what is presentation aids

10 Presentation Aids To Enhance Your Presentation

Table of contents.

You’re putting together a presentation and you’ve considered using presentation aids but don’t know where to begin?

Whether you’re a seasoned veteran presenter or new to the industry and looking on how to become a better presenter , we’ve got you covered with tips and tricks and everything you need to know about presentation aids.

We’ve put together this comprehensive list of 10 presentation aids you should incorporate in your next presentation, seminar, public speaking event or any other audience engagement to ensure your key messages are retained and you remain at the forefront of people’s minds.

Whether it’s visual aids, creative design or new ideas you wouldn’t necessarily think of to use in your line of work, we’ve broken down the bias to help give you a fresh mind on some presentation aids you should use.

What Are Presentation Aids?

A presentation aid is a complementary tool you can and should use in order to have your presentation stand out and enhance it.

They are sensory aids to help elevate your speech, performance or powerpoint presentation.

Where words fail, presentation aids come in to support.

A presentation aid can be used alone or in combination with other presentation aids. More often than not, it is encouraged to combine a couple of presentation aids to target the different senses – hearing, vision, smell, & taste.

The more senses you target, the more likely your presentation will be remembered.

For example, audio and video clips might be sprinkled throughout your presentation slide deck. Although these are all different presentation aids, using them in a combined way will enhance the overall presentation and increase audience engagement.

Presentation aids work because they tap into the presentation psychology ; the underpinning of our minds and how we perceive and remember great presentations. Whether someone is an auditory or visual learner, using additional presentation aids that target these senses will help take your presentation from average to phenomenal.

Why Do Presenters Use Presentation Aids?

Every presenter has their reasoning for selecting the presentation aids they use.

With the advancement of technology, presenters have been using more and more visual aids in their presentations in order to enhance the overall audience experience and create a great visual presentation .

Whether your presentation is in-person or instead a virtual presentation , the objective is always the same. Get your key messaging across with minimal miscommunication. Getting your key message across to your audience members can be done with the help of effective presentation aids.

Both informal and formal presentations incorporate some degree of presentation aids.

Presentation aids provide many benefits to a presenter. A presenter may use a combination of both visual aids and auditory aids to increase audience engagement and to help deliver their message.

Let’s break it down as to why a presenter would use visual aids and why a presenter would use auditory aids.

At a high level, it first depends on the audience. You should always begin crafting your presentation by understanding who your audience is and what you want them to take away from your presentation. This will help define the aids you select.

If your audience has a shorter attention span such as young adults or children, consider using more visual aids like videos or imagery. You may do this by adding videos into your PowerPoint presentation or adding images.

Perhaps you want your audience to remember things or act on something after the presentation has already concluded. A brochure or presentation handout might be a great aid to use as it leaves a physical, tangible item with the audience.

Trying to get funding or convert audience members into sales? A demonstration or live performance of the product can help people envision themselves using the product.

Presentation aids are used to help deliver your message and influence people. Understand your audience and the message you want them to take away and you’re halfway done deciding which complementary presentation tool you should use.

10 Types Of Presentation Aids

Before we begin going through the list of presentation aids you should use, we want to first preface with a word of caution.

Don’t overdo it.

As tempting as it may be to incorporate all 10 presentation types of presentation aids into your allotted time, don’t. You may be doing yourself a disservice.

Too many presentation aids may begin to distract your audience rather than support your messaging.

If you give your audience a handout, have them glance at an image with some written text all on one slide all the while you’re speaking over everything, there is too much going on. Your audience won’t know where to place their attention.

Also, some presentation aids don’t work in the environment in which the presentation is being held.

For example, if your presentation is virtual with absolutely no in-person audience members, a demonstration or live performance might not make practical sense.

Use these tools sparingly.

With that being said, let’s dive into the top 10 types of presentation aids we believe you should incorporate into your next presentation based on presentation feedback we’ve received over the years as presentation designers.

1 – PowerPoint Slides, Google Slides & Prezi Slides

One of the very first presentation aids we’ve all been taught to use and have more than likely used at least once in a school or work environment is a presentation slide deck.

Almost all presentations nowadays have a slide deck accompanying the presentation since it has been engrained in our minds as an essential for every presentation.

Whether it’s a motivational speech, client pitch presentation , RFP presentation , virtual presentation or an investment pitch presentation , they typically always use a slide deck.

Slide decks are great because they’re often easily customizable and there are plenty of well designed templates you can find online.

Slide decks such as PowerPoint Slides, Google Slides and Prezi Slides also allow a presenter to incorporate additional presentation aids such as videos, images or graphs seamlessly. Rather than having to jump back and forth between tabs, monitors or computers, a presentation slide deck consolidates all the information into one place.

When presenting to a large audience, a slide deck also allows audience members who are seated at the back of the venue to still take away the key points you’re trying to highlight. When highlighting key points, they will often be mentioned in the slide deck which is often displayed using a large projector and screen or video monitor.

Lastly, a presentation slide deck is a great tool to use as a reference.

The key details should be illustrated in the slide deck. Once the presentation is over, the slide deck can be a stand alone takeaway the audience or client can reference at a later date once the presentation has long past.

2 – Visual Aids, Audio And Video Clips

At a minimum, you should have at least one of the following presentation aids – imagery, audio or video.

Imagery can be more than just a photo. Imagery encompasses your slide deck, the color theory you use such as brand colors, how you embellish quotes and more.

For example, rather than sticking a text block on your slide deck with a quote, try enhancing the quote with the some visual appeal. You may consider adding a photo of the person who said the quote, stylizing the font with script writing so it seems more humanized and lastly using colors to highlight key words you want to bring to the audience’s attention.

Audio is another great tool to use, especially if you plan on incorporating motion graphics in your presentation. It also adds a layer of depth.

Since the audience will likely be hearing you speak for a majority of the presentation, having a pre-recorded narration over motion graphics will help create a “unique moment” in your presentation – almost like a bookmark. This will help your audience segment your presentation and retain information better.

Finally, videos have continued to grow in popularity as it is a combination of both visual aids and auditory aids.

Your video can be a live action video with real actors or it can be a stop motion animation. Whatever video style you decide, a video clip will help get your message across and enhance audience memory.

By combining all three aids, you’re targeting a combination of both visual and auditory senses. This combination will help your presentation stick out as human learning occurs visually and through auditory.

3 – Sizzle Reels

Although similar to videos, sizzle reels add a bit of flair traditional videos often lack.

Sentiment wise, videos can be positive, neutral or even negative while a sizzle reel’s sentiment is usually always positive.

Sizzle reels are very promotional in the sense that they are created with an intended purpose to have the audience act or feel in a certain way.

Unlike a video which may be used to support an argument or provide raw, unfiltered visual dialogue, a sizzle reel is typically created with a specific purpose for persuasion or selling.

Oftentimes, a sizzle reel is used to demonstrate or highlight a specific idea, product or sample of work usually presented with positive connotation. The presenter is trying to get the audience to be on the same page as them.

Like a video, a sizzle reel can be live action or animated – it is the intention of the video which makes it a sizzle reel or not.

4 – Motion Graphics

Keep your audience’s eyes stimulated by incorporating motion graphics into your presentation.

Motion graphics use the illusion of motion or rotation to make something which is typically stationary to appear as though it’s moving.

Motion graphics are great when they are used effectively. Too much motion graphics or improperly used motion graphics takes away your presentation’s credibility as it may begin to appear too animated and comical.

Depending on your presentation niche, motion graphics can really help enhance your presentation.

If your presentation primarily deals with lots of text, consider using motion graphics to help liven things up.

PresGeek Portfolio - Flowmill Explainer Video from Presentation Geeks on Vimeo .

You may be thinking to yourself, “Well, why not just use video?”. To that we say video isn’t for every industry. Although video may seem like the best option, it can often hurt your presentation more than it benefits it.

Consider a historical speech, one with a powerful message. Would you rather just watch a video of the person speaking, or perhaps a carefully curated kinetic typography motion graphic?

In this instance, although a video is still acceptable, you would be better off with motion graphics.

Motion graphics aren’t to be confused with animation. The difference between motion graphics and animation is motion graphics convert a typically stationary object into a moving one. Motion graphics don’t follow a typical storytelling narrative.

Animation on the other hand takes the audience on an emotional journey through storytelling which is an additional presentation aid we will discuss.

5 – 3D Modeling & Animation

If motion graphics aren’t enough, try using 3D Modeling and animation to bring your ideas to life and help tell a story!

3D Modeling and animation help bring hard to conceptualize ideas into a more tangible reality.

For example, if you’re presenting a prototype of a car, home or the latest piece of tech, spending money into developing a fully functional or full-scale product may not be feasible – especially if you’re merely pitching the idea to get funding in the first place.

3D modeling allows your audience to see how the product will look and perform if it were real.

Animation helps connect your messaging to your audience through the art of storytelling. Animation allows you to tell stories far beyond the scope of what is in our reality and can really help emphasize your brand’s essence.

For example, Red Bull did a great job with their advertising using the art of animation. Red Bull’s slogan of “Red Bull gives you wings” is personified through animation as their animated characters are given wings after drinking their product. They’re also put in high-intensity situations. Although often comical, animation helped bring the brand essence to life.

This could still be done with live-action actors and CGI, but the cost is far more than animation.

Animation is a cost-effective storytelling tool to bring even the most extremes of situations into a digestible reality.

6 – Maps

Our world has shifted to become a global village.

It is almost impossible to go about your day without hearing a piece of international news.

Whether it’s news, politics, culture or business, we are connected to different nations around the world. As you progress in your life, you’ll soon encounter yourself presenting to people around the world whether virtually or in-person.

If you are presenting to people around the world whether it be for politics, culture or business, adding a map is another great presentation aid to help visualize the interconnectedness between each other.

A map can be used to highlight geographical hotspots, geographical trends and more.

Here are some examples we’ve put together of when you would use a map.

Planning to expand your business? Why not include a map pinpointing all your existing locations relative to your new expansion.

Planning to show how diseases spread throughout the world and relative hotspots of infections? Consider adding a map with varying degrees of color to highlight infection densities.

Maps don’t need to be international either depicting every country – they can be used for small businesses showcasing a localized region.

Lastly, maps help put things into perspective. Tying back to presentation psychology, people are more likely to express emotions or feel connected to something the closer they are to it, physically. By using a map, you can put your message into perspective for your audience.

7 – Infographic Charts & Graphs

Rather than simply putting a few numbers up on a slide deck and calling it a day, try inputting these numbers in a chart or graph.

You have to consider your audience and not everyone learns or absorbs information by simply reading. They need to visualize comparisons and differences. Charts and graphs are one great way to do this.

Let’s take a look at the example above. It could’ve been easy enough to show there was a 280% increase in energy saving, but we were missing a big chunk of the story which was expenses were declining. You also don’t see the scale of energy savings relative to expenses with just words.

Instead, opting to put numbers into a visual format, the audience members can easily understand the advantages and compare it to the change over time.

Remember – try and avoid very complex graphs. When you start to input complex graphs into a presentation, you’ll begin to lose the audience as they will be too busy focusing on understanding the graph.

If possible, leave the audience with resources they can look back to after the presentation such as a brochure or handout where they can take as much time as they need to digest more robust graphs.

8 – Infographic Diagrams

Unlike charts and graphs which primarily focus on data and numbers, a diagram focuses on the appearance, structure, flow or workings of something.

A diagram is a great presentation aid to use as it helps break complex ideas into step-by-step sections the audience can follow along with.

Not only does it provide clear steps, but it can help speak to key points of a product or timeline.

For example, this diagram goes over the structure of an EV charger.

Rather than just showing an image of the charger with bullet points off to the side, a diagram provides clear connection lines from the point being made and where it’s located on the final product.

Diagrams also help illustrate flow. Whether it be the customer journey, your product development or your company’s growth, diagrams are great ways to show consistent progression in a logical, step-by-step pattern.

9 – Brochures & Presentation Handouts

One way to really connect with your audience and almost guarantee they’ll leave the presentation remembering something is with a brochure or handout.

A brochure or handout is a physical printout which could be a combination of images, written text and diagrams.

Oftentimes, brochures and handouts are used to elaborate on information already being presented but in further detail. Depending on the scope of your presentation, you may want to opt to have a brochure or presentation handout.

If the nature of your presentation requires thorough research, data and insight such as business or healthcare, a handout can allow your audience to review the information at their own pace at a later time.

A brochure or handout also allows audience members to jot down information.

This is important if you’re trying to encourage audience participation.

By enabling the audience to jot down their own notes and have time near the end of your presentation for them to collaborate and speak to points throughout your presentation, you’ll be engaging in a discourse with your audience.

10 – Demonstration or Live Performance

The last presentation aid we recommend is also one of the hardest to pull off – a demonstration or live performance.

A demonstration or live performance is when you’re presenting the truth and validity of something. For example, you might do a demonstration of how your product performs. Or, instead of playing music, you could have a live performance.

One of the most well-known presenters to do demonstrations or live performances is Steve Jobs. At the unveiling of any new Apple product, Steve Jobs was there on stage with the product in-hand ready to demonstrate its state of the art capabilities.

