In today’s digital age, you can ace public speaking by learning and implementing various tips and techniques. One way to deliver an impactful speech is to use visual aids in your presentation.
If you ask successful speakers, they will encourage using some kind of visuals to keep your audience engaged. There are various benefits of using visual aids. For example, they entertain the audience, help them remember facts, and prompt your memory if you go blank.
Suppose a listener struggles to acquire verbal information; these visuals can help them understand whatever you say. They help make your information memorable if you dedicate some time to creating relevant and engaging visual aids.
Whether you’re conducting a training session or giving a eulogy to honor your retiring boss, incorporating visuals or preparing a power-point presentation can make your session entertaining. You can also explore different eulogy examples and include some visual aids to keep your audience attentive.
No doubt, imagery or slides are a powerful tool for any speaker. But if you don’t know how to utilize them, visual aids start distracting your audience. And you don’t want it.
To make the most of your presentation, try the following techniques.
Discuss your Visual Aids as You Show Them
While giving a presentation, don’t forget to explain the images or other visuals you are using. This is because your audience can either read the text or listen to you. It’s not possible for them to focus on both.
Therefore, when you present an image, you need to discuss its content and relevancy at the same time. If you delay the explanation, your audience might not understand its purpose, and the image will start to distract your audience.
Ensure Everyone Can See the Visuals
It’s understood that everyone is supposed to see the visuals you’re using in the presentation. But sometimes, speakers don’t pay attention to it and make this common mistake.
Hence, when speaking to a group of people, ensure that each person present in the room can see your imagery, poster, or PowerPoint slides.
You can also learn about the layout of the venue to avoid this amateur problem. Moreover, not seeing the visual clearly also impacts the engagement of your audience.
If your presentation features essential facts or explanations, don’t make your audience miss necessary information, or you may lose their interest completely.
Remove the Visual Aid Immediately
It’s crucial to turn down the visual aids once you’re done speaking about it.
If you don’t move visuals or change slides immediately, your audience might keep staring at it and don’t pay attention to your following points.
To retain their attention, it’s best to put the visual part of the presentation away if you’re done speaking about it.
Keep Things Minimal
It’s common to overcrowd PowerPoint slides while giving presentations. However, it doesn’t look professional in the corporate world.
You may have attended corporate presentations where they show slide after slide with 100 or more words written on each. It’s physically not possible to read all slides and retain information.
The purpose of a speech or public speaking is to create a substantial impact on your audience. If you struggle to do it, you can follow a rule of thumb called the 1-6-6 rule.
How does it work?
It’s simple. You need to display one idea per slide featuring six bullet points and six words per point. It is one of the most straightforward sets of rules that you can follow to make your presentation effective and engaging.
However, there’s no need to be restrictive. Instead, use it as a guideline to develop comprehensive visual aids that make the entire presentation easy to understand.
Rules to Follow When Using Visual Aids
Here are some approaches to follow and some practices to avoid when presenting with visual aids.
Appropriate Approaches
You need to incorporate colors into your slides or other imagery. If you decide to go for a black and white color combination, your slides will start to look boring. That’s why use color, even if it’s just for the slide’s heading.
Make your visuals visible from at least 8 feet away. When your images or slides are legible from that distance, they will be readable to the whole room.
Try using clip art which is available on computers. You can pick a theme using clip art and use a different image for each presentation.
Inappropriate Practices
Avoid displaying an image for more than 10 minutes. Visual aids get most of the attention, which is acceptable if your slides help communicate your message. But after 10 minutes, the stale image will start to overwhelm your audience.
If it doesn’t go with your audience, don’t use cartoonish themes or other “cute” additions to your presentations.
Moreover, there’s no need to experiment with different fonts throughout your presentation. You can use a single font in various sizes to emphasize critical information. You can also opt for bold lettering to make your visuals effective.
Don’t overuse colors, and ensure that the ones you’re using will complement your message. Don’t use various colors when speaking to a group of business experts regarding a new venture.
Final Words
There’s no denying that using visual aids can make your presentation informative and memorable.
You can find several speakers who incorporate slides or images into their speaking sessions for various reasons, as they are a helpful tool.
However, you need to use them in the right way to prevent the occurrence of possible problems and retain your audience’s attention.
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