask friends and colleagues for feedback. Ask them whether they can clearly see the visual aid and how they interpret it.

During the presentation

• Ensure that the visual aids can be seen by everyone in the audience.
• Face the audience most of the time rather than the image.
• Avoid reading from the visual aid.
• As soon as you show the visual aid the audience’s attention will be drawn to it so you must immediately explain it. You will be ignored if you talk about something else.
• Make it clear to the audience why you are using it.
• When you no longer need the visual aid ensure that the audience can’t see it.

Tailor to your audience

Choose your visual aids tactically so you appeal to your audience. This means finding images your audience can relate to, images they will find familiar and images they will like. Also think about what style of visual aid is suitable for the audience; is it quite a serious presentation? Can you be humorous? Is it more formal or informal?

Example of using visual aids

When watching this video, notice how the presenters:

• Talk to the audience while writing
• Turn their body to the audience while writing
• Don’t spend too long writing in one session

Types of visual aids

There are a variety of different types of visual aids, you must decide which will suit your presentation and your audience.

Microsoft PowerPoint is widely used for presentations because it’s easy to create attractive and professional presentations and it’s simple to modify and reorganise content compared to other visual aids. You can  insert a range of visual items  into the slides which will improve the audience’s focus. Also, the audience can generally see slideshows better than other visual aids and you don’t have to face away from them. However, your presentation can look unprofessional if this software is used poorly.

• Have a clear and simple background.
• Avoid using too many different types of fonts or font sizes.
• Only use animations for a purpose, such as, to reveal the stages of a process, otherwise this can be distracting and look amateurish.
• Use a large font size – a minimum of 24pt.
• Use bullet points to summarise key points.
• Consider providing handouts of diagrams because the audience will find the diagrams easier to read.
• Avoid putting too much text on a slide.
• Avoid using red or green text as it’s difficult to read.
• There should only be one key point for each slide.
• Always have a back-up plan in case there is a technical issue and you cannot show the visuals on the day, for example, bring handouts or a poster.

Whiteboards

Whiteboards are great for providing further explanations, such as, showing the order of a process, creating diagrams or explaining complex words or phrases. They’re often used to display headings and write down audience suggestions. Whiteboards are also ideal for displaying important information for the entire duration of the presentation, such as, key definitions, because the audience can just glance at the whiteboard for a reminder.

• Ensure that enough time has passed for the audience to take notes before rubbing something off of the whiteboard.
• Write concisely to avoid facing away from the audience for too long.
• Handwriting must be large and legible.
• Practice beforehand as you may feel nervous about writing in front of an audience at the time.

Handouts are papers that contain key information from your presentation or they may provide further information. They prevent you from overwhelming the audience as there will be less information on the slides and therefore less information they need to write down.

You must consider when you want to give the audience the handouts:

• If given at the beginning and middle of your presentation the audience may be reading rather than listening to you or they might not pay attention to what you’re saying as they already have the information.
• If given at the end of your presentation the audience may be trying to take lots of notes which may reduce the amount of information they are actually understanding.

To manage this, provide the audience with partially completed handouts so they will have to listen to what you’re saying to be able to fill in the gaps. Providing the audience with graphs and charts beforehand is also beneficial because the audience will find them easier to read than, for example, from a slide.

• Tips on creating handouts for your presentation

Video clips

Using videos are a great wait to  engage the audience  and increase their interest. Use video to bring motion, images and audio into your presentation.

• Ensure that any videos used are relevant to the presentation’s content.
• Only show as much of the video as necessary.
• Never show a really long clip.
• Videos can be difficult to fit into the structure of a presentation so ensure that you tell that audience why you’re showing them a clip and tell them what to look for.
• Inform the audience how long the video will last.

Flip charts offer a low cost and low tech solution to record and convey information as you speak. They’re more beneficial for smaller audiences and they are favoured for brainstorming sessions as you can gather ideas easily. Flip charts are also widely used for summarising information and, like with a whiteboard, you can use them to show permanent background information.

• Before your presentation, place the flip chart in a location that you can easily access.
• Prepare any sheets you can in advance, even if you can only write down the headings.
• Flip charts can be moved so you can avoid facing away from the audience – stand next to it and continue to face the audience.
• Have only one main idea per sheet.
• Write legibly, largely and in block capitals so it’s more visible.
• Check with the audience that they can read the text – do not use a flipchart if there is a large audience.
• Only write in black and blue ink. Red ink is good for circling or underlining.
• Using a pencil write notes to yourself beforehand so you remember what to include – the audience will not see this writing. Also drawing lines in pencil beforehand can keep your handwriting straight.
• Flip back through the sheets to consolidate points.
• Practice writing on the flip chart advance as you may feel nervous at the time of presenting.

Poster boards can be created using a variety of visual devices, such as graphs and images. They’re generally quite portable and you can make them as elaborate as you want. However, they can be expensive to produce if the poster is quite complex.

• One poster per message or theme
• Use block capitals
• Avoid using posters when presenting to large audiences as they will not be able to see the content

Product, objects or artefacts

Objects can be useful tools for making an impact or even for making a dull topic more interesting. Sometimes they’ll be needed for technical and practical reasons, such as, showing a model or conducting an experiment.

• If you are presenting to a small audience consider passing the object around but provide enough time so they won’t have to divide their attention between the object and what you’re saying.
• If the audience is large ensure that you move the object around so everyone sees it.
• The audience will be more distracted from what you’re saying when they’re looking at the object so keep it hidden until the right time and provide the background information before revealing it.
• Explain why you’re using the object.
• If you are conducting an experiment or demonstration, move slowly with exaggerated movements so the audience can follow. Also explain precisely what’s going on.

Two examples of live product demos:

Key points for using visual aids

Try to find out what the presentation room is like beforehand, such as, the layout of the room, the equipment etc, so you can see if your visual aids are appropriate and whether they will work there but always have a contingency plan regardless. Also remember that the audience should be able to understand an image almost immediately.

Before your presentation, ensure that you  practice with your visual aids  so you know how to operate the equipment. If something goes wrong you’ll have a better chance of solving the problem.

Research suggests that using colour increases people’s motivation to read and their enthusiasm for a presentation. Software like PowerPoint is great for producing colour visuals.

Using the colour wheel can help when choosing your presentation’s colours:

• Colours opposite each other in the wheel are complementary and they create contrast. Using complementary colours makes your text more readable.
• Colours next to each other are analogous and they are harmonious. Using analogous colours makes your presentation more unified.

The  Adobe colour wheel , which helps you pick complementary colours for your presentation design.

Avoid using too many colours in your presentation as this can look cluttered and unprofessional and keep your colour themes continuous, for example, if you highlight all the key words on one slide in blue, continue to do this throughout the presentation. Also be careful with colour associations, for example, in many cultures red is linked to danger. Try to represent your words and topics with colours that make sense and are appropriate.

Many people are blue-green or red-green colour-blind so avoid putting these colours next to each other’s in, for example, a graph. If you cannot avoid placing these colours next to each other then use text to clearly label items.

Research suggests that information displayed visually is well remembered: “retention of information three days after a meeting or other event is six times greater when information is presented by visual and oral means than when the information is presented by the spoken word alone.” ( U.S. Department of Labor OSHA Office of Training and Education, 1996 )

There is also significant evidence suggesting that most learning occurs visually – some researchers suggest that 83% of human learning happens visually. The psychologist Bruner conducted multiple studies which suggest that people remember 80% of what they see and do, 20% of what they read and only 10% of what they hear.

Visual aids are worth including in your presentations because they can help you explain information more coherently which makes presenting easier for you and learning easier for the audience. They also help add variety to your presentation thus making it more interesting for the audience. If the audience understand what you’re saying and they are more engaged, they’re more likely to be persuaded by you.

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Module 7: Visual Aids

Effective visual aids.

“Cake depicting a cheeseburger” by Michael Prudhomme. CC-BY-SA .

Before you just open up PowerPoint and begin creating slides, you should stop for a moment and consider what type of visual aid will best serve your purpose and if you even need an aid at all. Select a visual aid that adds to your presentation in a meaningful way, not merely something pretty to look at or a substitute for thorough preparation. Visuals are not there for you to hide behind when you are in front of your audience. Because of the tendency for novice speakers to use visuals as a crutch in their speeches, it has even been suggested that beginner speakers be forbidden from using visual aids while they are learning to present. [1]

Visual aids serve a unique role in a presentation, and you should consider the specific purpose and desired outcome of your speech when determining if, when, to what extent, and in what format you use visual aids.

Visuals can spark interest, build emotional connections, clarify your words, explain abstract ideas, help draw conclusions, or increase understanding. For instance, a speaker may show a stacks of books to represent the amount of data storage in a speech about the evolution of computers; or demonstrate the proper use of ear plugs by distributing ear plugs, showing how to insert them, and then blasting an air horn in a speech about preventing hearing loss in order to make the value of ear protection more memorable and concrete. Done well—simple, visible, relevant, memorable, and audience-focused— visual aids can have a profound impact on your audience and your overall message.

Visual aids can be an important part of conveying your message effectively since people learn far more by hearing and seeing than through hearing or seeing alone. [2] The brain processes verbal and visual information separately. By helping the audience build visual and verbal memories, they are more likely to be able to remember the information at a later time. [3] If you can find a visual aid to complement what you are saying, you will help your audience understand the information you are presenting and remember your message. For example, a speaker might show the proper and improper ways to bow when being introduced in Japan while at the same time talking about the movements and also displaying a slide with the appropriate angles and postures for bowing. By using multiple modes in concert with each other, the message is strengthened by the pairing of words, images, and movement.

Not just any visual will do, however. Each visual should be relevant to your message, convey an important point, be clearly understandable, and be visible by your entire audience. Visuals should be used to make concepts easier to understand and to reinforce your message. They should illustrate important points that are otherwise hard to understand. [4]

“Diving in the Adriatic” by melschmitz. morgueFile license .

Use visuals for speeches about processes, products, or demonstrations of how to do something, such as a diagram of how email is delivered in a speech about computer security. Use visuals when you need to explain things you cannot see because they are hidden or abstract, like a model of your internal organs in a speech about gastric bypass surgery. Use them when you need to grab your audience’s attention or stir their emotions. A speaker could use a photo of a starving child and a bag of rice that represents the daily calorie intake of a poor child in a speech about food insecurity to create a visceral reaction in the audience. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, so use images to tell a story or create a visual metaphor. Visual metaphors are useful when trying to evoke an emotion, such as showing an image of someone running or diving into a pool when you want to evoke action on the part of your audience. The images convey the message to “get going” or “dive in.” When talking about numbers or statistics, use visuals to provide context, comparison, and to help your audience understand the meaning of data. Done well, graphs can convey data. [5] While there are many possible reasons to use visuals in your presentation, your guiding principle should be: does this make the message clearer or more memorable? If you cannot answer with a resounding “YES!” then re-think the plan for your visuals and begin again.