Demonstration or live performances are one of the best presentation aids to use as they often go hand in hand with public relations. Whether the performance goes well or bad, you can almost be sure there will be press coverage of it afterwards.

A great example of a demonstration which went south was Tesla’s Cybertruck and their armored windows . What was supposed to be strong, armored glass came to a shattering end when a Tesla employee threw a steel ball at not just one window, but both the front and rear window leaving both of them shattered. The hope was for the steel ball to ricochet off the window to demonstrate their durability, but instead they failed.

Although this might seem like a failure, the coverage it got after the presentation was a complete publicity success.

Advantages & Disadvantages Of Using Presentation Aids

As with everything in life, there are always two sides of the coin – positives and negatives.

The same goes for using presentation aids.

Rather than experimenting yourself and learning the hard way of advantages and disadvantages, we’ve put together this short yet informative section to help guide your decision making.

Presentation aids are great complementary tools you should use in every presentation. They allow you to connect with audience members in new and unique ways.

One of the advantages of using presentation aids is to appeal to different audiences.

Everyone has a different attention span. Everyone also learns and absorbs information differently. By disseminating your key message using new and unique methods, you’re able to appeal to a larger audience.

Secondly, presentation aids allow the lifespan of your presentation to be extended.

Imagine your presentation was only you speaking. The moment you’re done talking, the presentation is over and it begins to fade from people’s memory. With the help of presentation aids, you avoid this outcome and extend how long your presentation is remembered for.

For example, if you used a slide deck to accompany your presentation, the slide deck can be made available to audience members after the presentation to reference.

Lastly, presentation aids help reduce the attention that’s put on you and allow you to take breaks while presenting.

If you’re a beginner, it can be intimidating to be the center of attention. With the added use of presentation aids, you can break up your presentation to allow the aids to do the work. If you have a video, once you begin to play it, the audience’s attention will be redirected to the video. This will allow you time to pause, recollect your thoughts, take a drink of water if needed and continue on with the presentation afterwards.

Disadvantages

Presentation aids are not the miracle solution.

If you don’t have a solid foundation on which your presentation is built upon, it doesn’t matter how many or which presentation aids you decide to use. You need to ensure your presentation is properly structured from the beginning.

Presenters can also get carried away with using too many presentation aids.

When you don’t take the time to reflect on the presentation aids you are using and just begin spitballing every presentation aid into your presentation just because you know of these tools, doesn’t mean you should. They begin to become a distraction and takeaway from the messaging you’re trying to get across.

Conclusion – Should You Use Presentation Aids?

The short and sweet answer is yes. You should absolutely use presentation aids.

Unless your plan is to only be a storyteller letting the audience create an image in their mind, then you should consider using at least one of the presentation aid types mentioned above.

Not only will presentation aids help your audience learn and retain the information better, it may actually help you!

Presentation aids require you to contribute more work to the final product. It requires you to carefully think of the story you’re trying to convey to your audience and which best method to do so. By taking this extra bit of time to sit down and reflect on your presentation and actually produce well-crafted aids, you’ll be setting yourself up as a thought-leader on the topic.

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Author:  Ryan

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9 Presentation Aids to Use to Make Your Presentation Stand Out

Written by: Caleb Bruski

Looking for a way to make your presentation stand out from the crowd?

When it comes to presentations, your ultimate goal is to communicate clearly and effectively with your audience.

By adding visual aids to your presentations, your audience will more easily understand and connect with your ideas.

Throughout this article, we’re going to cover what presentation aids are, why you should consider using them plus nine different types of presentation aids to test.

Here’s a short selection of 8 easy-to-edit presentation templates you can edit, share and download with Visme. View more templates below:

Table of Contents

What are presentation aids, why use presentation aids, 9 types of presentation aids.

Presentation aids, or sensory aids, are any additional resources used to enhance your speech. 

On a very basic level, a presentation is a bunch of words used to convey ideas to an audience. Presentation aids are additional devices, techniques, resources or materials used to enhance the presentation. 

For example, this four-step process model can be a great presentation aid to showcase a step-by-step guide to your audience.

Rather than just talking about the process, a diagram like this actually details it out, making it easier for your audience to understand.

Visual aids help clarify and contextualize your points for your audience.

Whether you deliver your presentation in person or over the web, the goal is to clearly communicate with your audience. Presentation aids help achieve this goal.

Visual aids also help a presenter stay on a predefined train of thought while presenting. 

The entire experience of presenting can be rather nerve-wracking. Studies show that one of the greatest phobias throughout the world  is public speaking. 

When our words fail us, a clear presentation aid can help fill in the gaps and help us be understood. 

Take this slide example. It can be a great way to walk an audience through features. Each bullet can be clicked to take viewers to a video that provides even more information.

Presentation aids help the presenter stay within an allotted set of time. 

For those of us who have a hard time sticking to the main points, visual presentation aids help us progress forward in our thought process and give a good presentation .

Here, we have a second illustration of a presentation aid — this time in the form of a timeline. Mapping out your content like this helps make it even more digestible and can help your audience learn and remember it.

A sense of authority and trust can also be established when using visual aids.

By delivering hard facts and data in a simple way, trust is established with the audience. The authority and expertise of the presenter is also established. 

Visual aids should help your audience understand the data in your presentation.

When used correctly, presentation aids increase the chance of receiving a positive response when making a call to action. 

In summary, presentation aids are useful for the presenter, the audience and all other parties involved. Best of all, using them is easy and effective.

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Ready to wow your audience with your next presentation? We’re here to help. In this list, you’ll find nine different types of presentation aids that you might consider using to help demonstrate your main points.

1. Charts and Graphs

Charts and graphs are a form of presentation aid used to visually compare statistics and figures. These are some of the most used forms of visual aids in the business world.

Listening to long strings of numbers can be a challenging task. Comparing long strings of numbers without reference can be near impossible. Overwhelmed with this type of data, most audience members will mentally check out.

Comparing simple shapes or lines is an easier task for most people. 

Consider adding a chart like the one below as a presentation aid for your audience.

A simple chart or graph will drastically help your audience comprehend numbers in a way that is easier to understand.

It’s important to select a chart or graph that helps exemplify your point. Not all charts can communicate with clarity the same information. Learn more in our guide on how to create a chart .

2. Handouts

Handouts are physical objects given to the audience that contain information related to the presentation. 

The greatest advantage of using a handout is the physical interaction your audience has with your presentation.

Your audience has the freedom to interact with these handouts during the presentation — they can touch, smell, read, etc., giving them an edge in actually retaining the information.

The more senses your audience uses during a presentation, the better. 

A handout also lets your audience revisit parts of your presentation that were not clear. This helps everyone stay on the same page.

A bonus to using handouts is that these objects don’t just magically disappear. Long after the presentation is over, the handout will still be around. Your audience will remember your presentation every time they see your handout.

3. Demonstration

Demonstrations are actions performed to exhibit or illustrate a point. The goal of a demonstration is to take an abstract point and anchor it in reality, as well as to ensure your audience comprehends a speaking point.

Demonstrations aren’t limited to just physical demonstrations. Demonstrations may also include allegorical stories or proofs used to prove a point. Sharing personal stories or case studies could be categorized as a demonstration. 

Here’s an example of a presentation slide with a demo video embedded. If you don’t have the resources to perform a live demonstration, using a tactic like this can be a great alternative.

To understand the full potential of demonstrations, think back to your old science teacher. A science teacher's job was to teach to a room filled with easily distracted children. 

Science is one of the most complex subjects to teach and the audience is a tough crowd. How did they do it?

With demonstrations! Or more specifically, with science experiments.

Physical demonstrations are some of the most memorable moments of an entire school year. 

The reason demonstrations are more memorable than a simple speech is because demonstrations invite more of your audience’s senses to take part in the demonstration. 

Not only do you hear the lesson, but you can see, touch, smell and sometimes even taste it as well. 

The audience is also involved when the demonstration is a personal story. When the audience hears the story, they imagine it. By recreating the scenario using their own imagination, the memory lasts longer.

Demonstrations are also powerful communication tools. They have the potential to make your presentation go from mediocre to  memorable. 

While powerful, demonstrations can work for or against you. Adding too many, too large or unrelated demonstrations can distract your audience from the actual topic. Ensure that your demonstrations are connected to and accentuate your main points.

4. Diagrams

A diagram is a visual graphic or sketch focused on presenting the inner workings or relations of a subject. A diagram is different from a basic sketch. While a sketch aims to accurately depict an object's shape, a diagram aims to explain and define its functions and relations. 

Diagrams give you the freedom to list, describe, explain and map out your subject matter in a way that is not limited to its physical form. 

While mixing a diagram and physical sketch together can be cool, it’s not necessary. Diagrams ought to be chosen based on their effectiveness in explaining the subject's construction and relation to other objects.

Diagrams help explain complex relations between objects without the need for physical properties. Diagrams are great to use when sketches, photographs and videos can not capture all the attributes of an object. 

Before settling on which diagram to use, it’s best to experiment with different types of diagrams. Your decision should rely upon which diagram will aid your audience the most.

Diagrams are also great for describing and defining things that do not have form. Instead of giving a long and complex definition that no one will remember, consider using a diagram. 

Diagrams can show how this new thing relates to something familiar to your audience. This will help your audience understand and remember complex portions of your presentation.

5. Video or Audio

Audio and video clips are presentation aids used to expand the dynamic range of input in your speech.

Your audience will find it easier to engage with your presentation when you diversify your method of delivery. 

An easy way to increase audiences’ sensory input is by transitioning from a simple speech into a video or audio clip.

Videos allow you to convey information in a fast and rehearsed manner. Professional camera work captures prearranged images, audio and speech. This means video is capable of conveying emotion and information more effectively than speech. 

For this reason, a short video clip may do a better job at summarizing the main points of a presentation than a speech alone. 

While the benefits of  video are high, there are also some potential problems. The most common issue with video usage in presentations being technical compatibility issues.

A smooth transition between speech and video is necessary for your presentation. 

Rough or elongated transitions can be a major distraction for your audience. If this happens, your audience may find it difficult to reinvest in your presentation.

To ensure smooth transitions, your presentation software must be capable of integrating videos clips directly into your presentation. 

It is important to have dependable presentation software .  By doing so, you’ll be able to transition between video clips and other presentation aids.

The transitioning issue is most noticeable at the end of a presentation. Especially when a speaker attempts to transition from a slide-show into a video clip. 

Consequently, many presentations do not have a strong and official close. Lacking a strong close leaves your audience without a clear understanding of what to do next. Check out this article to ensure you know how to end your presentation on a strong and impressionable note.

Quotations are a type of presentation aid that appeal to outside authority and expertise. Quoting others helps establish a positive rapport with your audience.

Many people fear quoting others makes them appear unoriginal.

The opposite is actually true. Quoting outside sources tends to drastically improve the overall appeal of your presentation.

Quoting others shows that you have listened to others on this subject. This makes the presenter appear as a well thought out and considerate listener. 

It’s recommended that you quote those who both agree and disagree with your conclusion. By doing so, you establish a sense of trust and expertise with your audience.

Quoting those who disagree with your conclusion shows that you have taken the time and effort to engage their thought process. 

Quoting those who agree with you shows your conclusion to be a recurring conclusion.

However, always give credit where credit is due. Not only is plagiarism immoral and possibly illegal, it also damages your personal reputation. This may destroy any trust you established with your audience. Check out this guide about plagiarism to learn more.

Maps are visual representations, generally two-dimensional diagrams, that show the relative position and orientation of something. 

Maps are powerful presentation aids capable of showing valuable information beyond basic geography. 

Because maps are a form of diagram, they can deliver valuable relational information. This is especially true when used in combination with animations or graphical overlays.

Proper presentation software will allow you to update your dataset for your map. The changes should immediately update the output of your map without having to manually manipulate the image.

Visme automatically generates these scalable maps and makes the process of customizing your map easy. With just a few clicks, you can generate and customize maps with your own datasets.

8. Photographs

Photographs are still images captured on a film or digital medium and are a powerful visual aid. When used correctly, photographs can add color and shape to the speech in your presentation.

The saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" is a true statement. A picture is priceless when it’s able to capture and accentuate a point relevant to your presentation.

Photographs are unique presentations aids that give you the power to make a window for your audience to look through. This allows your audience to see and experience particular aspects of your presentation.

While the color red can be described with many words, there’s an experiential gap. Once seen, you can experience the color red.

When a presentation is given, words can help describe an idea, but not experience the idea. Presentation images give you the possibility to close that visual experiential gap.

Even in a world that sells pocket-sized HD 4k 60fps video cameras, the photograph is still the visual aid of choice for most people.

While videos are powerful in their own right, photos give you the power to capture and highlight one particular moment. 

Photos can be less distracting than videos. Videos may have background noises or other distractions. Photographs let you capture and present one image without any distractions.

When presenting, it’s important for your main speaking points to be aided, not hindered, by the presentation aid. 

While planning out your presentation, consider using photographs more frequently than video. This will help your audience experience your presentations without distractions.

