VISUAL AIDS


GUIDANCE ON HOW TO USE VISUAL AIDS

Ensure that you are familiar with the equipment in plenty of time before the presentation.

Creation

1. There are three kinds of visual material, all different: (a)Your notes/script; (b)the visual aids you show the audience during a presentation; and (c)the hand-out which is a "take-away" stand-alone record of the meeting.

2. A visual aid must enhance, reinforce and strengthen your message.
- it must not be a distraction by being detailed or difficult to read.
- it must not be in competition with you.

3. Try to avoid word slides. Ask yourself: do the audience need these headings or are the headings really my notes? If word slides are used then keep the words simple and in short bursts. Mental pictures beat actual pictures which beat words.

4. Ensure that the visual aid is specific to the point you are making. Keep it simple - use your imagination.

5. Design visual aids to fit into your planned talk (not vice versa). Always question "will this visual really help or am I better off without it?"

Usage
6. No one can read and listen at the same time.

7. Give an introduction first - then produce the visual aid which should initially be viewed in silence while it is being digested. The best guide as to when to start is when the audience looks back at you. If using a model as a visual aid, make as many points as possible before showing the model.

8. Although each visual aid should add value, you must add futher value by telling us something that we cannot see or read for ourselves.

9. Once the visual has finished its usefulness, it should be removed. If the next visual would as a result appear, wait until you have introduced that next visual.

10. Don't forget, you are the most important ingredient. Don't let your presentation become a slide show. Use blanks whenever there is a gap in the usefulness of each 35mm slide.

11. Use visuals naturally. If you look at the visual, you are showing the audience that you wish them to look at it too.

12. Golden Rule: Don't talk when the visual is first shown. The best use of the visual aid is to reinforce what you have said.
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Advice on computer-generated visual aids

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