• Palmer, E. (2011). Well spoken: Teaching speaking to all students. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers. ↵
• Vasile, A. J. (2004). Speak with confidence: A practical guide (9th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson. ↵
• Malamed, C. (2009). Visual language for designers: Principles for creating graphics that people understand. Beverly, MA: Rockport Publishers. ↵
• Detz, J. (2000). It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Griffen; Palmer, E. (2011). Well spoken: Teaching speaking to all students. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers; Young, K. S., & Travis, H. P. (2008). Oral communication: Skills, choices, and consequences (2nd ed.). Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press. ↵
• Malamed, C. (2009). Visual language for designers: Principles for creating graphics that people understand . Beverly, MA: Rockport Publishers; Palmer, E. (2011). Well spoken: Teaching speaking to all students . Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers; Tufte, E. R. (2003). The cognitive style of PowerPoint . Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press; Vasile, A. J. (2004). Speak with confidence: A practical guide (9th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson. ↵
• Chapter 13 Effective Visual Aids. Authored by : Sheila Kasperek, MLIS, MSIT. Provided by : Mansfield University, Mansfield, PA. Located at : http://publicspeakingproject.org/psvirtualtext.html . Project : The Public Speaking Project. License : CC BY-NC-ND: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives
• Cake depicting a cheeseburger. Authored by : Michael Prudhomme. Located at : http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cake_depicting_a_cheeseburger.jpg . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
• Diving in the Adriatic. Authored by : melschmitz. Provided by : MorgueFile. Located at : http://mrg.bz/SMkUNQ . License : Other . License Terms : You are allowed to copy, distribute, transmit the work and to adapt the work. Attribution is not required. You are prohibited from using this work in a stand alone manner.

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Visual aids are an important part of presentations. They can help to keep your audience engaged, make your point for you—there is a reason why people say that a picture tells a thousand words—and remind you what you want to say.

However, you can also take them too far.

If good use of visual aids can make a presentation, poor use can ruin it. Who, after all, has not be subject to ‘death by PowerPoint’, in one of its many forms? This page explains more about how to use visual aids effectively in presentations and helps you to avoid being remembered for all the wrong reasons.

What Are Visual Aids?

Visual aids are exactly what they sound like: a visual support to you standing up and speaking.

They are commonly something like slides setting out your main points, or a video. They can also take the form of a handout, either of your slides, or a summary of your presentation, the use of a flip chart, or even something interesting that you have brought along to show your audience and make a point.

If visual aids are used well they will enhance a presentation by adding impact and strengthening audience involvement. They can also be a helpful to reminder to you of what you wanted to say.

You should only use visual aids if they are necessary to maintain interest and assist comprehension in your presentation.

Do not use visual aids just because you can, or to demonstrate your technological competence. Doing so may make it harder to get your messages across clearly and concisely.

For each visual aid or slide, ask yourself why you are using it. If there is no real purpose, don’t include it.

Thinking Ahead—Planning Your Visual Aids

Most visual aids will need advance preparation. You will need to know how to operate the equipment effectively.

Check beforehand what facilities are available so that you can plan your presentation accordingly.

Also check whether you need to send your presentation in advance to be loaded up, or whether you can bring it on a memory stick or similar.

You can find more about preparing a presentation in our dedicated page on the subject.

Presentation software

It is now common to use presentation software such as PowerPoint.

Indeed, few presenters would dare to attend an event without a PowerPoint file. However, it is still possible to manage without. Some of the very best lecturers and speakers do not use PowerPoint. At most, they might draw on a flip chart or whiteboard. What they have to say, and the style in which they say it, is compelling enough to hold their audience.

For most of the rest of us, PowerPoint is likely to be the way forward, however.

Top tips for using PowerPoint

Keep it simple. Use no more than three to five bullet points per slide and keep your bullet points to a line of text, if possible. Your slides should be a guide to what you are going to say, not a verbatim account.

Don’t use visual effects unless they actually add to your presentation. PowerPoint has some very nice options for adding and subtracting text, but they can be very distracting. Stay away unless you really know what you’re doing.

Keep it short. A half-hour presentation can usually be summarised into six to ten slides at most.

Don’t use the notes function. PowerPoint has a ‘notes’ function that allows you to write notes under the slides for your benefit. Don’t. You will try to read them off the screen, and stop talking to your audience. Instead, use cue cards held in your hands and focus on your audience.

Other common visual aids include:

• Whiteboards and interactive whiteboards
• Flip charts

Whiteboards and Interactive Whiteboards

Whiteboards are good for developing an explanation, diagrams and simple headings.

They can also be used for recording interaction with, and comments from, the audience during brainstorming sessions .

Remember that writing on a whiteboard takes time and that you will have to turn your back to the audience to do so. If using a whiteboard, you should ensure that your handwriting is legible, aligned horizontally, and is sufficiently large to be seen by all the audience. Also ensure that you use non-permanent pens (sometimes referred to as dry-wipe pens) rather than permanent markers so that your writing can be erased later.

Bear in mind that the white background of a whiteboard can cause contrast problems for people with impaired vision.

Interactive whiteboards can be used for PowerPoint presentations, and also to show videos, as well as to write on and record interactions with the audience. They are, effectively, projector screen/whiteboard combinations, with attitude. If you plan to use an interactive whiteboard, you should make sure you know how it works, and practice using it, before your presentation. It is NOT a good idea to make first use of one in a major presentation.

Flip Charts

A flip chart is a low cost, low tech solution to recording interactive meetings and brainstorming sessions.

At many venues, however, they have been replaced by interactive whiteboards.

A flip chart can be prepared in advance and is portable, it requires no power source and no technical expertise.  Flip charts are ideal for collecting ideas and responses from the audience and are good for spontaneous summaries.  However, if the audience is large, a flip chart will be too small to be seen by everyone.

Top tips for the effective use of a flip chart:

Arrive early and position the flip chart so that you can get to it easily when you need it.

Position the flip chart so that you can stand next to it and write while still at least half-facing your audience. Do not turn your back on your audience.

Make sure you have several marker pens that work.

Only use blue or black marker pens. It will be difficult for those at the back of the room to see any other colours. You can use red pens to accentuate blue or black.

Make your letters at least 2-3 inches tall so that everybody can see what you have written.

Draw lines in pencil on blank pages before your presentation, to help you keep your writing legible and straight.

If you are using a flip chart as an alternative to PowerPoint:

• Plan out your pages as you are writing the outline for your presentation;
• Write notes to yourself, in pencil, on the flip chart to remind you of the points you want to make. Your audience will not see the pencil notes.

If you have something that you want to present and then accentuate during the presentation or discussion, write out the flip chart page beforehand so that you can just flip the page to it—or just use a PowerPoint slide.

If you need to refer to something that you wrote on a page at a later point in your presentation, rip off the page and fix it to the wall.

Videos are particularly good for training purposes. Short videos can also be embedded into a PowerPoint presentation to make a point, or provide an example. This is becoming increasingly popular with the advent of YouTube, because far more videos are available. Smartphones have also made recording your own videos much easier.

However, as with any visual aid, make sure that you are using video for a purpose, not just because you can.

Handouts summarising or including the main points of a presentation are an excellent addition, but must be relevant.

Presentation software packages such as PowerPoint can automatically generate handouts from your presentation slides. You can also prepare a one-page summary of your presentation, perhaps as a diagram, if that seems more appropriate. This may be particularly useful if you are asked to do a presentation as part of an interview .

If you do provide handouts, it is worth thinking carefully about when to distribute them.

Giving out handouts at the start of a talk will take time and the audience may start to read these rather than listen to what the speaker is saying. However, if your presentation contains complex graphs or charts, the audience will appreciate receiving the handout before the presentation starts since they may find it easier to view these on paper than on the projection screen. The audience may also appreciate being able to make their own notes on the printed handout during the presentation.

Consider the best time and method to distribute any handouts, including either placing them on seats prior to the start or giving them out at the end of your presentation. You may also consider emailing copies of handouts to participants after the event. If your talk includes questions or discussion this will give to time to summarise this and communicate it back to the attendees.

A final take-away

There is no question that visual aids, used well, will enhance your presentation. They add a more visual element to the auditory aspect of you speaking. They therefore help to engage your audience on more levels, and also keep them interested.

The key to avoiding ‘death by PowerPoint’ is to focus on the purpose of each slide or visual aid, and ask yourself:

How does this add to what I am saying?

‘Adding’ may of course include ‘providing a summary’, but if your slide adds nothing to your spoken words, then do not include it.

Continue to: Managing the Presentation Event Presenting Data

See also: Preparing for a Presentation Organising the Presentation Material How You Can Improve Your Video Editing Skills Typography – It’s All About the Message in Your Slides

Presentation Training Institute

A division of bold new directions training, the role of visual aids in presentations.

Did you know that 65% of people are visual learners? This makes sense, considering the fact that the brain processes visual information nearly 60,000 times faster than text. It also explains why it is so important for presenters to incorporate visual aids into their presentations. Visual aids are powerful tools that enhance your message and clarify your key points. Good visual aids help you communicate more effectively and make your presentation more engaging. Here are a few reasons why visual aids are so important in presentations.

They Capture Attention

One of the most important tasks for a presenter is to capture and maintain the attention of the audience. Visual aids are a great way to attract attention and peak interest. They also break up the monotony of spoken word and text and add a little variety to your presentation. Visual aids help to make your presentation a multi-sensory experience and keeps the audience engaged in your topic. 

They Clarify Your Message

Not everyone understands information the same way and at the same speed. Visual aids make it easier for the audience to understand complex or abstract concepts or data in a clear and concise way. They are especially useful for explaining statistics, timelines, or other figures. 

They Build an Emotional Connection with the Audience

As the saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words.†It may be cliche but it’s true. Images make people feel things that words cannot and it allows presenters to connect with their audience on a deeper level. Instead of listing dull facts, photographs and powerful imagery will resonate with the audience and get them to care more deeply about your message.

They Help Audiences Retain Information

Research has shown that after three days people can only recall about 10% of what they heard during an oral presentation but 65% from a presentation that included both oral and visual content. You’ve worked too hard creating a presentation just to have your audience forget the majority of what you said.

They Reinforce and Emphasize Key Points

Visual aids are useful for reinforcing your key points and making them more memorable. They help you to highlight important information and increase audience engagement and retention. 

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9 Presentation Aids to Use to Make Your Presentation Stand Out

Written by: Caleb Bruski

Looking for a way to make your presentation stand out from the crowd?

When it comes to presentations, your ultimate goal is to communicate clearly and effectively with your audience.

By adding visual aids to your presentations, your audience will more easily understand and connect with your ideas.

Throughout this article, we’re going to cover what presentation aids are, why you should consider using them plus nine different types of presentation aids to test.

Here’s a short selection of 8 easy-to-edit presentation templates you can edit, share and download with Visme. View more templates below:

Table of Contents

What are presentation aids, why use presentation aids, 9 types of presentation aids.

Presentation aids, or sensory aids, are any additional resources used to enhance your speech. 

On a very basic level, a presentation is a bunch of words used to convey ideas to an audience. Presentation aids are additional devices, techniques, resources or materials used to enhance the presentation. 

For example, this four-step process model can be a great presentation aid to showcase a step-by-step guide to your audience.

Rather than just talking about the process, a diagram like this actually details it out, making it easier for your audience to understand.

Visual aids help clarify and contextualize your points for your audience.

Whether you deliver your presentation in person or over the web, the goal is to clearly communicate with your audience. Presentation aids help achieve this goal.

Visual aids also help a presenter stay on a predefined train of thought while presenting. 

The entire experience of presenting can be rather nerve-wracking. Studies show that one of the greatest phobias throughout the world  is public speaking. 

When our words fail us, a clear presentation aid can help fill in the gaps and help us be understood. 

Take this slide example. It can be a great way to walk an audience through features. Each bullet can be clicked to take viewers to a video that provides even more information.

Presentation aids help the presenter stay within an allotted set of time. 

For those of us who have a hard time sticking to the main points, visual presentation aids help us progress forward in our thought process and give a good presentation .

Here, we have a second illustration of a presentation aid — this time in the form of a timeline. Mapping out your content like this helps make it even more digestible and can help your audience learn and remember it.

A sense of authority and trust can also be established when using visual aids.

By delivering hard facts and data in a simple way, trust is established with the audience. The authority and expertise of the presenter is also established. 

Visual aids should help your audience understand the data in your presentation.

When used correctly, presentation aids increase the chance of receiving a positive response when making a call to action. 