Images are also much cheaper and easier to professionally edit than their video counterparts. Capturing and editing a high-quality video may take hours, days or even months. A professional-looking photo can be captured with ease and edited in a matter of minutes. 

Or, you can take advantage of a free stock photo library like you get with Visme. This way, you can ensure your presentation photos are copyright protected and free to use.

9. Volunteers

Volunteers are people selected from the general population to participate in a demonstration. 

Using volunteers in demonstrations is one of the most effective presentation aids available. Using this tactic efficiently comes with all the advantages of a classic demonstration, and so much more.

Human interaction is hardwired into us. We tend to remember faces, body shapes, expressions and emotions. A demonstration with volunteers lets you instantly change the dynamic of the speech.

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Demonstrations with volunteers encourage audience interaction with your subject matter. 

When the audience sees a volunteer interact with your presentation, the barrier to entry is lowered — plus, it gives your audience the chance to become a volunteer that’s doing the interaction themselves.

This makes your subject more approachable and your call to action more likely to succeed.

Be sure your interactions with the volunteer are somewhere between professional and semi-professional. Most people are already afraid to be on stage. An unprofessional or condescending demeanor will only make things even more uncomfortable.

Ensure that your volunteer’s role has a strong connection to your main point. Like all good demonstrations, make sure it is contributing to your presentation. If a particular portion of the presentation is not related to the main point, your audience's mind may begin to wander. 

At the end of the demonstration, be sure to thank and dismiss your volunteers when they are done contributing. There is nothing more distracting for the audience than having an extra person nervously lurking around on stage. 

If done correctly, your audience will remember the demonstration done with volunteers and recall the driving points of your presentation. The volunteer will likely also remember the event for a longer period of time and may even share parts of your presentation with others.

Try Presentation Aids in Your Next Presentation

Creating and utilizing presentation aids can help your presentation go from acceptable to phenomenal. With proper physical and mental preparation, your presentation is sure to impress.

The best way to mentally prepare yourself for your presentation is to be physically prepared. 

Visme makes presentation preparation easy and takes all the guesswork out of the design process. Visme has thousands of high-quality templates for you to customize and choose from. We are certain that with the right tools, you can make an awe-inspiring presentation.

Create a free account and see why Visme is one of the best and easiest ways to create a stunning and engaging presentation.

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About the Author

Caleb is a freelance writer, frontend web developer and photographer who is passionate about all things tech.

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13 Presentation Aids

Learning objectives.

• Identify the advantages and disadvantages of the ways to use presentation aids.
• Understand the range of choices for presentation aids.
• Explain the role of careful planning and good execution when using presentation aids.

What Are Presentation Aids?

When you deliver a speech, you are presenting much more than just a collection of words and ideas. Because you are speaking “live and in person,” your audience members will experience your speech through all five of their senses: hearing, vision, smell, taste, and touch. In some speaking situations, the speaker appeals only to the sense of hearing, more or less ignoring the other senses. The speaking event can be greatly enriched by appeals to the other senses using presentation aids.

Presentation aids are the resources beyond the speech itself that a speaker uses to enhance the message conveyed to the audience. The type of presentation aids speakers most typically use are visual aids: pictures, diagrams, charts and graphs, maps, and the like. Audible aids include musical excerpts, audio speech excerpts, and sound effects. A speaker may also use fragrance samples or food samples as olfactory (smell) or gustatory (taste) aids. Presentation aids can be three-dimensional objects, animals, and people, and they can unfold over a period of time, as in the case of a how-to demonstration.

As you can see, the range of possible presentation aids is almost infinite. However, to be effective, each presentation aid a speaker uses must be a direct, uncluttered example of a specific element of the speech. It is understandable that someone presenting a speech about Abraham Lincoln might want to include a picture of him. However, because most people already know what Lincoln looked like, the picture would not contribute much to the message (unless, perhaps, the message was specifically about the changes in Lincoln’s appearance during his time in office). Other visual artifacts are likely to deliver information more directly relevant to the speech. For example, when giving a speech about Lincoln, a speaker may use a diagram of the interior of Ford’s Theater where Lincoln was assassinated, a draft of the messy and much-edited Gettysburg Address, or a photograph of the Lincoln family. The key is that each presentation aid must directly express an idea in your speech.

Moreover, presentation aids must be used at the specific time you are presenting the ideas related to the aid. For example, if you are speaking about coral reefs and one of your supporting points is about the location of the world’s major reefs, it will make sense to display a map of these reefs while you’re talking about their location. If you display it while you are explaining what coral actually is, or after you have completed your speech, the map will not serve as a useful visual aid. In fact, it’s likely to be a distraction.

Presentation aids must also be easy to use. At a conference on organic farming, one of the authors watched as the facilitator opened the orientation session by creating a conceptual map of our concerns, using a large newsprint pad on an easel. In his shirt pocket, there were wide-tipped felt markers in several colors. As he was using the black marker to write the word “pollution,” he dropped the cap on the floor, and it rolled a few inches under the easel. When he bent over to pick up the cap, all the other markers fell out of his pocket. They rolled about too, and when he tried to retrieve them, he bumped the easel, leading the easel and newsprint pad to tumble over on top of him. The audience responded with amusement and thundering applause, but the serious tone of his speech was ruined. The next two days of the conference were punctuated with allusions to the unforgettable orientation speech. Markers falling across the floor is not how you will want your speech to be remembered.

To be effective, presentation aids must also be easy for the listeners to see and understand. In this chapter, we will present some principles and strategies to help you incorporate hardworking, effective presentation aids into your speech. We will begin by discussing the functions that a good presentation aid fulfills. Next, we will explore some of the many types of presentation aids and how best to design and utilize them. We will also describe various media that can be used for presentation aids and will conclude with tips for successful preparation and use of presentation aids in a speech.

Presentation aids are the resources beyond the speech itself that a speaker uses to enhance the message conveyed to the audience.

Functions of Presentation Aids

Why should you use presentation aids? If you have prepared and rehearsed your speech adequately, shouldn’t a good speech with a good delivery be enough to stand on its own? While it is true that impressive presentation aids will not rescue a poor speech, it is also important to recognize that a good speech can often be made better by the strategic use of presentation aids.

Presentation aids can fulfill several functions: they can serve to improve your audience’s understanding of the information you are conveying, enhance audience memory and retention of the message, add variety and interest to your speech, and enhance your credibility as a speaker. Let’s examine each of these functions.

Improving Audience Understanding

Human communication is a complicated process that often leads to misunderstandings. If you are like most people, you can easily remember incidents when you misunderstood a message or when someone else misunderstood what you said to them. Misunderstandings happen in public speaking just as they do in everyday conversations.

One reason for misunderstandings is the fact that perception and interpretation are highly complex individual processes. Most of us have seen the image in which, depending on your perception, you see either the outline of a vase or the facial profiles of two people facing each other. These types of images show how interpretations can differ. Your presentations must be based on careful thought and preparation to maximize the likelihood that your listeners will understand the intention of your presentation.

As a speaker, one of your basic goals is to help your audience understand your message. To reduce misunderstanding, presentation aids can be used to clarify or to emphasize.

Clarification is important in a speech because if some of the information you convey is unclear, your listeners will come away puzzled or possibly even misled. Presentation aids can help clarify a message if the information is complex or if the point being made is a visual one.

If your speech is about the impact of the Coriolis effect on tropical storms, for instance, you will have great difficulty clarifying it without a diagram because the process is a complex one. The diagram in Figure 1: The Coriolis Effect would be helpful because it shows the audience the interaction between equatorial wind patterns and wind patterns moving in other directions. The diagram allows the audience to process the information in two ways: through your verbal explanation and through the visual elements of the diagram.

Figure 1:  The Coriolis Effect

Figure 2: Model of Communication is another example of a diagram that maps out the process of human communication. In this image, you clearly have a speaker and an audience (albeit slightly abstract), with the labels of the source, channel, message, receivers, and feedback to illustrate the basic linear model of human communication.

Figure 2:  Model of Communication

Another aspect of clarifying occurs when a speaker wants to visually help audience members understand a visual concept. For example, if a speaker is talking about the importance of petroglyphs in Native American culture, just describing the petroglyphs won’t completely help your audience to visualize what they look like. Instead, showing an example of a petroglyph, as in Figure 3: Petroglyph , could help your audience form a clear mental image of your intended meaning.

Figure 3:  Petroglyph

Emphasizing

When you use a presentational aid for emphasis, you impress your listeners with the importance of an idea. In a speech on water conservation, you might try to show the environmental proportions of the resource. When you use a conceptual drawing like the one in Figure 4: Planetary Water Supply ,  you show that if the world water supply were equal to ten gallons, only ten drops would be available and potable for human or household consumption. This drawing is effective because it emphasizes the scarcity of useful water and draws attention to this important information in your speech.

Figure 4 : Planetary Water Supply

Another way to visually emphasize information in your speech is to zoom in on a specific aspect of interest within your speech. In Figure 5: Chinese Lettering Amplified, we see a visual aid used in a speech on the importance of various parts of Chinese characters. On the left side of the visual aid, we see how the characters all fit together, with an emphasized version of a single character on the right.

Figure 5:  Chinese Lettering Amplified

Wikimedia Commons – public domain.

Aiding Retention and Recall

The second function that presentation aids can serve is to increase the audience’s chances of remembering your speech. A 1996 article by the US Department of Labor summarized research on how people learn and remember. The authors found that “83% of human learning occurs visually, and the remaining 17% through the other senses—11% through hearing, 3.5% through smell, 1% through taste, and 1.5% through touch” (United States Department of Labor, 1996). Mostly, people learn through seeing things, so the visual component of learning is very important. The article goes on to note that information stored in long-term memory is also affected by how we initially learn the material. In a study of memory, learners were asked to recall information after a three day period. The researchers found that they retained 10 percent of what they heard from an oral presentation, 35 percent from a visual presentation, and 65 percent from a visual and oral presentation (Lockard & Sidowski, 1961). It’s amazing to see how the combined effect of both the visual and oral components can contribute to long-term memory.

For this reason, exposure to a visual image can serve as a memory aid to your listeners. When your graphic images deliver information effectively, and when your listeners understand them clearly, audience members are likely to remember your message long after your speech is over.

Moreover, people can remember information that is presented in sequential steps more easily than if that information is presented in an unorganized pattern. When you use a presentation aid to display the organization of your speech, you will help your listeners to observe, follow, and remember the sequence of information you conveyed to them. This organization is why some instructors display a lecture outline for their students to follow during class.

An added plus of using presentation aids is that they can boost your memory while you are speaking. Using your presentation aids while you rehearse your speech will familiarize you with the association between a given place in your speech and the presentation aid that accompanies that material. For example, if you are giving an informative speech about diamonds, you might plan to display a sequence of slides illustrating the most popular diamond shapes: brilliant, marquise, emerald, and so on. As you finish describing one shape and advance to the next slide, seeing the next diamond shape will help you remember the information about it that you are going to deliver.

Adding Variety and Interest

The third function of presentation aids is to make your speech more interesting. While it is true that a good speech and a well-rehearsed delivery will already include variety in several aspects of the presentation, in many cases, a speech can be made even more interesting by the use of well-chosen presentation aids.

For example, you may have prepared a great speech to inform a group of gardeners about several new varieties of roses suitable for growing in your local area. Although your listeners will undoubtedly understand and remember your message very well without any presentation aids, wouldn’t your speech have greater impact if you accompanied your remarks with a picture of each rose? You can imagine that your audience would be even more enthralled if you could display an actual flower of each variety in a bud vase.

Similarly, if you were speaking to a group of gourmet cooks about Indian spices, you might want to provide tiny samples of spices that they could smell and taste during your speech. Taste researcher Linda Bartoshuk has given presentations in which audience members receive small pieces of fruit and are asked to taste them at certain points during the speech (Association for Psychological Science, 2011).

Enhancing a Speaker’s Credibility

Presentation aids alone will not be enough to create a professional image. As we mentioned earlier, impressive presentation aids will not rescue a poor speech. However, even if you give a good speech, you run the risk of appearing unprofessional if your presentation aids are poorly executed. Meaning, that in addition to containing important information, your presentation aids must be clear, clean, uncluttered, organized, and large enough for the audience to see and interpret correctly.

Misspellings and poorly designed presentation aids can damage your credibility as a speaker. Conversely, a high-quality presentation will contribute to your professional image. Additionally, make sure that you give proper credit to the source of any presentation aids that you take from other sources. Using a statistical chart or a map without proper credit will detract from your credibility, just as using a quotation in your speech without credit would.

If you focus your efforts on producing presentation aids that contribute effectively to your meaning, and look professional and are well handled, your audience will most likely appreciate your efforts and pay close attention to your message. That attention will help them learn or understand your topic in a new way and will thus help the audience see you as a knowledgeable, competent, credible speaker.

Types of Presentation Aids

As we saw in the example of the presentation at the organic farming conference, using presentation aids can be risky. However, with a little forethought and adequate practice, you can choose presentation aids that enhance your message and boost your professional appearance in front of an audience.

One principle to keep in mind is to use only as many presentation aids as necessary to present your message or to fulfill your classroom assignment. Although the maxim “less is more” may sound like a cliché, it really does apply in this instance. The technical sophistication of your presentation aids should never overshadow your speech.

