Mastering Presentational Aids
Public speaking requires that we plan out word choice and organize main topic areas, supported by sub-points, and bolstered by research. Presentation aids, also called visual aids, equip public speakers with different ways to present their ideas. Presentational aids appeal to our senses, such as hearing and seeing, and enrich your performance. Therefore, speakers often use presentational aids.
Objectives of Presentational Aids
Presentational aids allow the speaker to capture and maintain the audience's attention. Colors, sound, and imagery make the speech more interesting.
Presentational aids enhance the audience's understanding of the topic and examples by clarifying concepts, processes, statistical data, and theories. Presentation aids should be uncomplicated for the listeners and not detract from the performance.
Presentational aids complete the chains of logic for the audience. They show how concepts connect and visually tell a story supporting our oral advocacy.
Presentational aids illustrate and explain new information, taking the audience from the familiar to the unfamiliar. Visual aids should complement our oral advocacy by providing a new knowledge base for the audience.
Presentational aids highlight critical components of a presentation.
Presentational aids ensure the speaker creates a memorable speech, assisting our audience in remembering speech content. The more stimuli we provide our audience, the more probable that they will retain and mentally retrieve the facts we have shared in our presentation.
Effective presentational aids enhance speaker credibility because they contribute to a speaker’s professional image.
How Audiences Process Information
An audience will be composed of three types of learners: visual learners, auditory learners, and kinesthetic learners. Understanding how humans process information helps speakers use visual aids that resonate with various learning styles.
Visual learners process information by seeing images.
Auditory learners process information by listening.
Kinesthetic learners process information by doing.
When displaying a presentational aid, complete the chain of logic for the audience. In other words, Explain, analyze, interpret the data, imagery, or sounds — identify critical features that the visual aid is demonstrating.
First, preview what the audience is about to observe.
Second, show the visual aid.
Third, summarize how that visual aid relates to the over speech topic or the specifics of the sub-point.
In this way, we are building redundancy in our presentation, reinforcing the argument we are making and, therefore, helping our listener remember.
Adapting to the Audience
The effective use of visual aids requires understanding the audience. This way, a speaker can make practical choices regarding levels of information presented using imagery. For example, a group of certified public accountants will have higher levels of understanding about cash flow projections versus first-year accounting students. So, for the pupils, an Excel spreadsheet would be a highly effective visual aid to explain cash flow budgeting, but is unnecessary for the accountants who already understand this information. Presentation aids should enrich the speech. We want to avoid information overload with our audience with too much imagery that detracts from our oral presentation.
Adapting to the Speaking Context
When selecting visual aids, remember that a speech occurs within a specific speaking context. Speakers can make effective choices in use of colors, imagery, and even font selections. Is the speaking context somber or full of levity? Is the speaking context situated within a program? Is there only one presenter? Is the event at a product launch, an award ceremony, or a sales presentation? Be sure that the selection of visual aids aligns with audience expectations regarding the setting of the speech. Regardless of the public speaking context, be sure to allow plenty of time to set up and practice with your visual aid. Prepare for unexpected situations and make adjustments in real-time, so the audience can still see and hear the visual aids. Print copies of your visual aid as a backup.