In summary, presentation aids are useful for the presenter, the audience and all other parties involved. Best of all, using them is easy and effective.

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Ready to wow your audience with your next presentation? We’re here to help. In this list, you’ll find nine different types of presentation aids that you might consider using to help demonstrate your main points.

1. Charts and Graphs

Charts and graphs are a form of presentation aid used to visually compare statistics and figures. These are some of the most used forms of visual aids in the business world.

Listening to long strings of numbers can be a challenging task. Comparing long strings of numbers without reference can be near impossible. Overwhelmed with this type of data, most audience members will mentally check out.

Comparing simple shapes or lines is an easier task for most people. 

Consider adding a chart like the one below as a presentation aid for your audience.

A simple chart or graph will drastically help your audience comprehend numbers in a way that is easier to understand.

It’s important to select a chart or graph that helps exemplify your point. Not all charts can communicate with clarity the same information. Learn more in our guide on how to create a chart .

2. Handouts

Handouts are physical objects given to the audience that contain information related to the presentation. 

The greatest advantage of using a handout is the physical interaction your audience has with your presentation.

Your audience has the freedom to interact with these handouts during the presentation — they can touch, smell, read, etc., giving them an edge in actually retaining the information.

The more senses your audience uses during a presentation, the better. 

A handout also lets your audience revisit parts of your presentation that were not clear. This helps everyone stay on the same page.

A bonus to using handouts is that these objects don’t just magically disappear. Long after the presentation is over, the handout will still be around. Your audience will remember your presentation every time they see your handout.

3. Demonstration

Demonstrations are actions performed to exhibit or illustrate a point. The goal of a demonstration is to take an abstract point and anchor it in reality, as well as to ensure your audience comprehends a speaking point.

Demonstrations aren’t limited to just physical demonstrations. Demonstrations may also include allegorical stories or proofs used to prove a point. Sharing personal stories or case studies could be categorized as a demonstration. 

Here’s an example of a presentation slide with a demo video embedded. If you don’t have the resources to perform a live demonstration, using a tactic like this can be a great alternative.

To understand the full potential of demonstrations, think back to your old science teacher. A science teacher's job was to teach to a room filled with easily distracted children. 

Science is one of the most complex subjects to teach and the audience is a tough crowd. How did they do it?

With demonstrations! Or more specifically, with science experiments.

Physical demonstrations are some of the most memorable moments of an entire school year. 

The reason demonstrations are more memorable than a simple speech is because demonstrations invite more of your audience’s senses to take part in the demonstration. 

Not only do you hear the lesson, but you can see, touch, smell and sometimes even taste it as well. 

The audience is also involved when the demonstration is a personal story. When the audience hears the story, they imagine it. By recreating the scenario using their own imagination, the memory lasts longer.

Demonstrations are also powerful communication tools. They have the potential to make your presentation go from mediocre to  memorable. 

While powerful, demonstrations can work for or against you. Adding too many, too large or unrelated demonstrations can distract your audience from the actual topic. Ensure that your demonstrations are connected to and accentuate your main points.

4. Diagrams

A diagram is a visual graphic or sketch focused on presenting the inner workings or relations of a subject. A diagram is different from a basic sketch. While a sketch aims to accurately depict an object's shape, a diagram aims to explain and define its functions and relations. 

Diagrams give you the freedom to list, describe, explain and map out your subject matter in a way that is not limited to its physical form. 

While mixing a diagram and physical sketch together can be cool, it’s not necessary. Diagrams ought to be chosen based on their effectiveness in explaining the subject's construction and relation to other objects.

Diagrams help explain complex relations between objects without the need for physical properties. Diagrams are great to use when sketches, photographs and videos can not capture all the attributes of an object. 

Before settling on which diagram to use, it’s best to experiment with different types of diagrams. Your decision should rely upon which diagram will aid your audience the most.

Diagrams are also great for describing and defining things that do not have form. Instead of giving a long and complex definition that no one will remember, consider using a diagram. 

Diagrams can show how this new thing relates to something familiar to your audience. This will help your audience understand and remember complex portions of your presentation.

5. Video or Audio

Audio and video clips are presentation aids used to expand the dynamic range of input in your speech.

Your audience will find it easier to engage with your presentation when you diversify your method of delivery. 

An easy way to increase audiences’ sensory input is by transitioning from a simple speech into a video or audio clip.

Videos allow you to convey information in a fast and rehearsed manner. Professional camera work captures prearranged images, audio and speech. This means video is capable of conveying emotion and information more effectively than speech. 

For this reason, a short video clip may do a better job at summarizing the main points of a presentation than a speech alone. 

While the benefits of  video are high, there are also some potential problems. The most common issue with video usage in presentations being technical compatibility issues.

A smooth transition between speech and video is necessary for your presentation. 

Rough or elongated transitions can be a major distraction for your audience. If this happens, your audience may find it difficult to reinvest in your presentation.

To ensure smooth transitions, your presentation software must be capable of integrating videos clips directly into your presentation. 

It is important to have dependable presentation software .  By doing so, you’ll be able to transition between video clips and other presentation aids.

The transitioning issue is most noticeable at the end of a presentation. Especially when a speaker attempts to transition from a slide-show into a video clip. 

Consequently, many presentations do not have a strong and official close. Lacking a strong close leaves your audience without a clear understanding of what to do next. Check out this article to ensure you know how to end your presentation on a strong and impressionable note.

Quotations are a type of presentation aid that appeal to outside authority and expertise. Quoting others helps establish a positive rapport with your audience.

Many people fear quoting others makes them appear unoriginal.

The opposite is actually true. Quoting outside sources tends to drastically improve the overall appeal of your presentation.

Quoting others shows that you have listened to others on this subject. This makes the presenter appear as a well thought out and considerate listener. 

It’s recommended that you quote those who both agree and disagree with your conclusion. By doing so, you establish a sense of trust and expertise with your audience.

Quoting those who disagree with your conclusion shows that you have taken the time and effort to engage their thought process. 

Quoting those who agree with you shows your conclusion to be a recurring conclusion.

However, always give credit where credit is due. Not only is plagiarism immoral and possibly illegal, it also damages your personal reputation. This may destroy any trust you established with your audience. Check out this guide about plagiarism to learn more.

Maps are visual representations, generally two-dimensional diagrams, that show the relative position and orientation of something. 

Maps are powerful presentation aids capable of showing valuable information beyond basic geography. 

Because maps are a form of diagram, they can deliver valuable relational information. This is especially true when used in combination with animations or graphical overlays.

Proper presentation software will allow you to update your dataset for your map. The changes should immediately update the output of your map without having to manually manipulate the image.

Visme automatically generates these scalable maps and makes the process of customizing your map easy. With just a few clicks, you can generate and customize maps with your own datasets.

8. Photographs

Photographs are still images captured on a film or digital medium and are a powerful visual aid. When used correctly, photographs can add color and shape to the speech in your presentation.

The saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" is a true statement. A picture is priceless when it’s able to capture and accentuate a point relevant to your presentation.

Photographs are unique presentations aids that give you the power to make a window for your audience to look through. This allows your audience to see and experience particular aspects of your presentation.

While the color red can be described with many words, there’s an experiential gap. Once seen, you can experience the color red.

When a presentation is given, words can help describe an idea, but not experience the idea. Presentation images give you the possibility to close that visual experiential gap.

Even in a world that sells pocket-sized HD 4k 60fps video cameras, the photograph is still the visual aid of choice for most people.

While videos are powerful in their own right, photos give you the power to capture and highlight one particular moment. 

Photos can be less distracting than videos. Videos may have background noises or other distractions. Photographs let you capture and present one image without any distractions.

When presenting, it’s important for your main speaking points to be aided, not hindered, by the presentation aid. 

While planning out your presentation, consider using photographs more frequently than video. This will help your audience experience your presentations without distractions.

Images are also much cheaper and easier to professionally edit than their video counterparts. Capturing and editing a high-quality video may take hours, days or even months. A professional-looking photo can be captured with ease and edited in a matter of minutes. 

Or, you can take advantage of a free stock photo library like you get with Visme. This way, you can ensure your presentation photos are copyright protected and free to use.

9. Volunteers

Volunteers are people selected from the general population to participate in a demonstration. 

Using volunteers in demonstrations is one of the most effective presentation aids available. Using this tactic efficiently comes with all the advantages of a classic demonstration, and so much more.

Human interaction is hardwired into us. We tend to remember faces, body shapes, expressions and emotions. A demonstration with volunteers lets you instantly change the dynamic of the speech.

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Demonstrations with volunteers encourage audience interaction with your subject matter. 

When the audience sees a volunteer interact with your presentation, the barrier to entry is lowered — plus, it gives your audience the chance to become a volunteer that’s doing the interaction themselves.

This makes your subject more approachable and your call to action more likely to succeed.

Be sure your interactions with the volunteer are somewhere between professional and semi-professional. Most people are already afraid to be on stage. An unprofessional or condescending demeanor will only make things even more uncomfortable.

Ensure that your volunteer’s role has a strong connection to your main point. Like all good demonstrations, make sure it is contributing to your presentation. If a particular portion of the presentation is not related to the main point, your audience's mind may begin to wander. 

At the end of the demonstration, be sure to thank and dismiss your volunteers when they are done contributing. There is nothing more distracting for the audience than having an extra person nervously lurking around on stage. 

If done correctly, your audience will remember the demonstration done with volunteers and recall the driving points of your presentation. The volunteer will likely also remember the event for a longer period of time and may even share parts of your presentation with others.

Try Presentation Aids in Your Next Presentation

Creating and utilizing presentation aids can help your presentation go from acceptable to phenomenal. With proper physical and mental preparation, your presentation is sure to impress.

The best way to mentally prepare yourself for your presentation is to be physically prepared. 

Visme makes presentation preparation easy and takes all the guesswork out of the design process. Visme has thousands of high-quality templates for you to customize and choose from. We are certain that with the right tools, you can make an awe-inspiring presentation.

Create a free account and see why Visme is one of the best and easiest ways to create a stunning and engaging presentation.

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We process information in a number of ways, most notably visually and audibly. If your visual aids do not properly match your speech of if they are used in an ineffective manner, this could be a detriment to your speech. Anything that distracts an audience from your message will result in your inability to deliver your message.

Visual aids comprise a wide variety of items, handouts, slides, moving pictures, posters, models, objects, and many others. All of these visual aids are meant to reinforce your main message. Moreover, they become vital when it is necessary to present information that can only be described in a visual format. To use an obvious example, if you are giving a speech to a company's board of directors on the plans for a new building, it would be essential to have a picture or some sort of visual aid to accompany your speech. Yes, it would be possible to give an audible only speech about the new building's plans, but it would be extremely ineffective to do so. There are occasions when a visual aid is a necessary component of your message.

When you are giving a speech, you ideally want the audience to pay complete attention to your voice and message. A visual aid is an invitation for them to pay attention to something else, if even for a moment. Therefore, this visual aid must reinforce your message. The following guidelines will help you decide when visual aids are helpful.

• Relevancy. Ensure that the visual aids you use are relevant to your speech. This sounds obvious, but many speakers make the mistake of providing "additional information" handouts during a speech. This is one of the worst mistakes a speaker can make. Such handouts would be great to give out after a speech, but certainly not during it.
• Appropriateness. Likewise, your visual aids should be appropriate to the occasion. You would not typically, for example, use charts and graphs to give an entertaining speech. If the aids are not appropriate, they will distract an audience.
• Attractiveness. If you are not skilled at using the popular software products typically used to create charts and graphs, and other visual aids, it is best to hire someone who is. An unattractive visual aid will "speak" poorly of you and it will lessen the impact of your message delivery.
• Visibility. Not everyone in the audience will have 20/20 vision, and not everyone in the back of the room will be able to see small text regardless of their visual ability. Your visual aids must be appropriately sized and legible.
• Variation. If you are going to use a great many visual aids (and this is only recommended if you feel that it is vital to your message), you should try to incorporate different types of visual aids. Do not use graphs exclusively, for example. This will bore the audience, and it will surely distract them.