Another important consideration is technology. Keep your presentation aids within the limits of the working technology available to you. Whether or not your classroom technology works on the day of your speech, you will still have to present. What will you do if the computer file containing your slides is corrupted? What will you do if the easel is broken? What if you had counted on stacking your visuals on a table that disappears right when you need it? You must be prepared to adapt to an uncomfortable and scary situation. These scenarios are why we urge students to go to the classroom at least fifteen minutes ahead of time to test the equipment and ascertain the condition of things they’re planning to use. As the speaker, you are responsible for arranging the items you need to make your presentation aids work as intended. Carry a roll of duct tape so you can display your poster even if the easel is gone. Find an extra chair if your table has disappeared. Test the computer setup, and have an alternative plan prepared in case there is some glitch that prevents your computer-based presentation aids from being usable. The more sophisticated the equipment is, the more prepared you should be with an alternative, even in a “smart classroom.”

More important than the method of delivery is the audience’s ability to see and understand the presentation aid. It must deliver clear information, and it must not distract from the message. Avoid overly elaborate presentation aids because they can distract the audience’s attention from your message. Instead, simplify as much as possible, emphasizing the information you want your audience to understand.

Another thing to remember is that presentation aids do not “speak for themselves.” When you display a visual aid, you should explain what it shows, pointing out and naming the most important features. If you use an audio aid, such as a musical excerpt, you need to tell your audience a specific thing to listen for. Similarly, if you use a video clip, it is up to you as the speaker to point out the characteristics of the video that support the point you are making.

Although there are many useful presentation tools, you should not attempt to use every one of these tools in a single speech. Your presentation aids should be designed to look like a coherent set. For instance, if you decide to use three slides and a poster, all four of these visual aids should make use of the same type font and basic design.

Now that we’ve explored some basic hints for preparing visual aids, let’s look at the most common types of visual aids: charts, graphs, representations, objects/models, and people.

A chart is a graphical representation of data (often numerical) or a sketch representing an ordered process. Whether you create your charts, or do research to find charts that already exist, it is important for them to exactly match the specific purpose in your speech. In the rest of this section, we’re going to explore three common types of charts: statistical charts, sequence-of-steps chart, and decision trees.

Statistical Charts

For most audiences, statistical presentations must be kept as simple as possible, and they must be explained. Unless you are familiar with statistics, a chart may be very confusing. When visually displaying information from a quantitative study, you need to make sure that you understand the material and can successfully explain how one should interpret the data. If you are unsure about the data yourself, then you should probably not use this type of information. Figure 6: Effects of Smoking on Different Body Systems is surely an example of a visual aid that, although it delivers a limited kind of information, does not speak for itself.

Figure 6: Effects of Smoking on Different Body Systems

Wikimedia Commons – public domain; and Wikimeida Commons – public domain.

Sequence-of-Steps Charts

Charts are also useful when you are trying to explain a process that involves several steps. The visual aid in Figure 7: Steps in Cell Reproduction  depicts the process of cell division called mitosis using a sequence-of-steps chart. The chart labels the phases, which can help your audience understand the process.

Figure 7:  Steps in Cell Reproduction

Wikipedia  – public domain

DecisionTrees

Decision trees are useful for showing the relationships between ideas. The example in Figure 8: To Play or Not to Play shows how a decision tree could be used to determine the appropriate weather for playing baseball. As with the other types of charts, you want to be sure that the information in the chart is relevant to the purpose of your speech and that each question and decision is clearly labeled.

Figure 8:  To Play or Not to Play

Strictly speaking, a graph may be considered a type of chart, but graphs are so widely used that we will discuss them separately. A graph is a pictorial representation of the relationships of quantitative data using dots, lines, bars, pie slices, and the like. Graphs show the variation in one variable in comparison with that of one or more other variables. Where a statistical chart may report the mean ages of individuals entering college, a graph would show how the mean age changes over time. A statistical chart may report the number of computers sold in the United States, while a graph will show the breakdown of those computers by operating systems such as Windows, Macintosh, and Linux. Public speakers can use graphs from a range of different formats. Some of those formats are specialized for various professional fields. Very complex graphs often contain too much information that is not related to the purpose of a student’s speech. If the graph is cluttered, it becomes difficult to comprehend.

In this section, we’re going to analyze types of graphs speakers frequently utilize in their speeches: line graphs, bar graphs, and pie graphs.

A line graph is designed to show trends over time. In Figure 9: Enron’s Stock Price , we see a line graph depicting the fall of Enron’s stock price from August 2000 to January 2002. Notice that although it has some steep rises, the line has an overall downward trend clearly depicting the plummeting of Enron’s stock price. Showing such a line graph helps the audience see the relationships between the numbers. The audience can also understand the information by seeing the graph much more easily than they could if the speaker just read the numbers aloud.

Figure 9:  Enron’s Stock Price

Wikimedia Common – CC BY-SA 2.0.

Bar graphs are useful for showing the differences between quantities. They can be used for population demographics, fuel costs, math ability in different grades, and many other kinds of data. The graph in Figure 10: Natural Death vs. Homicide is well designed. It is relatively simple and is carefully labeled, making it easy for you to guide your audience through the quantities of each type of death. The bar graph is designed to show the difference between natural deaths and homicides across various age groups. When you look at the data, the first grouping clearly shows that eighteen to twenty-four-year-olds are more likely to die because of a homicide than any of the other age groups.

Figure 10:  Natural Death vs. Homicide

Pie graphs should be simplified as much as possible without eliminating important information. As with other graphs, the sections need to be plotted proportionally. In the pie graph shown in Figure 11: Causes of Concussions in Children , we see a clear and proportional chart that has been color-coded. Color-coding is useful when it’s difficult to fit the explanations in the actual sections of the graph. In this case, you need to include a legend, or key, to indicate what the colors in the graph mean. In this graph, audience members can see very quickly that falls are the primary reason children receive concussions.

Figure 11:  Causes of Concussions in Children

The pie graph in Figure 12: World Populations is jumbled, illegible, confusing, and overwhelming in every way. The use of color coding doesn’t help. Overall, this graph simply contains too much information and is more likely to confuse an audience than help them understand something.

Figure 12:  World Populations

Representations

In the world of presentation aids, representation  is the word used to classify a group of aids designed to represent real processes or objects. Often, speakers want to visually demonstrate something that they cannot physically bring with them to the speech. Maybe you’re giving a speech on the human brain, and you don’t have access to a cadaver’s brain. Instead of bringing in a real brain, you could use a picture of a brain or an image that represents the human brain. In this section, we’re going to explore four common representations: diagrams, maps, photographs, and video or recordings.

Diagrams are drawings or sketches that outline and explain the parts of an object, process, or phenomenon that cannot be readily seen. Like graphs, diagrams can be considered a type of chart, as in the case of organization charts and process flow charts.

When you use a diagram, be sure to explain each part of the phenomenon, paying special attention to elements that are complicated or prone to misunderstanding. In the example shown in Figure 13: The Human Eye , you might wish to highlight that the light stimulus is reversed when it is processed through the brain or that the optic nerve is not a single stalk as many people think.

Figure 13:  The Human Eye

Maps are useful if the information is clear and limited. There are all kinds of maps, including population, weather, ocean current, political, and economic maps. You should be able to find the right type for the purpose of your speech. Choose a map that emphasizes the information you need to deliver.

The map shown in Figure 14: African Map with Nigerian Emphasis is simple. It clearly shows the geographic location of Nigeria. This map can be valuable for some audiences who might not be able to name and locate countries on the continent of Africa.

Figure 14:  African Map with Nigerian Emphasis

Figure 15: Rhode Island Map is a map of the state of Rhode Island, and it emphasizes the complicated configuration of islands and waterways that characterize this state’s geography. Although the map does not list the names of the islands, it is helpful in orienting the audience to the direction and distance of the islands to other geographic features, such as the city of Providence and the Atlantic Ocean.

Figure 15:  Rhode Island Map

Source: Map courtesy of the National Atlas of the United States.

Photographs and Drawings

Sometimes a photograph or a drawing is the best way to show an unfamiliar but important detail.

The photograph of the tall ship in Figure 17: Ship’s Rigging  could be used to emphasize the sheer amount and complexity of the ship’s rigging.

Figure 17:  Ship’s Rigging

Video or Audio Recordings

Another useful type of presentation aid is a video or audio recording. Whether it is a short video from a website such as YouTube or Vimeo, a segment from a song, or a piece of a podcast, a well-chosen video or audio recording may be a good choice to enhance your speech.

Imagine, for example, that you’re giving a speech on how “Lap-Band” surgeries help people lose weight. One of the sections of your speech could explain how the Lap-Band works, so you could easily show the following forty-three-second video to demonstrate the medical part of the surgery ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPuThbFMxGg ). Maybe you want to include a recording of a real patient explaining why they decided to get the Lap-Band surgery. Then, you could include a podcast like this one from the Medical University of South Carolina ( http://medicaluniversc.http.internapcdn.net/medicaluniversc_vitalstream_com/podcasts/2007/1_Treado_June_22_final.mp3 ).

There is one major caveat to using audio and video clips during a speech: do not forget that they are supposed to be aids to your speech, not the speech itself! Additionally, be sure to avoid these three mistakes that speakers often make when using audio and video clips:

• Avoid choosing clips that are too long for the overall length of the speech. If you are giving a five-minute speech, then any audio or video clip you use should be under thirty seconds in length.
• Don’t fail to practice with the audio or video equipment before speaking. If you are unfamiliar with the equipment, you’ll have a hard time trying to figure out how it works. Fiddling around with the technology will not only take your audience out of your speech, but it will also have a negative impact on your credibility.
• Don’t fail to cue the clip to the appropriate place before beginning your speech. We cannot tell you the number of times we’ve seen students spend valuable speech time trying to find a clip on YouTube or a DVD. You need to make sure your clip is ready to go before you start speaking.

Objects or Models

Objects and models are other forms of presentation aid that can be very helpful in getting your audience to understand your message. Objects refer to anything you could hold up and talk about during your speech. If you’re talking about the importance of not using plastic water bottles, you might hold up a plastic water bottle and a stainless steel water bottle as examples. If you’re talking about the percussion family of musical instruments and you own (and can play) several different percussion instruments, you can show your audience in person what they look like and how they sound.

Models , on the other hand, are re-creations of physical objects that you cannot have readily available with you during a speech. If you’re giving a speech on heart murmurs, you may be able to show how heart murmurs work by holding up a model of the human heart.

Animals and People

The next category of presentation aids is people and animals. We can often use animals and people , whether it be an animal, ourselves, or another people, to adequately demonstrate an idea during our speeches.

Animals as Presentation Aids

When giving a speech on a topic relating to animals, it is often tempting to bring an animal to serve as your presentation aid. While this can sometimes add a very engaging dimension to the speech, it carries some serious risks that you need to consider.

The first risk is that animal behavior tends to be unpredictable. You may think this won’t be a problem if your presentation aid animal is a small enough to be kept confined throughout your speech like a goldfish in a bowl or a lizard or bird in a cage. However, even caged animals can be very distracting to your audience if they run about, chirp, or exhibit other agitated behavior. The chances are great that an animal will react to the stress of an unfamiliar situation by displaying behavior that does not contribute positively to your speech.

The second risk is that some audience members may respond negatively to a live animal. In addition to fears and aversions to animals like snakes, spiders, and mice, many people have allergies to various animals.

The third risk is that some locations may have regulations about bringing animals onto the premises. If animals are allowed, the person bringing the animal may be required to bring a veterinary certificate or may be legally responsible for any damage caused by the animal.

For these reasons, before you decide to use an animal as a presentation aid, ask yourself if you could make your point equally well with a picture, model, diagram, or other representation of the animal in question.

Speaker as Presentation Aid

Speakers can often use their own bodies to demonstrate facets of a speech. If your speech is about ballroom dancing or ballet, you might use your body to demonstrate the basic moves in the cha-cha or the five basic ballet positions.

Other People as Presentation Aids

In many speeches, it can be cumbersome and distracting for the speaker to use her or his own body to illustrate a point. In such cases, the best solution is to ask someone else to serve as your presentation aid.

You should arrange ahead of time for a person (or persons) to be an effective aid. Do not assume that an audience member will volunteer on the spot. If you plan to demonstrate how to immobilize a broken bone, your volunteer must know ahead of time that you will touch them as much as necessary to splint their foot. You must also be certain that they will arrive dressed presentably and that they will not draw attention away from your message through their appearance or behavior.

The transaction between you and your human presentation aid must be appropriate, especially if you are going to demonstrate something like a dance step. Use your absolute best judgment about behavior, and make sure that your human presentation aid understands this dimension of the task.

A chart is a graphical representation of data (often numerical) or a sketch representing an ordered process.

A graph is a pictorial representation of the relationships of quantitative data using dots, lines, bars, pie slices, and the like.

A representation is a group of aids designed to represent real processes or objects.

An object refers to anything you could hold up and talk about during your speech.

A model is a re-creation of a physical object that you cannot have readily available with you during a speech.

