Unit 8: Visual aids

Sometimes the choice of your visual aids will depend on what facilities you will have at your disposal at the presentation venue. Will there be a microphone and speakers? Or perhaps there is only a blackboard on the wall? It is good to know the answers to such questions beforehand so that you do not invest in some high quality software that cannot really be used.

If you want to distribute handouts you should consider how much information you are willing to share and when to distribute them. Do you need them in the middle of your speech? Will you share them at that particular moment? Or do you perhaps want to leave the audience with a summary of what you have said, and therefore you will distribute them at the end of your presentation? Remember that from the moment you distribute handouts, they will create a distraction.

All visual aids have to be large enough, simple to understand and clearly visible (do not stand in front of them!). Choose simple, self-explanatory pictures, simple fonts for texts and avoid complicated multiple effects. Remember to acknowledge your sources when showing visual aids (you can print the source on the picture or at the bottom of the slide).