Some Rules to Follow when Using Visual Aids

The following are some practices to use and some to avoid when using visual aids.

Good Practices

• Do use color. Black and whites slides will look boring. Use color even if it is just for a heading for the slide.
• Make sure the visual aid you are using is visible from at least 8 feet away. If it is legible from approximately that distance, it will be legible to an entire room when it is projected using visual equipment.
• Consider using clip art. Virtually all computers have some free clip art available. Consider using some on your visual aids, especially if you pick a theme for the art and use a different image on each presentation.
• Do not keep an image displayed for more than 10 minutes. All visual aids distract some attention from the speaker but this is acceptable since your aids help communicate your message. However, after 10 minutes, the audience will be bored looking at a stale image.
• Do not use cartoons or other "cute" additions to your presentation unless it is appropriate for your audience. Want to learn more? Take an online course in Motivational and Public Speaking .
• Do not experiment with different fonts throughout your presentation. Use a single font, but you may use it in different sizes to set off information that is more important . In addition, the use of bold lettering is effective.
• Do not overuse colors, and make sure that the color is relevant to your message. You would not use a bright blue color, for example, for a slide that is delivering bad news to a company. Similarly, you should not use a wide variety of colors, as this will be distracting to an audience.

If you are presenting a speech in a foreign city, the last thing you want to do is transport your own audiovisual equipment. You naturally want the host to provide this equipment for you, and this is considered standard practice. Do not feel it is inappropriate to ask them to do this. When you do ask them, however, the request should be in writing. You want to ensure that you have proof that you have requested this equipment, and be sure to follow up with the host after you have made the request.

Since charts are the most popular type of visual aids used in most speeches, here are some guidelines for their effective use:

• Do not use all capital letters, ever . Even when you want to emphasize a particular statistic or fact, use color or boldness to accomplish this goal.
• Is the chart properly labeled? Do not assume that the audience will know little details that you take for granted.
• Avoid emphasizing certain material with anything other than text; do not use any flashing elements in your aid, boxes, arrows, or any other distracting element.

Nearly all of us have heard a recording of our own voice at some point in our lives, and we are most often discouraged by what we hear. We think we sound differently, but, in fact, we are hearing our voices as others hear it. Just as practicing the delivery of a speech repeatedly will increase your ability to deliver an excellent speech; you can also practice voice techniques that will improve the overall quality of your voice. However, you should be cautioned that practicing in the wrong way could do more harm than good.

We will discuss pitch and rate in more detail later. Both of these characteristics comprise the overall quality of your voice, and they can both be altered with the proper training and practice.

How well you articulate words will determine the clarity of your speech. During the rehearsal portion of the speech process, it is a good idea to record your speech and play it back at least once so that you can hear how it will sound to an audience. Some things to notice regarding clarity and articulation are the following:

• Contractions. Some people tend to slur contractions. Take note whether you are clearly pronouncing each element of the contraction. If, for example, you were slurring the contraction "wouldn't," use the two words instead, would not.
• Reversed words. Some people mispronounce common words that sound alike by reversing the order of some letters. For example, pre scription versus per scription. Only the first spelling, and thus, the first pronunciation, is correct.
• Omitted letters. Good articulation means pronouncing all letters in a word clearly. Do not omit letters. For example, pronounce the "t" in "mists" rather than speaking a word than sounds more like "miss."

Rate of Speech

Your rate of speech is a vital component of the overall quality of your voice. People who are nervous tend to speak more quickly than they normally would, so it is especially important to monitor your rate. When you listen to your rehearsal tape, count the number of words you speak in one minute. You should be speaking at the rate of approximately 150 words per minute. This is not a universal speed. There are times when a speaker may alter this rate slightly, depending on the circumstances. However, a rate of 150 words per minute is a comfortable speed for most informational and motivational speaking.

If you were to use the same pitch and inflection throughout an entire speech, you audience would fall asleep within 10 minutes. Nothing makes a speech more boring than a speaker who uses a monotone pitch and inflection. Pitch describes the level of deepness of your voice, regardless of your gender. A person might have a very high pitch if they are speaking excitedly or a low pitch if they are reading a dramatic reading slowly. Inflection is the varying degree of emphasis that you place on words during speech. For example, if a parent is giving a firm instruction to his or her child, they might say, "You will eat your vegetables." Here, the word will (in italics) will have a different inflection than the rest of the sentence. It is imperative that your speech uses the proper inflection when you wish to emphasize your main point. Let the audience know something is important by using the proper inflection.  

Just as it is important to alter the inflection of your voice when you wish to emphasize a thought, it is also important to pause appropriately between thoughts. You should never speak two sentences together back-to-back without a pause if the two sentences each convey an important point or thought. The pace and rhythm of your speech is determined by how fast you are moving from one thought to the next. You want to maintain a comfortable pace, which means always using pauses when appropriate.

Naturally, the volume of your voice is important, and it differs from its pitch. While pitch is used to describe how deep or high your voice is, volume describes how loud your voice is. Volume can easily be controlled and it is one of the most important elements of your voice that you need to control during a speech. If you wish to emphasize something, always remember to use a higher inflection rather than a higher volume. A high volume speaker will be interpreted as screaming to an audience, and that should be avoided whenever possible.

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Visual Aids in Speeches: When to use them and when to not?

So much of the content we consume is visual. It is no wonder it can enhance the impact of your speech as well.

They can be a great tool for the audience to follow your speeches more clearly. Especially if your speech is demonstrative, adding visual aids will only benefit your overall presentation.

When you are giving a public speech, you want the audience to ideally listen to the message you are trying to convey.

However, there are many types of visual aids that can add a refreshing aid to your main message. 

Table of Contents

What are visual aids?

Attractiveness, appropriateness, preparing your visual aids, during the presentation, other helpful tips for visual aids:, credibility, distraction, design problems, wrapping up,.

Visual aids can include a wide variety of items such as handouts, slides, videos, posters, models, and more.

The purpose of these visual aids is to reinforce your main message. There are many reasons why you might consider adding visual aids to your presentation. Some of them can be as follows:

• Present clear examples.
• Provide a concise summary.
• Emphasize your points.
• Add credibility through references and facts.
• Give clear demonstrations.
• Help the audience understand better.
• Reduce the number of spoken words. For instance: showing a visual graph than boring your audience with data.
• Create a stronger impact. For instance: if your presentation is on the environmental risks of plastic usage, you may show images of the negative effects of plastics on marine life and pollution rather than simply describing this. Try to envision what you want your audience to feel – do you want them to empathize, feel sad, happy, or angry? Plan accordingly.
• Reiterate and make your points memorable.
• Engage the audience and maintain their interest.

Things to keep in mind when using visual aids

While visual aids are certainly a great addition to your speech, you still want to make sure that they do not distract from your main message.

It is very easy to go overboard with visual aids. This is why we have below a convenient checklist of things to keep in mind when using visual aids:

You need to ensure that the visual aids you pick are relevant to your speech. You want your visual aids to add to your message.

Often you see speakers hand out flyers or sheets during their presentations. This is very distracting and ensures that you are wasting valuable stage time as well.

The best time to provide these handouts is after your speech so they can have a brief overview of your speech. You can also provide them before your speech provided that they have enough time to skim through and then pay attention to your speech.

When using slides, font size is an important factor. The same is the case with charts, whiteboards, posters, and so on.

You have to be considerate about the audience that is listening in from the back of the room.

There is no point in incorporating visual aids if everyone is straining to see them. Once you decide to use these additional materials, make sure it is visible and legible.

Variation refers to when you are looking to use multiple types of visual aids. Typically, we recommend you stick to one variety as multiple may be difficult to manage.

However, if you feel that it is supportive of your speech, you can definitely go for it. Just make sure that the variation adds further intrigue.

Try not to throw too much data at them, such as charts, graphs, and more. If your speech is data-centric, try to make it visually appealing by experimenting with the variety of visual aids at your disposal.

When it comes to visual aids, pay attention to quality. If you’re not particularly adept at the software needed for your presentation, try to get help from someone who is.

Cluttered or unorganized visual aids can harm your speech more than not using them entirely. You want to make sure that anything you display does not take away from your credibility.

Make sure that your visual aids match your message. For instance: you typically wouldn’t use charts and data for a humorous speech.

Never use visual aids just for the sake of using them and make sure that it is appropriate to the message of your speech. 

Types of visual aids

There are a variety of visual aids. From slides to posters and models, you need to decide which will suit your presentation as well as your audience.

PowerPoint or Google Slides are a fairly common visual aid used in presentations. Nowadays, with all the widely available themes, both premium and free, it has become easy to create professional-looking slides within minutes. This is a great medium and can be quite versatile if you know what you’re doing. If you are an Apple IOS user , you can try pages or Google slides.

From simple bullet points to picture slides, PowerPoint is a surefire to take your public speaking to the next level.

With simple modifications and reorganization, you can take your visual content to the next level. You can experiment with colors and pictures.

There is a good reason why PowerPoint has stood the test of time as an effective visual aid. They’re easy to make and visible to a wide audience.

If incorporated well, it can work great with your presented speech. However, it is easy to go wrong with this. Ensure you don’t go overboard with the colors and keep the slides professional.

• Use a plain and simple background.
• Stick to one or two fonts and font sizes.
• Avoid large blocks of text and use bullet points to summarise key points.
• Avoid using multi-colored texts that can be difficult to read.
• Try to limit the number of important points you add to one screen.
• Use a larger font size so that the whole room can follow.
• If there is a lot of detail, you might want to provide handouts so that the information is easy to understand.
• Use your slides only to enhance your presentation and be prepared for technical glitches.
• Don’t try to add too many images or animations without a purpose so as to avoid any unnecessary distractions.
• There is always a risk for technical glitches. As such, come prepared with handouts or be prepared to go without the visual aids if needed.

Whiteboards

Whiteboards are an excellent visual aid for a speech. These are best fitted for when you need to explain complex processes.

It is also useful when the audience needs to follow along to a cycle or if your speech includes complex phrases.

Whiteboards can be a great tool in audience participation. You can jot down any suggestions made by the audience.

They can also display key points of information throughout the meeting to keep your message centered.

• If you’re going to be changing the information repeatedly, make sure that the audience has had the time to properly understand the message before erasing.
• Make sure you write in big block letters that are easily visible and legible.
• Try not to have your back facing the audience for too long.
• Practice well beforehand as you want to avoid any hand tremors as you write in front of the audience.

When addressing a larger audience, you might want to make sure that the audience can easily access visual aids.

In these cases, it is best to go for handouts. These are handy summaries that contain the key points from your speech.

It will make it easy for your listeners to follow. When it comes to slides or whiteboard information, there is always a chance that the audience might not be keeping up.

However, if they have their personal handout, they can glance at this information and keep track of the main message. This is also much more effective than having the audience have to take notes.

• Usually, handouts are given at the end of your presentation so that the audience has a handy reminder of your key message.
• Try not to interrupt the flow of your speech by distributing them during your speech.
• If you are handing these out at the beginning of your speech, try not to overload the paper with too much information. You might end up overwhelming the audience, and they might not end up paying attention to your speech.
• Make sure your handout includes the graphs, charts, or any other visual data that you may have in your speech. This will help them grasp the impact much more easily.

Flip charts are quite an old-school visual aid. However, they are the best option when you want to present at a budget but don’t have the tech needed on hand.