Animals and people can be used as presentations aids to adequately demonstrate an idea during your speech.

Media to Use for Presentation Aids

The venue of your speech should suggest the appropriate selection of presentation aids. In your classroom, you have several choices, including some that omit technology. If you are speaking in a large auditorium, you will almost certainly need to use technology to project text and images on a large screen.

Many students feel that they lack the artistic skills to render their own graphics, so they opt to use copyright-free graphics on their presentation aids. You may do this as long as you use images that are created in a consistent style. For instance, you should not combine realistic renderings with cartoons unless there is a clear and compelling reason to do so. Being selective in this way will result in a sequence of presentation aids that look like a coherent set, thereby enhancing your professionalism.

In keeping with careful choices and effective design, we also have to do a good job in executing presentation aids. They should never look hastily made, dirty, battered, or disorganized. They do not have to be fancy, but they do need to look professional. In this section, we will discuss the major types of media that can be used for presentation aids, which include computer-based media, audiovisual media, and low-tech media.

Computer-Based Media

In most careers in business, industry, and other professions for which students are preparing themselves, computer-based presentation aids are the norm. Whether the context is a weekly department meeting in a small conference room or an annual convention in a huge amphitheater, speakers are expected to be comfortable with using PowerPoint or other similar software to create and display presentation aids.

If your public speaking course meets in a smart classroom, you have probably had the opportunity to see the computer system in action. Many such systems today are nimble and easy to use. Still, “easy” is a relative term. Don’t take for granted someone else’s advice that “it’s self-explanatory.” Instead, make sure to practice ahead of time. It is also wise to be prepared for technical problems, which can happen to even the most sophisticated computer users. When Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple and co-founder of Pixar, introduced a new iPhone 4 in June 2010, his own visual presentation froze (Macworld, 2010). The irony of a high-tech guru’s technology not working at a public presentation did not escape the notice of news organizations.

The world was first introduced to computer presentations back in the 1970s, but these software packages were expensive and needed highly trained technicians to operate the programs. Today, there are many presentation software programs that are free or relatively inexpensive and that can be learned quickly by nonspecialists. Figure 18: Presentation Software Packages lists several of these options.

Figure 18:  Presentation Software Packages

The user needs to take responsibility for the technology used to support the speech. They should not get carried away with the many special effects the software is capable of producing.

When creating your presentation aid, rely on the universal principles of good design. These principles include unity, emphasis or focal point, scale and proportion, balance, and rhythm (Lauer & Pentak, 2000). As we’ve mentioned earlier, it’s generally best to use a single font for the text on your visuals so that they look like a unified set. In terms of scale or proportion, it is essential to make sure the information is large enough for the audience to see. Also, since the display size may vary according to the monitor you are using, practice in advance with the equipment you intend to use. The rhythm of your slide display should be reasonably consistent. You would not want to display a dozen different slides in the first minute of a five-minute presentation and then display only one slide per minute for the rest of the speech.

In addition to presentation software such as PowerPoint, speakers sometimes have access to interactive computer-based presentation aids. These are often called “clickers.” Clickers are handheld units that audience members hold and that are connected to a monitor to which the speaker has access. These interactive aids are useful for tracking audience responses to questions, and they have the advantage over asking for a show of hands in that they can be anonymous. A number of instructors in various courses use “clickers” in their classrooms.

Using computer-based aids in a speech brings up a few logistical considerations. In some venues, you may need to stand behind a high-tech console to operate the computer. You need to be aware that this will physically isolate you from the audience you with whom you are trying to establish a relationship in your speech. When you stand behind presentation equipment, you may feel more comfortable, but you end up limiting your nonverbal interaction with your audience.

If your classroom is not equipped with a computer and you want to use presentation software media in your speech, you may bring your computer, or you may be able to schedule the delivery of a computer cart to your classroom. In either case, check with your instructor about the advance preparations that will be needed. At some schools, there are very few computer carts, so it is important to reserve one well in advance. You will also want to see if you can gain access to one ahead of time to practice and familiarize yourself with the necessary passwords and commands to make your slides run properly. On the day of your speech, be sure to arrive early enough to test out the equipment before class begins.

Audiovisual Media

Although audio and video clips are often computer-based, they can be (and, in past decades, always were) used without a computer.

Audio presentation aids are useful for illustrating musical themes. For instance, if you’re speaking about how the Polish composer Frederick Chopin was inspired by the sounds of nature, you can convey that meaning through playing an example. If you have a smart classroom, you may be able to use it to play an MP3. Alternatively, you may need to bring your music player. In that case, be sure the speakers in the room are up to the job. The people in the back of the room must be able to hear it, and the speakers must not sound distorted when you turn the volume up.

A video that clarifies, explains, amplifies, emphasizes, or illustrates a key concept in your speech is appropriate, as long as you do not rely on it to do your presentation for you. There are several things you must do. First, identify a specific section of the video that delivers meaning. Second, “cue up” the video so that you can just push play, and it will begin at the right place. Third, tell your audience where the footage comes from. You can tell your audience, for instance, that you are showing them an example from the 1985 BBC documentary titled “In Search of the Trojan War.” Fourth, tell your audience why you’re showing the footage. For instance, you can tell them, “This is an example of storytelling in the Bardic tradition.” You can interrupt or mute the video to make a comment on it, but your total footage should not use more than 20 percent of the time for your speech.

Low-Tech Media

In some speaking situations, of course, computer technology is not available. Even if you have ready access to technology, there will be contexts where computer-based presentation aids are unnecessary or even counterproductive. And in still other contexts, computer-based media may be accompanied by low-tech presentation aids. One of the advantages of low-tech media is that it is very predictable. There’s little that can interfere with using it. Additionally, low-tech media can be inexpensive to produce. However, unlike digital media, it can be prone to physical damage in the form of smudges, scratches, dents, and rips. It can be difficult to keep a poster professional looking if you have to carry it through a rainstorm or blizzard. You will need to take steps to protect it as you transport them to the speech location. Let’s examine some of the low-tech media that you might use with a speech.

• Chalk or Dry-Erase Board

If you use a chalkboard or dry-erase board, you are not using a prepared presentation aid. Your failure to prepare visuals ahead of time can be interpreted in several ways, mostly negative. If other speakers carefully design, produce, and use attractive visual aids, yours will stand out by contrast. You will be seen as the speaker who does not take the time to prepare even a simple aid. Do not use a chalkboard or marker board and pretend it’s a prepared presentation aid.

However, numerous speakers do utilize chalk and dry-erase boards effectively. Typically, these speakers use the chalk or dry-erase board for interactive components of a speech. For example, maybe you’re giving a speech in front of a group of executives. You may have a PowerPoint all prepared, but at various points in your speech you want to get your audience’s responses. Chalk or dry-erase boards are very useful when you want to visually show information that you are receiving from your audience. If you ever use a chalk or dry-erase board, follow these three simple rules:

• Write large enough so that everyone in the room can see.
• Print legibly; don’t write in cursive script.
• Write short phrases; don’t take time to write complete sentences.

It is also worth mentioning that some classrooms and business conference rooms are equipped with smartboards or digitally enhanced whiteboards. On a smartboard, you can bring up prepared visuals and then modify them as you would a chalk or dry-erase board. The advantage is that you can keep a digital record of what was written for future reference. However, as with other technology-based media, smartboards may be prone to unexpected technical problems, and they require training and practice to be used properly.

A flipchart is useful when you’re trying to convey change over a number of steps. For instance, you could use a prepared flipchart to show dramatic population shifts on maps. In such a case, you should prepare highly visible, identical maps on three of the pages so that only the data will change from page to page. Each page should be neatly titled, and you should actively point out the areas of change on each page. You could also use a flip chart to show stages in the growth and development of the malaria-bearing mosquito. Again, you should label each page, making an effort to give the pages a consistent look.

Organize your flip chart in such a way that you flip pages in one direction only, front to back. It will be difficult to flip large pages without damaging them, and if you also have to “back up” and “skip forward,” your presentation will look awkward and disorganized.

Additionally, most flip charts need to be propped up on an easel of some sort. If you arrive for your speech only to find that the easel in the classroom has disappeared, you will need to rig up another system that allows you to flip the pages.

Foam Board or Poster Board

Foam board consists of a thin sheet of Styrofoam with heavy paper bonded to both surfaces. It is a lightweight, inexpensive foundation for information, and it will stand on its own when placed in an easel without curling under at the bottom edge. Poster board tends to be cheaper than foam board, but it is flimsier, more vulnerable to damage, and can’t stand on its own.

If you plan to paste labels or paragraphs of text to foam or poster board, for a professional look you should make sure the color of the poster board matches the color of the paper you will paste on. You will also want to choose a color that allows for easy visual contrast so your audience can see it, and it must be a color that’s appropriate for the topic. For instance, hot pink would be the wrong color on a poster for a speech about the Protestant Reformation.

Avoid producing a presentation aid that looks like you simply cut pictures out of magazines and pasted them on. Slapping some text and images on a board looks unprofessional and will not be viewed as credible or effective. Instead, when creating a poster you need to take the time to think about how you are going to lay out your aid and make it look professional. You do not have to spend lots of money to make a very sleek and professional-looking poster.

Some schools also have access to expensive, full-color poster printers where you can create a large poster for pasting on a foam board. In the real world of public speaking, most speakers rely on the creation of professional posters using a full-color poster printer. Typically, posters are sketched out and then designed on a computer using a program like Microsoft PowerPoint or Publisher (these both have the option of selecting the size of the printed area).

Handouts are appropriate for delivering information that audience members can take away with them. As we will see, handouts require a great deal of management if they are to contribute to your credibility as a speaker.

First, make sure to bring enough copies of the handout for each audience member to get one. Having to share or look on with one’s neighbor does not contribute to a professional image. Under no circumstances should you ever provide a single copy of a handout to pass around. There are several reasons this is a bad idea. You will have no control over the speed at which it circulates or the direction it goes. Moreover, only one listener will be holding it while you’re making your point about it and by the time most people see it, they will have forgotten why they need to see it. In some case, it might not even reach everybody by the end of your speech. Finally, listeners could still be passing your handout around during the next speaker’s speech.

There are three possible times to distribute handouts: before you begin your speech, during the speech, and after your speech is over. Naturally, if you need your listeners to follow along in a handout, you will need to distribute it before your speech begins. If you have access to the room ahead of time, place a copy of the handout on each seat in the audience. If not, ask a volunteer to distribute them as quickly as possible while you prepare to begin speaking. If the handout is a “takeaway,” leave it on a table near the door so that those audience members who are interested can take one on their way out. In this case, don’t forget to tell them to do so as you conclude your speech. It is almost never appropriate to distribute handouts during your speech, as it is distracting and interrupts the pace of your presentation.

Like other presentation aids, handouts should include only the necessary information to support your points, and that information should be organized in such a way that listeners will be able to understand it. For example, in a speech about how new health care legislation will affect small business owners in your state, a good handout might summarize key effects of the legislation and include the names of state agencies with their web addresses where audience members can request more detailed information.

If your handout is designed for your audience to follow along, you should tell them to do so. State that you will be referring to specific information during the speech. Then, as you’re presenting your speech, ask your audience to look, for example, at the second line in the first cluster of information. Read that line out loud and then go on to explain its meaning.

As with any presentation aid, handouts are not a substitute for a well-prepared speech. Ask yourself what information your audience needs to be able to take with them, and how it can be presented on the page in the most useful and engaging way possible.

Types of Low Tech Media

• Foam board or poster board

Tips for Preparing Presentation Aids

As we’ve seen earlier in this chapter, impressive presentation aids do not take the place of a well-prepared speech. Although your presentation aids should be able to stand on their own in delivering information, do not count on them to do so. Work toward that goal, but also plan on explaining your presentation aids so that your audience will know why you’re using them.

One mistake you should avoid is putting too much information on an aid. You have to narrow down the topic of your speech, and likewise, you must narrow down the content of your presentation aids to match your speech. Your presentation aids should not represent every idea in your speech. Whatever presentation aids you choose to use, they should fulfill one or more of the functions described at the beginning of this chapter: to clarify or emphasize a point, to enhance retention and recall of your message, to add variety and interest to your speech, and to enhance your credibility as a speaker.

As a practical matter regarding producing presentation aids, you may not be aware that many college campuses have a copy service or multimedia lab available to students for making copies, enlargements, slides, and other presentation aids. Find out from your instructor or a librarian what the resources on your campus are. In the rest of this section, we will offer some tips for designing good-quality presentation aids.

Easily Seen or Heard by Your Audience

The first rule of presentation aids is that they must be accessible for every audience member. If those in the back of the room cannot see, hear, or otherwise experience a presentation aid, then it is counterproductive to use it. Graphic elements in your presentation aids must be large enough to read. Audio must be loud enough to hear. If you are passing out samples of a food item for audience members to taste, you must bring enough for everyone.

Do not attempt to show your audience a picture by holding up a book open to the page with the photograph. Nobody will be able to see it. It will be too small for your listeners in the back of the room, and the light will glare off of the glossy paper usually used in books with color pictures so that the listeners in front won’t be able to see it either.

