Select Visuals
Since most people rely heavily upon visual information cues, you can assist
your audience by incorporating visual aids into your presentation. These
help you to emphasize key points your audience will understand and remember.
Choose these sparingly, otherwise they could become distracting.
Identify
the purpose of your visual aid
- to
clarify a key point
- to
provide an illustrative example
- to
model
- to
summarize
- to
entertain while informing
Select
types of visual aids well matched to the needs of your audience with respect
to specific portions of your presentation.
- table
- good for presenting groups of detailed facts
- bar
graph - can represent numerical qualities
- line
graph - shows how one quantify changes as a function of change in another
quantity
- pie
graph - effective for depicting the composition of a whole
- diagram
- similar to a drawing but relies upon symbols
- flow
chart - means of representing successions of events
- organizational
chart - usually depicts hierarchical arrangement
Select
presentation vehicles (and make sure they're working) based upon the audience's
seating arrangement.
- overhead
- easel
or chalkboard
- hand-out
- slides
- model
- computer
screen
Critique
your visual aid from the perspective of the audience's needs.
- Is
it large enough to be easily seen or is it too small and detailed?
- Is
the contrast/color effective or distracting?
- Does
it clarify a difficult concept or introduce confusion?
- Is
the visual aid necessary or superfluous?
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