Flip charts act as a great supplement to your spoken information. The drawback is that these often limit you to smaller audiences.

The information needs to be easily visible, which is more likely for smaller groups. This does make it perfect for team meetings and brainstorming ideas.

You can have your key points easily displayed or include charts and graphs as you go. Instead of having a consistent topic displayed like a whiteboard or having to turn your back to the audience as you erase and rewrite, you can simply flip the pages and carry on.

• Make sure you check the order of the charts beforehand and have extra sheets on hand should you need them.
• Try not to stuff too much information into one chart. Limit your key points so that your information is easy to follow.
• Separate different inks for different information. For instance, use red ink to highlight anything important so that the information does not get lost in the mix.
• Use large letters that are easy to read.
• Before you begin your speech, check with the audience whether or not they can clearly see the charts.
• Practice beforehand so that your speech is well in tune with your speech before you go in front of the audience.
• When summarizing, flip back through the main charts so the audience can recollect more easily.

Posters are a great visual aid, especially when you are trying to promote an event or occasion.

They are portable, budget-friendly, and will not require any technology on board. These are usually more suited for informal events but can also be used to jazz up any formal presentation.

Unlike the other options, posters can typically be as complex and detailed as you want them to be or as the budget allows for it to be.

• Incorporate attractive colors.
• Use block letters and experiment with fonts.
• Try to stick to one message per poster.
• Posters are more suitable to smaller audiences due to.
• For a larger audience, visibility can be a big problem, so unless you have multiple posters on hand, we’d recommend against it.

Products or Objects

Products or objects can be an excellent way to give the audience a visual demonstration. This can include small-scale versions of your products or detailed models.

You can have multiple objects depending on the audience size. These can add a lot more interaction as the audience can feel more immersed in your presentation. Products are the best for when you need to demonstrate an experiment.

• If the audience is small, you can pass the object around, but remember to plan these gaps into your speech time so that they don’t miss out on key points.
• If the audience is large, you might need multiple objects or allot a larger time slot so that the audience can follow your presentation properly.
• Spend some time explaining the object and your purpose for demonstrating it.
• Do not display the audience until it’s time for the demonstration, as it might be distracting for the audience. 
• For demonstrative presentations, try to move slowly so that it is easy to follow. Repeat the key steps of the experiment and make sure you check with the audience to see if they are on track.

What are the things you need to keep in mind once you decide to incorporate visual aids into the presentation?

There is a lot of preparation that goes into a successful visual aids demonstration. Here are a few tips on how you can prepare to ensure that nothing goes wrong on your big day:

• Before picking your visual aid medium, think about whether or not it adequately supports your message. Are you clear on what the audience’s focus should be on?
• Check the order of the slides or charts beforehand. Make sure that your speech and visual aids are in tune so that it is easy for the audience to follow. 
• Any form of visual aids you pick needs to look clean and professional. 
• Make sure you use clear images or fonts.
• Keep the theme, colors, and fonts consistent as you can risk looking cluttered otherwise.
• Try to use visual representations of data such as graphs and charts over tabular data.
• Never include blocks of text as it might confuse the audience on whether to read or follow your vocal speech.
• Use bullet points for your main messages.
• Do not overwhelm the audience with more than one key message at once.
• It is easy to go overboard with visual aids. Make sure they are only used to enhance your message and do not take over your presentation.
• Always be prepared to give the speech without your visual aids in case of any technical problems. Your presentation should never depend on your visual aids.
• Whenever you have moving components in your presentation, you should practice well and minimize any chances of mishaps on the day of the demonstration. 
• Try to practice in front of smaller audiences so that you can catch any mistakes that you may have missed. 

So you’ve prepared your visual aids, there are still a couple of things you need to keep in mind during the presentation. These things are important in order to ensure that the audience receives the full impact of the visual aids that you have incorporated.

• There’s no point in using visual aids that aren’t visible. Make sure the audience, both in the front and back, can clearly see the information presented.
• Don’t turn your back to the audience unless absolutely unnecessary.
• Make sure you practice well so that you are not reading off your visual aids.
• Explain the object properly so that the audience can understand what to pay attention to.
• Visual aids can be quite distracting to the audience, so make sure to only display it when necessary. Once you are done using the aid, remove it so that the focus of the audience returns back to you.

Using a visual aid comes with quite a lot of advantages. However, it can be easy to miss little things that might end up ruining your presentation. Here are some additional tips to help guide you:

• Try to avoid flashy colors or switch between too many colors as it might be distracting for the listeners. For example, shades of blue or yellow might be way too loud for an official presentation.
• Static images tend to bore the audience, and they might lose interest, so make sure you switch the slides and charts around with your speech.
• Keep your visual aids clean and professional. Try not to use animations, stickers, or WordArt unless appropriate for your audience.
• Try to stick to a single font or at most two fonts to maintain consistency in your presentation.
• Use different font sizes or bold lettering to effectively present your data.

Should you use visual aids in your speech?

You’ve learned how to use visual aids, but you might still be wondering whether it is, in fact, a good addition to your speech itself.

Ask yourself: What could I show (or demonstrate) that would enhance my presentation? Remember, It is better to go for a few simple and well-prepared props than to go overboard and overwhelm the audience. It’s completely okay if you decide that props are not for you and modify your topic accordingly.

Think about it. 

If you were sitting in the audience, would you like to only hear about a holiday in Russia? Or would it be better to see pictures? Wouldn’t that be a more immersive experience?

What about if the speaker included souvenirs and sweets?

Do the same with your topic at hand. Does your topic require you to present data that can be presented better? Would a colorful poster boost initiative from your audience members?

If yes, then it’s time to get yourself some visual aids.

If you’re still confused then take a brief look at the pros and cons of using visual aids in your speech:

Pros of using visual aids:

Here are the main advantages of incorporating visual aids in your presentation:

Using only one medium can get repetitive and boring. Besides, there is only so much transition that you can introduce.

With visual aids, you can explain concepts or events much more efficiently.

Rather than explain the steps and risk losing the audience’s focus, you can simply use bullet points to keep them on track.

Similarly, using pictures makes the audience feel as though they are a part of this experience itself.

Especially when you are trying to evoke a feeling in your audience, images of the devastating impacts of deforestation on wildlife will be much more effective in convincing the listeners to take a stand for climate change than sheer numbers. Emotion is a powerful tool, and clarity is a step closer to mastering it.

For a public speech, being a gifted orator definitely takes you a long way. However, credibility is earned through facts. You are more likely to sway the audience in your favor if you come armed with references.

Even when it comes to statistics, a visual representation will add a lot more credibility to your presentation. The audience will find it easier to connect and will be paying a lot more attention to your words.

Cons of using visual aids:

Here are the main disadvantages of incorporating visual aids in your presentation:

It is easy to go overboard with visual aids. The wrong color combination or illegible fonts are common mistakes that might risk you losing your credibility in front of the audience.

Many speakers are not well versed or lack the practice required. As a result, there can be a lot of fumbling, which also adds to the distraction.

Most people do not double-check their presented information. Apparent mistakes can have the audience doubting you. Therefore, if you’re not entirely sure that the visual aids will add to your presentation, then it is better to go without you. 

You need to make sure that the visual aids you use match the audience you will be addressing.

There can be a lot of design problems while doing so. For instance: if you’re giving a persuasive speech, it is vital that you design your slides or posters to look as inviting as possible.

Similarly, no matter how good you think your images are, there is a risk of putting too much information onto your slides.

Many speakers do not spend enough time learning exactly how to use visual aids, and it ends up doing more harm than good.

And there you go, folks! Visual aids are an excellent addition to your public speech. They can add not just clarity and credibility but also emotion and connection to your message.

For a more extended presentation, these can help to keep the audience’s attention going. Mastering visual aids can add that effortless charm to your public speech.

However, it is essential to know when to use them and when to avoid them. Similarly, if you do decide to add these visual aids, then it’s better to come prepared and practice until they become a natural part of your presentation.

We hope our tips and tricks help you in delivering a rocking performance. All the best!

Microsoft 365 Life Hacks > Presentations > 5 reasons to use visual aids for speeches and presentations

5 reasons to use visual aids for speeches and presentations

A whopping 65 percent of humans are visual learners . This makes sense, considering the brain processes visual information about 60,000 times faster than text.

It also explains why it’s so important for speakers to incorporate compelling visual aids into their presentations . Impactful visuals help us communicate our ideas and messaging more effectively—no matter what type of audience we are trying to reach.

Here are 5 facts that drill home the importance of visual aids when it comes to delivering a memorable presentation or speech.

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1. Presentation visuals grab an audience’s attention—and keep it

Human beings are naturally curious creatures but we have a short attention span—and it’s gotten worse in our current era of information overload and non-stop scrolling. When listening to a speech or presentation, audience interest peaks around the 10-minute mark and then drops precipitously depending on the content and communication style of the speaker. (A Ben Stein soundalike drolling on about duality quantum algorithms? Godspeed.) That’s why so many experts insist on capping lectures at 15 to 20 minutes or mixing up the format with 20-minute blocks. Interesting visual aids can help you do that.

They spark interest when the brain is feeling fatigued, making it easier to receive and process complex information. Think of each new visual or animation as little shots of adrenaline—capturing the waning attention of an audience and re-energizing the room. This can be especially effective when embedding picture polls, or visuals that require audience members to pull out their phones and interact with the content you’ve presented.

2. Presentation visuals make complex ideas easier to understand

Not everyone computes information at the same speed. Infographics make data-heavy presentations more digestible—breaking statistics and other figures or timelines into bite-sized chunks. They’re also more persuasive. According to a study conducted at the Wharton School of Business, 67 percent of audience members were more convinced by the content of a verbal presentation with accompanying visuals versus 50 percent with a verbal-only presentation.

3. Presentation visuals build emotional bridges with the audience

They say a picture is worth a thousand words—it’s cliché but true. Images make viewers feel things that words cannot and give presenters a way to connect with their audience on a more visceral level. (Yes, even if your audience is a bunch of humorless academics.) Instead of listing off dull facts about global warming, pop in a few slides depicting recent floods or forest fires to drive home your point. Powerful imagery, including 3D effects and visually appealing templates , resonate with audiences and makes them care more deeply about what you’re saying.

4. Presentation visuals help audiences retain information

Researchers have found that people who are asked to recall information after a three-day period retained just 10 percent of what they heard during an oral presentation, 35 percent from a visual presentation, and 65 percent from an oral presentation with visuals. You’ve worked too hard preparing your address to have the audience walk away remembering only a tiny fraction of what you said. Embracing visuals will improve the odds by six times.

5. Presentation visuals keep your speech on track

Peppering your presentation with visual aids will help you organize your talking points, avoid off-topic rambling, and even jog your memory if you get hit with a bout of stage fright.

But remember: While thoughtful visuals will make a speech or presentation much stronger, they won’t save you if you show up unprepared. The purpose of a visual aid is to engage the audience, boost their understanding of your content, ignite an emotional response, and help you convey important messaging—but it is never a substitute for preparation .

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Visual Aids

Visual aids can powerfully help the effectiveness of a speech. Many speeches benefit from having objects, images, key quotes, or data presented in a clear and dramatic fashion. Visual aids vary in kind, but there are similar benefits and tips for dealing with any kind of supplementary evidence that is shown to an audience.

Reasons to Use Visual Aids

• Improves audience understanding and memory
• Serves as notes
• Provides clearer organization
• Facilitates more eye contact and motion by the speaker
• Contributes to speaker credibility

Types of Visual Aids

Tips for Using Visual Aids

Stand to the side of the visual aid. Do not obscure the visual aid if at all possible. Traditionally, speakers have the visual aid on their left.