Text-based visuals, charts, and graphs need to be executed with strong, clean lines and blocks of color. Weak lines in a graph or illustration do not get stronger with magnification. You must either strengthen those lines by hand or choose another graphic element that has stronger lines. On a poster or a slide, a graphic element should take up about a third of the area. This leaves room for a small amount of text, rendered in a large, simple font. The textual elements should be located closest to the part of your graphic element.

Carefully limit the amount of text on a presentation aid. If a great deal of text is absolutely necessary, try to divide it between two slides or posters. Many students believe that even small text will magnify amply when it’s projected, but we find that this is rarely the case. We can’t recommend a specific point size because that refers to the distance between the baselines of two lines of text, not to the size of the type itself.

We recommend two things: First, use a simple, easy-to-read font style. It doesn’t have to be utterly devoid of style, but it should be readable and not distracting. Second, we recommend that you print your text in three or four sizes on a sheet of paper. Place the printed sheet on the floor and stand up. When you look at your printed sheet, you should be able to make a choice based on which clusters of font you are able to read from that distance.

Easily Handled

You should be able to carry your presentation aids into the room by yourself. In addition, you should be skilled in using the equipment you will use to present them. Your presentation aids should not distract you from the delivery of your speech.

Aesthetically Pleasing

For our purposes, aesthetics refers to the beauty or good taste of a presentation aid. Earlier we mentioned the universal principles of good design: unity, emphasis or focal point, scale and proportion, balance, and rhythm. Because of wide differences in taste, not everyone will agree on what is aesthetically pleasing. You may be someone who does not think of yourself as having much artistic talent. Still, if you keep these principles in mind, they will help you to create attractive, professional-looking visuals.

Aesthetics refers to the beauty or good taste of a presentation aid.

The other aesthetic principle to keep in mind is that your presentation aids are intended to support your speech, not the other way around. The decisions you make in designing your visuals should be dictated by the content of your speech. If you use color, use it for a clear reason. If you use a border, keep it simple. Whatever you do, make certain that your presentation aids will be perceived as carefully planned and executed elements of your speech.

Tips for Text Aids

Use text only when you must. For example, if you’re presenting an analysis of the First Amendment, it is permissible to display the text of the First Amendment, but not your entire analysis. The font must be big, simple, and bold. It needs white space around it to separate it from another graphic element or cluster of text that might be on the same presentation aid. When you display text, you should read it out loud before you go on to talk about it. That way, you won’t expect your listeners to read one thing while trying to listen to something else. However, under no circumstances should you merely read what’s on your text aids and consider that a speech.

Tips for Graphic Aids

If you create your graphic images, you will have control over their size and the visible strength of the lines. However, you might want to show your listeners an illustration that you can’t create yourself. For instance, you might want to display a photograph of a portion of the Dead Sea Scrolls. First, find a way to enlarge the photograph. Then, to show integrity, cite your source. You should cite your source with an added caption, and you should also cite the source out loud as you display the graphic, even if your photograph is considered to be in the public domain. The NASA photograph “Spaceship Earth” is such an example. Many people use it without citing the source, but citing the source boosts your credibility as a speaker, and we strongly recommend doing so.

Rules for Computer Presentations

Mark Stoner, a professor in the Department of Communication Studies at California State University, Sacramento, has written a useful assessment of the uses and abuses of PowerPoint. Stoner observes that

PowerPoint is a hybrid between the visual and the written. When we pay attention to the design of our writing—to whether we are putting key word at the beginning or end of a sentence, for instance—we are likely to communicate more effectively. In the same way, it makes sense to understand the impact that PowerPoint’s design has on our ability to communicate ideas to an audience (Stoner, 2007).

While this article is specifically about PowerPoint, Stoner’s advice works for all presentation software formats. Presentation aids should deliver information that is important or is difficult to present with spoken words only. Although many speakers attempt to put their entire speech on PowerPoint slides or other visual aids, this is a bad idea for several reasons. First, if you try to put your entire speech on PowerPoint, you will lose contact with your audience. Speakers often end up looking at the projected words or directly at the computer screen instead of at their audience. Second, your vocal delivery is likely to suffer, and you will end up giving a boring reading, not a dynamic speech. Third, you will lose credibility, as your listeners question how well you know your topic. Fourth, you are not using the presentation aids to clarify or emphasize your message, so all the information may come across as equally important.

No matter what presentation software package you decide to utilize, there are some general guidelines you’ll need to follow.

Watch Your Font

One of the biggest mistakes novice users of presentational software make is thinking that if you can read it on the screen, your audience will be able to read it in their seats. While this may be the case if you’re in a close, intimate conference room, most of us will be speaking in situations where audience members are fifteen feet away or more. Make sure each slide is legible from the back of the room where you will be speaking.

Don’t Write Everything Out

In addition to watching your font size, you also need to watch how you use words on the screen. Do not try to put too much information on a slide. Make sure that your slide has the appropriate information to support the point you are making and no more. We strongly recommend avoiding complete sentences on a slide unless you need to display a significant direct quotation.

Don’t Bow Down to the Software

Remember, presentation software is an aid, so it should aid and not hinder your presentation. We have seen too many students who only end up reading the slides right off the screen instead of using the slides to enhance their presentations. When you read your slides right off the projector screen, you’re stopping your eye contact. As a general word of advice, if you ever find yourself being forced to turn your back to the audience to read the screen, then you are not effectively using the technology. On the flip side, you also shouldn’t need to hide behind a computer monitor to see what’s being projected.

Slide Color

Color is very important and can definitely make an impact on an audience. However, don’t go overboard or decide to use unappealing combinations of color. For example, you should never use a light font color (like yellow) on a solid white background because it’s hard for the eye to read.

You should also realize that while colors may be rich and vibrant on your computer screen at home, they may be distorted by a different monitor. While we are in favor of experimenting with various color schemes, always check your presentation out on multiple computers to see if the slide color is being distorted in a way that makes it hard to read.

Slide Movement

Everyone who has had an opportunity to experiment with PowerPoint knows that animation in transitions between slides or even on a single slide can be fun, but often people do not realize that too much movement can distract audience members. While all presentation software packages offer you very cool slide movements and other bells and whistles, they are not always very helpful for your presentation. If you’re going to utilize slide transitions or word animation, stick to only one or two different types of transitions in your whole presentation. Furthermore, do not have more than one type of movement on a given slide. If you’re going to have all your text come from the right side of the screen in a bulleted list, make sure that all the items on the bulleted list come from the right side of the screen.

Practice, Practice, Practice

It is vital to practice using the technology. Nothing is worse than watching a speaker stand up and not know how to turn on the computer, access the software, or launch their presentation. When you use technology, audiences can quickly see if you know what you are doing, so don’t give them the opportunity to devalue your credibility because you can’t even get the show going.

Always Have a Backup Plan

Lastly, always have a backup plan. Unfortunately, things often go wrong. One of the parts of being a professional is keeping the speech moving in spite of unexpected problems. Decide in advance what you will do if things break down or disappear right when you need them. Don’t count on your instructor to solve such predicaments; it is your responsibility. If you take this responsibility seriously and checked the room where you will be presenting, you will have time to adapt. If the computer or audiovisual setup does not work on the first try, you will need time to troubleshoot and solve the problem. If an easel is missing, you will need time to experiment with using a lectern or a chair to support your flip chart. If you forgot to bring your violin for a speech about music—don’t laugh, this actually happened to a friend of ours!—you will need time to think through how to adapt your speech so that it will still be effective.

Association for Psychological Science. (2011, May 28). Miracle fruit and flavor: An experiment performed at APS 2010 [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/publications/observer/obsonline/miracle-fruit-and-flavor-an-experiment-performed-at-aps-2010.html

Lockard, J., & Sidowski, J. R. (1961). Learning in fourth and sixth graders as a function of sensory mode of stimulus presentation and overt or covert practice. Journal of Educational Psychology, 52 (5), 262–265. doi: 10.1037/h0043483

Stoner, M. (2007). Uncovering the powers within PowerPoint. Communication Currents , 2 (4). Retrieved from http://www.natcom.org/CommCurrentsArticle.aspx?id=819

United States Department of Labor. (1996). Presenting effective presentations with visual aids . Retrieved from http://www.osha.gov

Stand up, Speak out Copyright © 2017 by Josh Miller; Marnie Lawler-Mcdonough; Megan Orcholski; Kristin Woodward; Lisa Roth; and Emily Mueller is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Home Blog Presentation Ideas Presentation Aids: A Guide for Better Slide Design

Presentation Aids: A Guide for Better Slide Design

During a speech or presentation, information is conveyed orally. When relying solely on spoken words, a speaker may confuse and make it difficult for listeners to remember key facts. Therefore, combining presentation aids with oral explanations can improve the audience’s understanding and help them retain the main points.

This article defines what presentation aids are, their uses, different types of presentation aids, and their advantages and disadvantages.

Table of Contents

What is a Presentation Aid?

Are presentation aids the same as visual aids.

• Why Should we use Presentation Aids?

When Should Presentation Aids be Used When Delivering a Presentation?

Types of presentation aids, recommended ppt & google slides templates for presentation aids.

According to Leon, presentation aid refers to the tools and materials used by a speaker beyond spoken words to enhance the communicated message to the audience [1]. These tools comprise templates, multimedia, and visual elements to improve engagement and clarity. Presentation aids act as a bridge between the speaker and the audience, facilitating a presentation.

For instance, the strategic use of templates and multimedia elements can elevate a presentation from a mere speech to a compelling narrative. Integrating these aids is rooted in established practices, ensuring a comprehensive and impactful message delivery. The proper use of presentation aids can improve the quality of the presentation.

No, presentation aids differ from visual aids. Visual aid is also a type of presentation aid mainly used by speakers [1]. Examples of visual aids include images, tables, maps, charts, and graphs. In contrast, presentation aid is a broader category, including templates, 3D models, transitions, audio clips, and multimedia elements. The use of presentation aids goes beyond visuals, offering a diverse set of resources to enhance engagement and communication effectiveness [2].

Why Should we use Presentation Aids? 

Presentation Aids are used for specific purposes in a presentation. To enhance audience understanding and retention can be one of the primary purposes. In addition, presentation aids guide transitions so the audience may remain focused [1]. For instance, charts and maps allow speakers to communicate complex information quickly.

Templates and multimedia elements advance the professionalism of a presentation. At the same time, using slideshows clarifies a presentation’s organization In short, a presentation aid ensures a lasting impact on the audience [3].

Presentation aids must be used when a speaker wants to emphasize critical points or evoke an emotional response from the audience. Integrate presentation aids when conveying a complex concept . The strategic use of presentation aids, in line with speech, complements spoken words without overshadowing them. Whether visualizing data or incorporating multimedia elements, presentation aids are most effective when seamlessly integrated into a presentation.

Therefore, presentation aids must be used when the speaker is presenting a specific idea relevant to an aid [4]. Consider a scenario where a speaker delivers a presentation on renewable energy sources. If one of the key points involves the efficiency of solar panels. He can use, for example, a graph or chart illustrating the comparative efficiency rates of various types of solar panels and contrast that with their average lifespan.

Some types of presentation aids can be used in various presentations to assist the speaker. Highlighted advantages and disadvantages of various presentation aids allow presenters to use these presentational aids best.

When considering visual aids for a presentation, one immediately thinks of a slideshow. Slide presentation software, such as PowerPoint, Prezi, and Google Slide, is commonly used by speakers. A slideshow consists of slides containing words, images, or a blend of both, serving as a primary presentation aid [1]. Slide and slide-show design has a greater impact on the effectiveness of conveying a message to the audience.

PowerPoint and similar slideware offer easily editable templates for a consistent slide show appearance. These PowerPoint templates provide a structured framework reorganizing the design process and ensuring a consistent visual identity. Templates are easy to use and helpful for a consistent slideshow.

When using slide templates, a presenter needs to place images or graphs according to the message, medium, and audience. Each slide reinforces the key message, so a conscious decision about each element and concept is essential [5].

Place one idea or concept per slide to keep it simple and understandable. Do not overcrowd it with images or text. However, slideshows limit the audience’s participation which may cause boredom or confusion among the audience. At the same time, the strict order of slides bounds the presenter. He won’t be able to explain the topic openly [6]. Therefore, a presenter should be aware of the background and needs of the audience. By blending different flexible techniques, a presenter can elaborate his slideware presentation.  

Charts and Graphs

Graphs and charts are essential for precise data visualization. They simplify complex information for clearer communication. In business presentations , where data-driven decisions are paramount, these visual aids offer advantages in conveying key insights concisely.

Graphs and charts extract complex numerical data into accessible formats and provide precision in representation. These are used to present trends, comparisons, and relationships, particularly in contexts requiring nuanced data analysis. Different charts have distinct purposes. Choosing the one that aligns with your data is essential to ensure clarity [3]. Pie charts, for instance, depict the relationship between parts and the whole. It is ideal to present up to eight visually distinct segments. A line graph effectively illustrates trends over time, while a bar chart facilitates direct comparisons between variables [3].