Maintain eye contact. While the visual aid will be tempting to many speakers, the audience should still be their main focus. When a speaker loses eye contact, they often end up turning their back to the audience. A SPEAKER SHOULD NEVER TURN THEIR BACK TO AN AUDIENCE.

Introduce a visual aid before talking about the information contained in it. Giving background on where the information for the visual aid was obtained from provides the audience with more resources for understanding the content of the speech.

Practice with a visual aid. The visual aid adds an additional focus for the audience, and the speaker should be able to effectively and smoothly interact with the aid to minimize distractions. Experience with one type of visual aid (a Powerpoint presentation, for example) does not necessarily provide the resources to deal with others (showing how to tie a shoe).

Make sure the visual aid supports the message. Consistency between what is being said and what is being seen is crucial to a speaker's credibility.

Supplement, do not supplant, the speech with the visual aid. Do not allow the visual aid to overwhelm the speech itself. Visual aids are not crutches to lean on, but rather lampposts to illuminate.

Ensure the logistics of the setting are conducive to the visual aid. Make sure that everyone can see the visual aid, that any electronic equipment necessary for the visual aid is functioning (and that the speaker knows how to operate it), and that the visual aid is set up before the speech (there's few things worse for an audience then having to wait while a speaker fiddles with their equipment.)

Point out key elements in the visual aid, especially if it is complicated. Pictures, charts, graphs, and some objects, are often so complex, with so much "going on," that the audience might need to be directed to the area of the visual aid that the speaker is referencing.

Avoid distributing materials before the speech. If there are supporting materials to assist the audience, they should be passed out either before or after the speech. Failing to do so will delay the speech, lead to much unnecessary rustling of paper, and is an unnecessary distraction.

Limit lists. If the visual aid utilizes lists to communicate the central ideas of the speech, do not overwhelm the audience with endless lists on one slide or page. Generally, only five items should be on any single slide or page of a visual aid.

Remember that simplicity is a good design principle. Do not overload a visual aid with unnecessary information, color, font changes, or superfluous images.

• Presentation Science

Why Visuals Are So Important for Your Presentation

• By: Amy Boone

The visuals that you show during your presentation might be just as important as what you say . Or even more important than what you say.

In fact, Robert E. Horn, of Stanford University’s Center for the Study of Language and Information says, “When words and visual elements are closely entwined, we create something new and we augment our communal intelligence … visual language has the potential for increasing ‘human bandwidth’—the capacity to take in, comprehend, and more efficiently synthesize large amounts of new information.”

Today we are going to look at 5 statistics about visual aids. These come from scientific studies and can remind us to get serious about creating a killer slide deck and developing a powerful multimedia presentation.

1. About 83% of what we learn comes from our sense of sight.

In his book Oversold and Underused: Computers in the Classroom , Larry Cuban says that 1% of what we learn comes from our sense of taste and 1.5% comes from our sense of touch. Approximately 3.5 comes from our sense of smell and around 11% comes from our sense of hearing. That means a whopping majority, 83%, comes from visual information. Contrast that with how much of presentations are usually verbal-auditory. It’s time to show, not tell.

2. Our vision accounts for about 66% of our brain activity.

Neuroanatomist R.S. Fixot published research which proved that “when our eyes open, our vision accounts for two-thirds of the electrical activity of the brain—a full 2 billion of the 3 billion firings per second.” So our brains are spending the majority of their energy processing the information we are taking in through our eyes. That’s why presentation graphics, slide decks, and nonverbal communication like gestures are so important.

3. Presentations with visual aids can be 43% more persuasive than those without them.

According to research from the Management Information Systems Research Center , visual aids make a message more persuasive. For this study, researchers gave the same presentation to two different groups of participants. One group watched a presentation that included visuals, and the other group listened to a presentation that didn’t include visuals. At the end of the study, those participants who had watched the presentation with visuals indicated they would “spend 16.4% more time and 26.4% more money” than the other group. When words are coupled with effective and moving visuals, the audience is affected more than if the message contains only text.

4. About 63-65% of humans are visual learners.

According to Forbes and the research of Dr. Linda Kreger Silverman , about 63-65% of us learn best through our sense of sight. That statistic shouldn’t surprise us given the other statistics about how the human brain is built. Visual learners rely heavily on their sense of sight to understand something as opposed to other learning styles which rely more on hearing or doing to learn.

5. Our retention rises by 42% when text is accompanied by graphics.

According to Richard E. Mayer’s text Multimedia Learning , we can help our audiences remember our messages better and longer if we’ll simply include graphics. Because we tend to remember what we see longer than what we hear, this means that presenters should strategically accompany the most important parts of the presentation with powerful media so it sticks with the audience and doesn’t get lost in a sea of words.

These statistics all work together to remind us of this one thing: visuals matter. If you need help creating powerful visuals, our talented design team is ready to help .

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Making the Most of Visual Aids

Three strategies for using visual aids to encourage students to engage more deeply with course content.

Most teachers understand the power of visual aids in helping students grasp content. Teachers value the support that visuals lend to classroom instruction because they encourage students to make associations between pieces of information, soak up chunks of course content quickly, and function as a memory aid.

But sometimes we teachers don’t approach the use of visual aids as carefully as we should. We may be too lax in monitoring how students interpret visuals (allowing the oversimplification of content) or how students create visuals (which shows whether they understand what should be included). As a result, students struggle to make the needed connection with course content.

As an educator who relies on graphic organizers and charts in the classroom, I have three strategies for using visual aids without sacrificing course content.

Sharing Intent

We often naively believe that a visual can stand on its own with minimal explanation. Instead, we should directly communicate to students what we hope for them to see (or interpret) based on the lesson at hand. For example, it’s useful to help students explore why the visual was selected and what the key characteristics of it are, and to identify the non-essential elements of it. And we should specify what we intend for the students to know after examining it. For instance, Professor Howard Cox’s purpose in integrating props like an officer’s cap and a replica revolver into his lectures on fiction set during the Civil War is to help build his students’ foundational knowledge about an author’s purpose and inspiration.

If time allows, I like to share a “runner-up” image and invite students to consider why the image didn’t make the cut. This discussion can deepen their understanding. And teachers can use prompts to help students reach that deeper understanding. Examples include “This image is a stronger representation of the concept because _____” and “This image makes me think about _____ from our lesson, which is important because _____.”

Activating Discussion

Most teachers encourage some level of class discourse when presenting a visual aid, but we need to go a step further. We can promote a conversation about how the visual helps in processing the course content. For example, ask students to share how the visual reinforces—or challenges—what they previously learned about relevant vocabulary terms. In my College Readiness class, we review a line graph that compares letter grades and attendance, discussing how the upward direction of the lines supports our expectations of a connection between consistent attendance and higher grades. We also question the story presented by the graph: Beyond lower grades, what consequences do absentee students face?

To increase students’ processing opportunities, use a think-aloud to get students talking about what makes a visual useful vs. the qualities that seem less important to understanding the theme or central message of the graphic or its connection to other content.

Push students to think deeper. For instance, in order to promote retrieval practice , put the visual away and ask students to break down the concepts represented in the visual relying solely on their memory. It’s important to discuss any discrepancies between what the students recall and what’s actually present in the image.

This is an excellent opportunity to explore misconceptions about the concept at hand. It’s also an ideal time to highlight any blind spots or typical areas of confusion related to the concept. For example, when sharing a bar graph, caution students that the measurement scale can lead them to misread it, especially if the y-axis starts with a random number instead of zero or if information is measured in the short term instead of the long term.

Creating Visual Aids as a Class

I believe involving students in the design of visual aids is essential to foster buy-in and learning ownership, but initially, students may hesitate to create their own visuals and take on the designer role.

Establishing design parameters for students should help. For example, limit their format options by specifying the type of graphic organizer or chart they can use, and provide time to discuss what kinds of visuals would potentially work best based on the content at hand. You can also assign a specified number of key concepts—based on the content reviewed—that students are required represented with their visual.

For students who continue to seem uncertain about creating a visual on their own, educator Matt Miller explains the value of maintaining a library of icons  (related to the topic, of course). Such a library allows students to focus on making meaning from the course material instead of becoming frustrated with the design work.

In addition to parameters, offer models. Make a point of asking students if it’s OK to share their visual with peers, and let them know why you wish to share their work. And teacher models are priceless. Dr. Deidra Gammill, a high school teacher in Mississippi, makes a habit of including images in her notes in order to provide concrete examples for her students to follow.

It’s not enough for a visual to capture attention—it should help students become more engaged. Over time, I’ve learned that aligning visual aids with course content is a deliberate process, one that is harder than I realized when I was starting out. With appropriate attention, we can ensure that our visual aids are windows to our lessons’ purpose and construction.

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15.2 Types of Presentation Aids

Learning objectives.

• Understand how charts can be used to present information.
• Explain the importance of using graphs while speaking.
• Describe four common types of representations.
• Differentiate between objects and models.
• Identify why speakers may use people as presentation aids.

As we saw in the case of the orientation presentation at the organic farming conference, using presentation aids can be risky. However, with a little forethought and adequate practice, you can choose presentation aids that enhance your message and boost your professional appearance in front of an audience.

One principle to keep in mind is to use only as many presentation aids as necessary to present your message or to fulfill your classroom assignment. Although the maxim “less is more” may sound like a cliché, it really does apply in this instance. The number and the technical sophistication of your presentation aids should never overshadow your speech.

Another important consideration is technology. Keep your presentation aids within the limits of the working technology available to you. Whether or not your classroom technology works on the day of your speech, you will still have to present. What will you do if the computer file containing your slides is corrupted? What will you do if the easel is broken? What if you had counted on stacking your visuals on a table that disappears right when you need it? You must be prepared to adapt to an uncomfortable and scary situation. This is why we urge students to go to the classroom at least fifteen minutes ahead of time to test the equipment and ascertain the condition of things they’re planning to use. As the speaker, you are responsible for arranging the things you need to make your presentation aids work as intended. Carry a roll of duct tape so you can display your poster even if the easel is gone. Find an extra chair if your table has disappeared. Test the computer setup, and have an alternative plan prepared in case there is some glitch that prevents your computer-based presentation aids from being usable. The more sophisticated the equipment is, the more you should be prepared with an alternative, even in a “smart classroom.”

More important than the method of delivery is the audience’s ability to see and understand the presentation aid. It must deliver clear information, and it must not distract from the message. Avoid overly elaborate presentation aids because they can distract the audience’s attention from your message. Instead, simplify as much as possible, emphasizing the information you want your audience to understand.

Another thing to remember is that presentation aids do not “speak for themselves.” When you display a visual aid, you should explain what it shows, pointing out and naming the most important features. If you use an audio aid such as a musical excerpt, you need to tell your audience what to listen for. Similarly, if you use a video clip, it is up to you as the speaker to point out the characteristics in the video that support the point you are making.

Although there are many useful presentation tools, you should not attempt to use every one of these tools in a single speech. Your presentation aids should be designed to look like a coherent set. For instance, if you decide to use three slides and a poster, all four of these visual aids should make use of the same type font and basic design.

Now that we’ve explored some basic hints for preparing visual aids, let’s look at the most common types of visual aids: charts, graphs, representations, objects/models, and people.

A chart is commonly defined as a graphical representation of data (often numerical) or a sketch representing an ordered process. Whether you create your charts or do research to find charts that already exist, it is important for them to exactly match the specific purpose in your speech. Figure 15.6 “Acupuncture Charts” shows two charts related to acupuncture. Although both charts are good, they are not equal. One chart might be useful in a speech about the history and development of acupuncture, while the other chart would be more useful for showing the locations of meridians, or the lines along which energy is thought to flow, and the acupuncture points.

Figure 15.6 Acupuncture Charts

Wikimedia Commons – public domains.

In the rest of this section, we’re going to explore three common types of charts: statistical charts, sequence-of-steps chart, and decision trees.

Statistical Charts

Figure 15.7 Birth Weight Chi-Square

Source: Woods, S. E., & Raju, U. (2001). Maternal smoking and the risk of congenital birth defects: A cohort study. Journal of the American Board of Family Practitioners, 14 , 330–334.

For most audiences, statistical presentations must be kept as simple as possible, and they must be explained. The statistical chart shown in Figure 15.7 “Birth Weight Chi-Square” is from a study examining the effects of maternal smoking on a range of congenital birth defects. Unless you are familiar with statistics, this chart may be very confusing. When visually displaying information from a quantitative study, you need to make sure that you understand the material and can successfully and simply explain how one should interpret the data. If you are unsure about the data yourself, then you should probably not use this type of information. This is surely an example of a visual aid that, although it delivers a limited kind of information, does not speak for itself.

Sequence-of-Steps Charts

Figure 15.8 Steps in Cell Reproduction

Wikimedia Commons – public domain; and Wikimeida Commons – public domain.

Charts are also useful when you are trying to explain a process that involves several steps. The two visual aids in Figure 15.8 “Steps in Cell Reproduction” both depict the process of cell division called mitosis using a sequence-of-steps chart, but they each deliver different information. The first chart lacks labels to indicate the different phases of cell division. Although the first chart may have more color and look more polished, the missing information may confuse your audience. In the second chart, each phase is labeled with a brief explanation of what is happening, which can help your audience understand the process.

Decision Trees

Figure 15.9 To Play or Not to Play

Wikimedia Commons – public domain.

Decision trees are useful for showing the relationships between ideas. The example in Figure 15.9 “To Play or Not to Play” shows how a decision tree could be used to determine the appropriate weather for playing baseball. As with the other types of charts, you want to be sure that the information in the chart is relevant to the purpose of your speech and that each question and decision is clearly labeled.

Strictly speaking, a graph may be considered a type of chart, but graphs are so widely used that we will discuss them separately. A graph is a pictorial representation of the relationships of quantitative data using dots, lines, bars, pie slices, and the like. Graphs show the variation in one variable in comparison with that of one or more other variables. Where a statistical chart may report the mean ages of individuals entering college, a graph would show how the mean age changes over time. A statistical chart may report the amount of computers sold in the United States, while a graph will show the breakdown of those computers by operating systems such as Windows, Macintosh, and Linux. Public speakers can show graphs using a range of different formats. Some of those formats are specialized for various professional fields. Very complex graphs often contain too much information that is not related to the purpose of a student’s speech. If the graph is cluttered, it becomes difficult to comprehend.

In this section, we’re going to analyze the common graphs speakers utilize in their speeches: line graphs, bar graphs, and pie graphs.

Figure 15.10 Enron’s Stock Price

Wikimedia Common – CC BY-SA 2.0.

A line graph is designed to show trends over time. In Figure 15.10 “Enron’s Stock Price” , we see a line graph depicting the fall of Enron’s stock price from August 2000 to January 2002. Notice that although it has some steep rises, the line has an overall downward trend clearly depicting the plummeting of Enron’s stock price. Showing such a line graph helps the audience see the relationships between the numbers, and audiences can understand the information by seeing the graph much more easily than they could if the speaker just read the numbers aloud.

Bar graphs are useful for showing the differences between quantities. They can be used for population demographics, fuel costs, math ability in different grades, and many other kinds of data.

The graph in Figure 15.11 “Natural Death vs. Homicide” is well designed. It is relatively simple and is carefully labeled, making it easy for you to guide your audience through the quantities of each type of death. The bar graph is designed to show the difference between natural deaths and homicides across various age groups. When you look at the data, the first grouping clearly shows that eighteen- to twenty-four-year-olds are more likely to die because of a homicide than any of the other age groups.

Figure 15.11 Natural Death vs. Homicide

The graph in Figure 15.12 “Distribution of Income and Wealth in the United States” is a complicated bar graph depicting the disparity between the haves and the have nots within the United States. On the left hand side of the graph you can see that the Top 20% of people within the United States account for 84.7% of all of the wealth and 50.1% of all of the income. On the other hand, those in the bottom 40% account for only 0.2% of the wealth and 12.1% of the actual income.

Figure 15.12 Distribution of Income and Wealth in the United States

Source: Wolff, E. N. (2007). Recent trends in household wealth in the United States: Rising debt and the middle-class squeeze (Working Paper No. 502). Retrieved from the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College website: http://www.levy.org/pubs/wp_502.pdf

While the graph is very well designed, it presents a great deal of information. In a written publication, readers will have time to sit and analyze the graph, but in a speaking situation, audience members need to be able to understand the information in a graph very quickly. For that reason, this graph is probably not as effective for speeches as the one in Figure 15.11 “Natural Death vs. Homicide” .

Pie graphs should be simplified as much as possible without eliminating important information. As with other graphs, the sections of the pie need to be plotted proportionally. In the pie graph shown in Figure 15.13 “Causes of Concussions in Children” , we see a clear and proportional chart that has been color-coded. Color-coding is useful when it’s difficult to fit the explanations in the actual sections of the graph; in that case, you need to include a legend, or key, to indicate what the colors in the graph mean. In this graph, audience members can see very quickly that falls are the primary reason children receive concussions.

Figure 15.13 Causes of Concussions in Children

Figure 15.14 World Populations

The pie graph in Figure 15.14 “World Populations” is jumbled, illegible, confusing, and overwhelming in every way. The use of color coding doesn’t help. Overall, this graph simply contains too much information and is more likely to confuse an audience than help them understand something.

Representations

In the world of presentation aids, representations is the word used to classify a group of aids designed to represent real processes or objects. Often, speakers want to visually demonstrate something that they cannot physically bring with them to the speech. Maybe you’re giving a speech on the human brain, and you just don’t have access to a cadaver’s brain. Instead of bringing in a real brain, you could use a picture of a brain or an image that represents the human brain. In this section we’re going to explore four common representations: diagrams, maps, photographs, and video or recordings.

Diagrams are drawings or sketches that outline and explain the parts of an object, process, or phenomenon that cannot be readily seen. Like graphs, diagrams can be considered a type of chart, as in the case of organization charts and process flow charts.

Figure 15.15 The Human Eye

When you use a diagram, be sure to explain each part of the phenomenon, paying special attention to elements that are complicated or prone to misunderstanding. In the example shown in Figure 15.15 “The Human Eye” , you might wish to highlight that the light stimulus is reversed when it is processed through the brain or that the optic nerve is not a single stalk as many people think.

Maps are extremely useful if the information is clear and limited. There are all kinds of maps, including population, weather, ocean current, political, and economic maps, but you should be able to find the right kind for the purpose of your speech. Choose a map that emphasizes the information you need to deliver.

The map shown in Figure 15.16 “African Map with Nigerian Emphasis” is simple, showing clearly the geographic location of Nigeria. This can be extremely valuable for some audiences who might not be able to name and locate countries on the continent of Africa.

Figure 15.16 African Map with Nigerian Emphasis

Figure 15.17 Rhode Island Map

Source: Map courtesy of the National Atlas of the United States.

Figure 15.17 “Rhode Island Map” is a map of the state of Rhode Island, and it emphasizes the complicated configuration of islands and waterways that characterize this state’s geography. Although the map does not list the names of the islands, it is helpful in orienting the audience to the direction and distance of the islands to other geographic features, such as the city of Providence and the Atlantic Ocean.

Photographs and Drawings

Figure 15.18 Wigwam Picture

Iheartpandas – Wigwams – CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Figure 15.19 Ship’s Rigging

Sometimes a photograph or a drawing is the best way to show an unfamiliar but important detail. Figure 15.18 “Wigwam Picture” is a photograph of a wigwam, a wigwam was a living dwelling used by Native Americans in the North East. In this photograph you can see the curved birchbark exterior, which makes this dwelling ideal for a variety of weather conditions. The photograph of the tall ship in Figure 15.19 “Ship’s Rigging” emphasizes the sheer amount and complexity of the ship’s rigging.

Video or Audio Recordings

Another very useful type of presentation aid is a video or audio recording. Whether it is a short video from a website such as YouTube or Vimeo, a segment from a song, or a piece of a podcast, a well-chosen video or audio recording may be a good choice to enhance your speech.

Imagine, for example, that you’re giving a speech on how “Lap-Band” surgeries help people lose weight. One of the sections of your speech could explain how the Lap-Band works, so you could easily show the following forty-three-second video to demonstrate the medical part of the surgery ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPuThbFMxGg ). Maybe you want to include a recording of a real patient explaining why he or she decided to get the Lap-Band. Then you could include a podcast like this one from the Medical University of South Carolina ( http://medicaluniversc.http.internapcdn.net/medicaluniversc_vitalstream_com/podcasts/2007/1_Treado_June_22_final.mp3 ).

There is one major caveat to using audio and video clips during a speech: do not forget that they are supposed to be aids to your speech, not the speech itself! In addition, be sure to avoid these three mistakes that speakers often make when using audio and video clips:

• Avoid choosing clips that are too long for the overall length of the speech. If you are giving a five-minute speech, then any audio or video clip you use should be under thirty seconds in length.
• Don’t fail to practice with the audio or video equipment prior to speaking. If you are unfamiliar with the equipment, you’ll look foolish trying to figure out how it works. This fiddling around will not only take your audience out of your speech but also have a negative impact on your credibility.
• Don’t fail to cue the clip to the appropriate place prior to beginning your speech. We cannot tell you the number of times we’ve seen students spend valuable speech time trying to find a clip on YouTube or a DVD. You need to make sure your clip is ready to go before you start speaking.

Objects or Models

Objects and models are another form of presentation aid that can be very helpful in getting your audience to understand your message. Objects refer to anything you could hold up and talk about during your speech. If you’re talking about the importance of not using plastic water bottles, you might hold up a plastic water bottle and a stainless steel water bottle as examples. If you’re talking about the percussion family of musical instruments and you own (and can play) several different percussion instruments, you can show your audience in person what they look like and how they sound.

Models , on the other hand, are re-creations of physical objects that you cannot have readily available with you during a speech. If you’re giving a speech on heart murmurs, you may be able to show how heart murmurs work by holding up a model of the human heart.

People and Animals

The next category of presentation aids are people and animals. We can often use ourselves or other people to adequately demonstrate an idea during our speeches.

Animals as Presentation Aids

When giving a speech on a topic relating to animals, it is often tempting to bring an animal to serve as your presentation aid. While this can sometimes add a very engaging dimension to the speech, it carries some serious risks that you need to consider.

The first risk is that animal behavior tends to be unpredictable. You may think this won’t be a problem if your presentation aid animal is a small enough to be kept confined throughout your speech—for example, a goldfish in a bowl or a lizard or bird in a cage. However, even caged animals can be very distracting to your audience if they run about, chirp, or exhibit other agitated behavior. The chances are great that an animal will react to the stress of an unfamiliar situation by displaying behavior that does not contribute positively to your speech.

The second risk is that some audience members may respond negatively to a live animal. In addition to common fears and aversions to animals like snakes, spiders, and mice, many people have allergies to various animals.

The third risk is that some locations may have regulations about bringing animals onto the premises. If animals are allowed, the person bringing the animal may be required to bring a veterinary certificate or may be legally responsible for any damage caused by the animal.

For these reasons, before you decide to use an animal as a presentation aid, ask yourself if you could make your point equally well with a picture, model, diagram, or other representation of the animal in question.

Speaker as Presentation Aid

Speakers can often use their own bodies to demonstrate facets of a speech. If your speech is about ballroom dancing or ballet, you might use your body to demonstrate the basic moves in the cha-cha or the five basic ballet positions.