When creating charts, use different colors and provide clear labels. Maintain consistency in both colors and data groupings. For clarity, refrain from using 3-D graphs and charts. Minimize background noise, such as lines and shading [7]. Ensure that all elements of your graph are distinguishable from the background color. Remove unnecessary clutter. Keep graphs straightforward. Prioritize clarity in conveying your message and visually emphasize the intended conclusion for the audience [7].

Using graphs and charts can be challenging regarding effectiveness and ethics. Therefore, a solid grasp of statistical concepts is essential, and the chosen graphs should clearly represent quantities [3].

Align visual presentation aids to the audience and topic for optimal impact. In business scenarios, the ability to convey data insights efficiently improves decision-making processes. Beyond representation, graphs, and charts enhance audience understanding [2]. Visual learners benefit from the graphical depiction of information. The choice of graph or chart type should align with the audience’s familiarity with the subject matter.

3D Modeling

3D modeling implies creating realistic or abstract representations of objects, fictional characters, environments, or concepts through digital tools [9]. 3D modeling enhances visualization, making complex concepts more accessible. It is mainly used in the Engineering and Architectural fields. It improves audience understanding and visual engagement. Presenters can use this technique to provide a clearer understanding of intricate details. It allows the audience to visualize the inner workings of machinery, architectural designs, or scientific processes [8]. The dynamic nature of three-dimensional visuals captures and sustains the audience’s attention. This engagement is particularly beneficial in holding the audience’s interest throughout the presentation and prevents attention fatigue. However, presenters should be cautious to avoid visual overload. Ensure that the 3D elements enhance rather than distract from the main message.

Creating a 3D model for a presentation requires basic skills and knowledge of 3D modeling techniques. It includes modeling, texturing, lighting, and rendering [9]. Modeling involves shaping and structuring 3D models. Texturing applies color, pattern, or material using images or shaders. Lighting incorporates light sources and shadows to build the desired mood or atmosphere. However, for basic 3D models, a presenter can use PowerPoint to create or access available designs from online sources.

Moreover, these models enhance communication by creating animations, simulations, or demonstrations for understanding a point or process. The versatility of 3D models allows for generating various views, angles, or perspectives of a subject, facilitating customization based on audience or purpose.

Maps are highly valuable to use when information is clear and concise [3]. Different types of maps include population, geographical, political, climate, and economic maps [3]. Therefore, select the one that aligns with the presentation. Choose a map that highlights the specific information the speaker intends to convey. If a speech necessitates geographic reference, a map is an effective tool [7].

Maps provide precise visual communication of geographical data and help convey spatial relationships effectively.

Maps communicate information with clarity [7]. They are used to present global market trends, regional analyses, or any scenario where location-based insights matter. For instance, a world map can highlight key regions of interest when presenting global market trends. It helps the audience grasp the distribution of market opportunities.

The visual appeal of maps enhances audience engagement, particularly when presenting data tied to specific locations [10]. For a marketing presentation , a map showcasing the distribution of target demographics can capture attention and reinforce the spatial context of the campaign.

However, overly complex maps can confuse the audience. Similarly, relying on maps for all data types can lead to oversimplification.

Dry-Erase Board

The Dry-Erase Board is useful for brainstorming and note-taking. It is one of the ideal presentation materials for spontaneous discussions and audience engagement. It allows the presenter to make live diagrams and emphasize key points. At the same time, it is cost-effective and user-friendly.

Suppose a presenter chooses a dry-erase board. He needs to ensure that the board is presentable, rehearsed, and clear [7]. There are a few rules to remember before using a Dry-Erase Board as a presentation aid [3].  First, ensure legible writing is large enough for everyone to see. Use clear printing instead of cursive script. Use short phrases rather than complete sentences. Avoid turning away from the audience while speaking. Use markers that are functional and clean the board afterward.

The drawback of the Dry-Erase Board is that it has limited visibility in large settings.  When using a Dry-Erase board, a presenter may seem less prepared.  However, many speakers effectively use these boards for interactive elements in their speeches [3]. It is great for dynamic presentations, but space and audience size should be considered.

Brochures and Handouts

Brochures and handouts are tangible takeaways for the audience. They enhance information retention and serve as lasting references [11]. These presentation materials are effective in educational presentations or seminars, offering supplementary details for in-depth understanding.

There are a few things to consider when distributing handouts to the audience [7]. Provide a handout for each audience member, avoiding the need for sharing. Never distribute a single copy to pass around, as it detracts from a professional image. Handouts should be distributed before, during, or after the presentation. If audience participation is required, distribute handouts before starting or have a volunteer distribute them. Include only essential information, organized for clarity. If the handout is meant for audience follow-along, inform them of this and mention specific references during the speech [7].

However, potential disadvantages include the timing of distribution. Handing out materials at the wrong moment can distract the audience.

Audio Clips

Using an audio clip in a presentation introduces an auditory dimension.  It evokes emotions and enhances the overall experience.

When using an audio clip, select a clip of appropriate length for your speech duration. Prior to speaking, familiarize yourself with audio or video equipment to avoid disruptions and maintain credibility. Ensure computer speakers are on and set to the right level of volume level [7].

However, potential disadvantages of audio include technical issues with sound playback. It requires presenters to ensure seamless integration. Besides, overuse of audio clips can also be overwhelming, requiring careful selection and timing.

Integrating prerecorded videos offers a dynamic means of presenting information, catering to visual learners, and capturing audience attention. Prepare short videos from platforms like YouTube or Vimeo, song segments, or podcasts before your speech [7]. Cue the clip to the right spot and ensure the browser window is open. Before playing the clip, Provide the audience with context about its relevance to the speech. Explain its connection and significance. Ensure the video enhances the message without duplicating information already conveyed [3].

A video demonstration of a complex process can significantly enhance understanding in a training session. However, presenters should be mindful of timing and integration to avoid disruptions. Technical issues during playback can also pose challenges. It requires thorough testing beforehand.

1. Price Corridor of the Target Mass Presentation Aid Template

For presenters looking to implement the Blue Ocean Strategy in their organization, this presentation aid material gives emphasis on the potential pricing tiers and the difficulty of adapting that solution. Ideal for sales teams looking to innovate their pricing strategy.

Use This Template

2. Innovation Strategy Diagram Presentation Aid Material Template

Professionals seeking to introduce new strategy models can benefit from this highly visual strategy diagram template for PowerPoint & Google Slides. By using this matrix PPT slide, we can compare approaches and leverage them regarding the effort required for their implementation.

3. AIDAL Model Funnel Sales Presentation Aid

Whether your project requires brand awareness analysis or the steps that lead to customer loyalty, this funnel diagram for PowerPoint & Google Slides based on the AIDAL model is the ideal resource for your presentation. We can go stage by stage on the customer buyer journey, expanding details on the horizontal timeline shown right next to it.

4. Opportunities Solution Tree Template Presentation Aid for Product Development

Showcase your product discovery process by using our Opportunities Solution Tree PPT template. With this tree diagram presentation aid, we can easily arrange the customer pain points and streamline ideas that offer solutions to those emerging opportunities.

5. Business Brochure Aid for Presentation Handouts

Say goodbye to boring presentation handouts with this business-tailored brochure template for PowerPoint and Google Slides. In a two-sided format, companies can add relevant information about their activities, value proposals, and contact data.

6. Atlanta City Map and City Skyline Illustration Aids for Presentations

Among the multiple product offerings we have for map templates , we would like to highlight the particular style of this slide deck of Atlanta City. By accessing this product, you can get skyline silhouettes of Atlanta City, the Georgia State Capitol Building, maps in white and dark blue tones, bar charts, etc. They can be an ideal presentation aid example for users looking to deliver talks about local politics, new business venues, and more.

7. 3D Tetris Cube Visual Aid for a Presentation

How many times have you looked to create a 3D model to express an idea or concept made of different components? If so, this template ranks among the best examples of a visual aid. It’s almost instant to edit, as you just need to change the content in placeholder text areas and the colors, and that’s it.

8. Sprint Retrospective Presentation Aid Template for PowerPoint & Google Slides

This Sprint board template is the answer to the lack of clarity during sprint retrospective meetings. Scrum Masters can discuss in detail the aspects of the project covering what was considered a good job during the sprint, what was missing, what the team learned, and which are the new goals to achieve.

Turn your Agile presentations into powerful tools for action with this visual presentation aid!

[1] Leon, M., 2023. Presentation Aids. Public Speaking as Performance . https://opentext.ku.edu/publicspeakingperformance/chapter/presentation-aids/

[2] Shier, M. 2020. 11.3 Presentation Aids. Student Success . https://opentextbc.ca/studentsuccess/chapter/presentation-aids/

[3] Mapes, M. 2019. Presentation AIDS. Speak Out Call in Public Speaking as Advocacy. https://opentext.ku.edu/speakupcallin/chapter/chapter-10-presentation-aids/

[4] Functions of Presentation Aids. 2016. Public Speaking . https://open.lib.umn.edu/publicspeaking/chapter/15-1-functions-of-presentation-aids/#:~:text=Presentation%20aids%20can%20help%20clarify,process%20is%20a%20complex%20one .

[5] Gruber, K. 2022. Chapter Fourteen – Presentation Aids, Principles of Public Speaking . https://mtsu.pressbooks.pub/principlesofpublicspeaking/chapter/chapter-fourteen-presentation-aids/  

[6] Xingeng, D. and Jianxiang , L. 2012. Advantages and Disadvantages of PowerPoint in Lectures to ScienceStudents. I.J. Education and Management Engineering. MECS press. https://www.mecs-press.org/ijeme/ijeme-v2-n9/IJEME-V2-N9-10.pdf

[7] Goodman, Dr.L. and Amber Green, M.A. Presentation AIDS, Public Speaking . https://open.maricopa.edu/com225/chapter/need-presentation-aids/

[8] Vincenti, G. and Braman, J. 2011. Teaching through multi-user virtual environments: Applying dynamic elements to the modern classroom , Google Books. Available at: https://www.google.com.pk/books/edition/Teaching_through_Multi_User_Virtual_Envi/sekY2Iy5LdcC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=3d%2Bmodelling%2Bas%2Ba%2Bpresentation%2Baid&pg=PA389&printsec=frontcover (Accessed: 27 November 2023).

[9] Mamgain, P., 2020. Autodesk 3ds Max 2020: A Detailed Guide to Modeling, Texturing, Lighting, and Rendering . Padexi Academy.

[10] 15.1 Functions of Presentation Aids. 2016.  Public Speaking. Available at: https://open.lib.umn.edu/publicspeaking/chapter/15-1-functions-of-presentation-aids/#:~:text=Presentation%20aids%20can%20help%20clarify,process%20is%20a%20complex%20one . 

[11] Chapter 15 Presentation AIDS: Design and Usage . ( https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_stand-up-speak-out-the-practice-and-ethics-of-public-speaking/s18-presentation-aids-design-and-u.html ). 

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7 Presentation Aids To Deliver A Successful Presentation

• By Judhajit Sen
• April 25, 2024

Key Takeaways

• Diverse Tools for Engagement : Different types of presentation aids, including images, graphs, diagrams, maps, audio and video aids, handouts, and demonstrations, enhance engagement by targeting various senses and learning styles and helping the audience to understand your message.
• Enhanced Comprehension : Aids simplify complex ideas, making them easier to understand and remember. They act as a bridge between abstract concepts and  audience comprehension, ensuring more transparent communication.   
• Strategic Selection and Integration : Choosing the right aid aligned with the speech’s purpose is crucial. Quality visuals, such as high-resolution images and clear charts, reinforce key points and maintain audience focus.
• Long-lasting Impact : Effective use of different types of presentation aids extends the presentation ‘s impact beyond its duration. Handouts and memorable demonstrations leave lasting impressions, reinforcing memory recall and audience association with the content.

What Are Presentation Aids?

Presentation aids, also known as sensory aids, are additional tools to boost good presentations. They come in various forms, such as visuals, sounds, and multimedia elements , and enhance the speech’s impact. By targeting different senses like sight and sound, different types of computer-based presentation aids ensure better audience engagement and retention. For instance, combining audio and video clips in a PowerPoint presentation slide can make your presentation more memorable.

Use of different presentation aids go beyond mere words, enriching the message and catering to diverse learning styles. Presentation aids can be used to complement spoken words, making complex ideas easier to understand. Audible aids, such as music or speech excerpts, add depth to the PowerPoint slides and make your speech more interesting.

Presentation aids tap into the psychology of presentation perception, elevating the overall quality from ordinary to extraordinary. They work hand in hand with the speaker’s delivery, enriching the audience’s experience and reinforcing key points.

Why Presenters Use Presentation Aids

Presenters choose presentation aids to enhance their message and engage the audience effectively. Whether in-person or virtual, presentation aids can help clarify complex ideas and ensure an introduction to speech communication. They help maintain focus, especially in nerve-wracking situations like public speaking , and bridge any gaps in understanding.

Use of visual aids, including slides and props, make presentations more engaging, credible, and memorable. They guide transitions, communicate data effectively, and reinforce key points, increasing the likelihood of a positive response to calls to action.