Other People as Presentation Aids

In many speeches, it can be cumbersome and distracting for the speaker to use her or his own body to illustrate a point. In such cases, the best solution is to ask someone else to serve as your presentation aid.

You should arrange ahead of time for a person (or persons) to be an effective aid—do not assume that an audience member will volunteer on the spot. If you plan to demonstrate how to immobilize a broken bone, your volunteer must know ahead of time that you will touch him or her as much as necessary to splint their foot. You must also make certain that they will arrive dressed presentably and that they will not draw attention away from your message through their appearance or behavior.

The transaction between you and your human presentation aid must be appropriate, especially if you are going to demonstrate something like a dance step. Use your absolute best judgment about behavior, and make sure that your human presentation aid understands this dimension of the task.

Key Takeaways

• Various types of charts can aid audience understanding of a speaker’s message. Statistical charts help audiences see and interpret numerical information. Sequence-of-steps charts show how a process occurs. Decision trees help audience members see how a specific decision can be made in a logical fashion.
• Line graphs, bar graphs, and pie graphs are commonly used by speakers to help present numerical information. The information presented on a graph should be clean and easily understandable from a distance.
• Representations are presentation aids designed to represent a real process or object. Commonly used representations in public speaking include diagrams, maps, photographs, and video or audio recordings.
• Objects are physical items that can be held up and used during a speech. Models, on the other hand, refer to tangible items that can be held during a speech, but are not the actual object but rather a facsimile of it.
• Speakers often will use their own bodies or the bodies of other people to help them illustrate a part of a speech. When using another person, it is very important to coach that person prior to the speech to ensure that he or she will not upstage the speaker. Using animals as presentation aids is generally not recommended.
• Watch the video on gshep1’s YouTube channel from Booher Consultants at http://www.youtube.com/user/gshep1 . How many mistakes can you identify that this speaker makes in using presentation aids?
• Find a speech on YouTube and see what types of presentation aids the speaker uses. Does the speaker select appropriate aids? How could you have made them better? Were there any missing presentation aids that should have been in the speech?
• Create a chart representing the speech creation process. Try using either a sequence-of-steps chart or a decision tree.
• Think about your next speech. What presentation aids can you use in your speech to enhance your audience’s understanding?

Stand up, Speak out Copyright © 2016 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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By: VariQuest Visual and Kinesthetic Learning Suite on May 13th, 2021

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The Importance of Visual Aids in Teaching

VariQuest Tools: Perfecta 2400STP | VariQuest Tools: Perfecta 3600STP | visual learning | VariQuest Tools: Perfecta 2400PRO

The Benefits of Visual Aids for Teaching and Learning

Helping inspire students to study more effectively

Helping students retain information for a longer period of time

Providing an example to think about concepts

Increasing the student’s vocabulary

Helping students gain a proper view of topics and concepts

Providing hands on experience for students

Creating an atmosphere of interest

Making the process of teaching easier for teachers

Visual Aid Posters , Educational Charts, and Presentation Templates

Classroom learning can be enhanced significantly through the time-tested use of visual aid posters that teach information and concepts. These educational posters can hang on a classroom wall, serving as a convenient point of reference for students and also enhance the visual appeal of the classroom.

With the use of our creative presentation templates, you can effectively capture the attention of students. These templates can include various colors and fonts to create engaging slides that present information for illustrative learning, including photos, charts, and icons.

The VariQuest Visual and Kinesthetic Learning Suite is paired with thousands of templates, graphics, fonts, cutouts, and collections in our Engage Every Learner® Content , and because we're also visual learners, we'd like to show you! Download some free VariQuest visual aid posters here:

• Calm Down Checklist Poster
• My Holiday Traditions Poster
• Digital Citizenship and Internet Safety Poster Pack

For more information about the tools we offer for the production of visual aids for classroom teaching and learning, request a no-obligation demonstration with one of our expert education consultants - you'll be so glad you did!

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Blog Data Visualization 10 Types of Visual Aids in Teaching with Examples

10 Types of Visual Aids in Teaching with Examples

Written by: Sara McGuire Sep 28, 2018

Visual aids are any tools that use sight to communicate information. They can be anything from a simple picture to an elaborate animation.

In the realm of teaching, visual aids become powerful allies. Creating education visual aids takes abstract ideas and makes them concrete, aiding students in understanding and retaining information.

Visual aids for learning can also expand beyond the realm of just classroom posters and presentations. You can also visually enhance documents like student progress reports, lesson plans, and research reports.

Here are 10 types of visual aids for learning that will engage students and help you plan and deliver lessons more effectively. I’ve also included some education templates design tips to help you get started.

Click to jump ahead:

• Educational infographics to simplify complex information
• Creative presentations to keep students engaged with a lesson
• Educational charts to make data accessible
• Student assessment reports with an approachable design
• Research reports to make data and insights engaging
• School newsletters to get students, parents and teachers excited about events
• Lesson plans to help you stay organized and to inspire other educators
• Educational posters to inspire and remind students
• Classroom checklists to keep students, teachers and parents on track
• Education calendars to keep students, parents and teacher informed \

1. Educational infographics to simplify complex information

Infographics are a perfect classroom tool because they can make complex information easier to understand.

There are many different types of infographics you can create, depending on the information you want to visualize. For example, you could make an infographic to summarize a new topic , to show a timeline of events, to visualize statistics , to explain a process –and more.

For example, this educational infographic uses a combination of charts, icons and creative text to show statistics about teens and social media. Visuals aids like these can be helpful for students who have trouble wrapping their heads around big numbers.

The cool thing about infographics is that there’s so many approaches you can take to create one. And the design doesn’t have to be complicated–just effective.

Related: How to Create a Successful Employee Training and Development Program Using Visuals

For example, this infographic uses a pattern graphic design of colorful circles to represent different vitamins. Associating each vitamin with a color can help students remember each one.

In data visualization, color plays a bigger role than just for decoration. Color can also be used as a tool to visualize information. Check out our guide to using colors to communicate effectively .

2. Creative presentations to keep students engaged with a lesson

We’ve all sat through boring presentations before. I’m going to go out on a limb and assume you don’t want to be the one delivering a boring presentation!

A creative presentation template can go a long way to keep your students from snoring in the middle of class. For starters, introduce bright colors and creative fonts into your slide design. You can also combine photos, charts and icons to illustrate concepts.

For example, this creative presentation uses a bold color palette that give each slide impact:

The combination of a script font with a more modern font helps makes for an interesting and unexpected design. Simple tricks like mixing and matching styles (as long as they’re complementary) can go a long way in your  presentation design .

Related: Storyline: A Starter Guide to Creating Engaging Visual Training Courses

Presenting information in a creative and visually-stimulating way can help get students excited about a topic. This presentation template uses image frames to seamlessly incorporate different pictures of foods into each slide design:

We have a tutorial for using image frames in your design, which you can access  here .

3. Educational charts to make data accessible

Simple charts are another great visual aid for an online learning platform . They can make data more approachable, and can also help reveal the stories behind data.

Look for opportunities to present information visually in your presentations, handouts, and reports, and find a chart that fits that type of information. For example, a classic pyramid chart is effective for visualizing a topic in different levels:

Charts are also handy tools for analyzing processes. There are plenty of opportunities for you to include engaging visuals in your staff presentations, personal research, and more.

For example, a common problem that many teachers face is negotiating budgets for their curriculums, programs, and resources. Well-designed visuals can help you make a good case for your budget requests.

Check out our guide for choosing the best charts for your data .

4. Student assessment reports with an approachable design

Since tracking students’ progress is an important part of a teacher’s job, why not make your student assessment reports more engaging with a creative design?

Younger students at the preschool or elementary school level can find assessments particularly stressful. A fun and playful design can help make a student progress report appear less intimidating.

For example, this progress report template uses a rainbow color palette, with star pictograms representing their grades:

You can also help students and parents understand their progress better by summarizing their progress in a chart. For example, this chart template uses a combination of a pie chart and some simple icons to highlight the main educational areas the student is being assessed on.

5. Research reports to make data and insights engaging

If you want to share some interesting research findings with your students, or you want students to share their findings with you, try using a visually engaging report template . A visual report will require you or your students to identify and emphasize the most important pieces of information.

For example, this research report template uses circle icons to emphasize the study’s main findings:

Presenting research visually can also help inspire students and staff members. For example, if you want to promote a student organization or a charity, visualizing some surprising statistics can make people stop and think about a cause.

This research poster highlights the achievements of an organization using a simple bar graph and some icons:

6. School newsletters to get students, parents and teachers excited about events

A classic school newsletter can help keep staff, students and parents on the same page. Why not add some school spirit to your newsletter design ? If you start with a newsletter template, it’s easy to customize the text and visuals for every week or month.

Simply swap out the icons with ones that reflect the theme of each particular newsletter. You can also use image frames to share pictures of events at your school.

Incorporate your school colors and fonts into your newsletter design. For example, this newsletter template uses the school’s colors of orange for the headers and blue for the sub-headers:

Our newsletter maker offers a ton of creative newsletter templates. Why not try it out?

7. Lesson plans to help you stay organized and to inspire other educators

As an educator, you no doubt understand the importance of being organized. Incorporating visuals into your lesson plan can make it easier for you to scan for information. It can also help inspire your creativity about a subject!

Since organization is key when it comes to lesson planning, you don’t have to go overboard with the design. Some simple design elements like icons, colorful headers, and a thematic footer can breathe life into a mundane lesson plan.

And if you want to share your lesson plans on a personal blog or with other teachers in your school, making your lesson plan engaging will make all the difference!

8. Educational posters to inspire and remind students 

Educational posters are a classic teaching aid that can breathe life into a classroom. Hanging posters up on your classroom walls will not only invite color into the environment, they’ll also act as helpful resources for students.

For example, here’s an educational poster that you could pin up in your classroom. The three study tips on this poster are organized with a different colored background. This is a simple  poster design trick  to help the information stand out.

Meanwhile, this educational poster uses icons to visualize each different type of learner. A poster with this layout this can be useful for introducing students to new or foreign concepts (for example, words in a secondary language) because they can associate each word with a visual.

9. Classroom checklists to keep students, teachers and parents on track

A simple checklist can be a great tool to have in the classroom. From classroom duties to assignments for the semester, there are a lot of things that students need to keep track of.

Adding visual aids to your checklists can help make the points on the list easier to remember. For example, this simple checklist infographic  uses icons and a different color for each point:

A visual checklist can also be useful for staff members, to help them remember tasks or best practices. For example, this checklist template offers tips to guide new teaching assistants:

10. Education calendars to keep students, parents and teacher informed

Both teachers and students have a lot to keep track of. Adding some design flare to your calendar will make it a fun visual aid you can hang up in your classroom, or include to parents in an email.

Look for ways to organize the information so nothing is missed. For example, the lefthand column in this calendar template identifies the focus of each week, using an image to illustrate the ideas. This makes it easy for students to glance at the calendar and have an idea of what’s going on.

Read More:  27+ Lesson Plan Examples for Effective Teaching

A few things to keep in mind when designing visual aids for learning:

• Make sure your information is organized and easy to understand–even if that means toning down the design.
• On that same note, keep designs relatively simple and keep text concise.
• Look for ways to visualize information using charts, pictograms, icons, and images.
• Customize templates for things like newsletters, reports, and calendars so you can easily reuse them.
• Export your teaching aids as high quality PNGs or PDFs so they will look good when you print them.

These are just a handful of the different types of visual aids for learning that you can use in the classroom. Are there any other visual aids that you like to use in your classroom? Share your tips in the comments!

• What Is Your Teacher Personality Type? [QUIZ + INFOGRAPHIC]
• 9 Ways Middle Schools Can Use Infographics in Classroom

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