Strategic use of presentation aids helps speakers improve audience understanding, retention, and interest. While a well-prepared speech is crucial, aids further elevate its impact. They add variety, enhance credibility, and emphasize ideas, ultimately contributing to a successful presentation. As a speaker, choosing the right presentation aid tailored to various points in your speech is critical to delivering a compelling message.

Following are seven forms of presentation aids to deliver a successful presentation.

Images serve as your presentation aid in enhancing understanding and evoking emotions. Unlike words, photographs provide visual experiences, bridging the gap between description and reality. They offer a window for audiences to see and experience specific aspects throughout your presentation, ensuring more transparent comprehension.

While videos have their place, photographs capture singular moments without distractions, making them necessary to present your message. Strictly speaking, they are less likely to overwhelm or divert attention, ensuring the main speaking points remain the focus. Visual aids like photographs are cost-effective and easily editable, making them practical choices for presentations.

Quality and relevance are paramount when selecting images. High-resolution images prevent pixelation and maintain clarity, ensuring effective communication. Watermarked images should be avoided to maintain professionalism, with alternatives sought from reputable sources like iStockphoto or Creative Commons databases.

Simple images like silhouettes or diagrams can enhance understanding, particularly for complex topics, while avoiding clutter. However, they must align with the presentation’s message and evoke the desired emotions.

Presenters can create impactful presentations that resonate with audiences and enhance comprehension without distractions by using images judiciously and ensuring their compatibility with the speech.

Graphs And Charts

Graphs and charts serve as essential tools for visually presenting data and comparisons. They simplify complex information, making it easy for audiences to comprehend statistics and figures. In business contexts, they are among the most commonly used visual aids.

Long strings of numbers can overwhelm audiences, leading to disengagement. However, comparing simple shapes or lines in a chart is far easier for most people to understand. Selecting the correct types of charts or graphs is crucial to communicate your message effectively. Whether it’s a pie chart to show proportions, a line graph to illustrate trends over time, or a bar chart for precise comparisons, each presentation aid must serve a specific purpose of your speech.

When designing charts, simplicity is vital. Emphasize clarity over complexity, focusing on delivering a clear conclusion rather than cramming in excessive data. Clear labels, easily distinguishable colors, and consistent formatting enhance comprehension. Complex graphs should be avoided, as they can confuse rather than clarify.

Presenters facilitate audience understanding and engagement by transforming numerical data into visual formats , such as charts and graphs. Visualizing comparisons and trends allows audiences to grasp information more effectively, reinforcing key points and enhancing overall communication.

Diagrams serve as visual aids to elucidate the inner workings and relationships of subjects. They are distinct from mere sketches by their focus on function and connection rather than physical form. They offer flexibility in presenting complex concepts beyond physical attributes, making them invaluable for explaining intricate relationships where other visual mediums fall short.

Experimentation is key in selecting the most effective diagram type for audience comprehension. Diagrams excel in clarifying abstract concepts or unfamiliar entities, bridging understanding by relating them to familiar elements. Their step-by-step breakdown aids in following processes or sequences logically, enhancing audience retention and comprehension.

Unlike charts and graphs, which prioritize data, diagrams emphasize appearance, structure, and flow. They delineate parts, aiding in detailed explanations and mitigating potential confusion.

When incorporating diagrams, it’s crucial to articulate each component, particularly those prone to misunderstanding. Whether illustrating a product’s features or delineating a process’s steps, diagrams ensure clarity and coherence, facilitating audience understanding and engagement.

Diagrams are indispensable tools for dissecting and demystifying complex subjects, transforming abstract ideas into tangible concepts that resonate with audiences.

Maps serve as potent presentation aids, offering more than just geographical information. Maps convey relational data effectively as two-dimensional diagrams, especially when enhanced with animations or overlays. Modern presentation software makes updating map datasets seamless, ensuring real-time accuracy without manual manipulation.

Diverse types of maps, such as population, weather, political, or economic maps, cater to specific informational needs, emphasizing key aspects relevant to the speech’s purpose. In today’s interconnected world, where global interactions are commonplace, maps are crucial in visualizing relationships between nations and regions. Whether showcasing business expansions, disease spread patterns, or cultural trends, maps provide much information into geographical hotspots and trends.

Maps offer perspective, fostering emotional connections by illustrating proximity and spatial relationships. Whether presenting to a global audience or focusing on localized regions, maps help contextualize information and engage audiences more effectively. By incorporating maps into presentations, speakers can enhance comprehension and facilitate a deeper understanding of complex concepts, making them indispensable tools in communication across various domains.

Audio Visual Aids

Audiovisual aids, including video and audio clips, serve as invaluable tools to enrich presentations and enhance audience engagement . By incorporating diverse delivery methods, such as transitioning from speech to audio or video clips, speakers can more effectively captivate their audience’s attention. Videos, in particular, offer a powerful means of summarizing key points and conveying emotions beyond what speech alone can achieve.

However, while audiovisual aids can significantly elevate presentations, they also present potential challenges, such as technical compatibility issues and abrupt transitions. Integrating audiovisual elements into presentations requires adequate preparation, including familiarity with presentation software, checking the video equipment prior to speaking and practice with audio or video equipment.

To maximize the effectiveness of audiovisual aids, speakers should ensure clips are relevant in length and content, avoiding lengthy selections that distract when they give a speech. Prudent planning includes:

• Cueing clips to the appropriate starting point.
• Providing context to the audience.
• Avoiding technical mishaps that detract from credibility.

Ultimately, audiovisual aids should complement and reinforce key points of the speech, enhancing audience comprehension and retention without overshadowing the speaker’s message.

Handouts are tangible resources provided to the audience containing information relevant to the presentation. Their most significant advantage lies in the physical interaction they facilitate, allowing audiences to engage with the material through touch, sight, and reading. By involving multiple senses, handouts enhance information retention.

They also reference unclear points during the presentation, ensuring consistent audience comprehension. Additionally, handouts extend the presentation’s impact beyond its duration, as they persist in the audience’s possession long after the event. This reinforces memory recall and association with the presentation’s content.

Deciding when to distribute handouts is crucial. While providing comprehensive handouts at the end prevents distractions during the speech, offering summarized versions at the beginning aids audience comprehension and participation.

Effective handouts require careful management and consideration. Distributing enough copies for each audience member ensures professionalism and accessibility. Handouts should contain only essential information organized logically to support the presentation’s key points. Informing the audience of their purpose and how to use them effectively fosters engagement and understanding.

Brochures or detailed handouts offer additional depth, particularly in research-intensive presentations like business or healthcare topics. They enable audiences to review information at their own pace and engage in collaborative note-taking, fostering discourse and interaction.

Handouts are valuable tools for reinforcing presentation content, aiding audience comprehension, and extending engagement beyond the live event. Properly managed and designed, they contribute significantly to a speaker’s credibility and audience satisfaction.

Demonstrations

Demonstrations are dynamic tools used to illustrate and reinforce key points in presentations. They encompass various forms, including physical demonstrations, allegorical stories, or live performances, all of which aim to anchor abstract concepts in reality for audience comprehension.

Memorable examples, like those from science classes, highlight the effectiveness of demonstrations in engaging audiences. Demonstrations leave lasting impressions through sensory involvement, as they stimulate multiple senses, enhancing understanding and retention.

Personal stories or case studies serve as powerful demonstrations. They allow audiences to immerse themselves in the narrative, making the message more relatable and memorable.

However, while demonstrations can elevate presentations, they must be used judiciously. Overuse or irrelevant demonstrations can detract from the main message, undermining the presentation’s effectiveness.

Live performances, exemplified by Steve Jobs’ iconic product unveilings, showcase the potential of demonstrations in public relations. They garner attention and media coverage, even in the face of problem if your presentation aid malfunctions, as demonstrated by Tesla’s Cybertruck unveiling.

Despite setbacks, such as the unexpected failure of Tesla’s armored windows, demonstrations often generate significant publicity, underscoring their impact on audience engagement and perception.

Strategically incorporating demonstrations can transform a speaking situation from average to exceptional, leaving a lasting impression on audiences and effectively conveying key messages.

Maximizing Impact with Presentation Aids

Incorporating possible presentation aids into presentations can transform your message from average to unforgettable. From captivating images to informative graphs, these aids enhance audience understanding and engagement. They also act as a bridge between complex ideas and audience comprehension, ensuring your message resonates long after the presentation ends .

Quality visuals, such as high-resolution images and clear charts, are essential for effective communication. They help maintain focus and reinforce key points, guiding your audience through your presentation effortlessly. By strategically selecting and integrating video clips during a speech, you can enhance credibility, emphasize ideas, and leave a lasting impression on your audience.

Remember, choosing the right visual aid prior to beginning your speech is key to delivering a compelling message. So whether you’re presenting in person or virtually, consider incorporating these seven presentation aids to talk about during your speech. The right visuals can contribute positively to your speech and you can deliver a stellar presentation every time.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1.  Why should presenters use presentation aids?

Presenters use aids like visuals and sounds to boost their message and keep the audience engaged at any speaking event. These aids clarify complex ideas, especially in nerve-wracking situations like public speaking , ensuring clear communication and maintaining focus.

2. How do visuals like images contribute to presentations?

Images are powerful tools that enhance understanding and evoke emotions. They provide visual experiences, making presentations more engaging, credible, and memorable. Unlike words, photographs bridge the gap between description and reality, ensuring more transparent comprehension.

3. What role do graphs and charts play in presentations?

A: Graphs and charts simplify complex information, making it easier for audiences to grasp statistics and figures. They prioritize clarity over complexity, guiding transitions and reinforcing critical points effectively. Presenters facilitate audience understanding and engagement by transforming numerical data into visual formats.

4. How can handouts enhance presentations?

Handouts are tangible resources that aid information retention and extend engagement beyond the live event. They reference unclear points, reinforcing memory recall and association with the presentation’s content. Properly managed and designed, handouts significantly contribute to a speaker’s credibility and audience satisfaction.

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With Prezentium’s AI-powered workshops, you can learn to communicate complex ideas effortlessly using simple layouts, visualization techniques and presentation aids in a speech. Our interactive training programs are designed to help you master the art of engaging presentations, ensuring better audience comprehension and retention.

With Prezentium , you’ll discover how to utilize a variety of effective presentation aids, from captivating images to informative graphs, to enhance your message and leave a lasting impression. Elevate your presentations from ordinary to extraordinary by incorporating our proven techniques and strategies.

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Presentation Structure: Structure Your Presentation for Success

Effective presentation feedback: examples, importance, and tips, passive aggressive communication: passive-aggressive behavior insights.

13.1 What are Presentation Aids?

Click below to play an audio file of this section of the chapter sponsored by the Women for OSU Partnering to Impact grant.

“Well-designed visuals do more than provide information; they bring order to the conversation.” -Dale Ludwig

When you give a speech, you are presenting much more than just a collection of words and ideas. Because you are speaking “live and in person,” your audience members will experience your speech through all five of their senses: hearing, vision, smell, taste, and touch. In some speaking situations, the speaker appeals only to the sense of hearing. They more or less ignore the other senses except to avoid visual distractions by dressing and presenting themselves in an appropriate manner. But the speaking event can be greatly enriched by appeals to the other senses. This is the role of presentation aids.

Presentation aids are the resources beyond the speech words and delivery that a speaker uses to enhance the message conveyed to the audience. The type of presentation aids that speakers most typically make use of are visual aids: pictures, diagrams, charts and graphs, maps, and the like. Audible aids include musical excerpts, audio speech excerpts, and sound effects. A speaker may also use fragrance samples or food samples as olfactory (sense of smell) or gustatory (sense of taste) aids. Finally, presentation aids can be three-dimensional objects, animals, and people; they can also change over a period of time, as in the case of a how-to demonstration.

As you can see, the range of possible presentation aids is almost unlimited. However, all presentation aids have one thing in common: To be effective, each presentation aid a speaker uses must be a direct, uncluttered example of a specific element of the speech. It is understandable that someone presenting a speech about Abraham Lincoln might want to include a photograph of him, but because everyone already knows what Lincoln looked like, the picture would not contribute much to the message unless, perhaps, the message was specifically about the changes in Lincoln’s appearance during his time in office.

Other visual artifacts are more likely to deliver information more directly relevant to the speech—a diagram of the interior of Ford’s Theater where Lincoln was assassinated, a facsimile of the messy and much-edited Gettysburg Address, or a photograph of the Lincoln family, for example. The key is that each presentation aid must directly express an idea in your speech.

Moreover, presentation aids must be used at the time when you are presenting the specific ideas related to the aid. For example, if you are speaking about coral reefs and one of your supporting points is about the location of the world’s major reefs, it would make sense to display a map of these reefs while you’re talking about location. If you display it while you are explaining what coral actually is, or describing the kinds of fish that feed on a reef, the map will not serve as a useful visual aid—in fact, it’s likely to be a distraction.

To be effective, presentation aids must also be easy to use and easy for the listeners to see and understand. In this chapter, we will present some principles and strategies to help you incorporate effective presentation aids into your speech. We will begin by discussing the functions that good presentation aids fulfill. Next, we will explore some of the many types of presentation aids and how best to design and utilize them. We will also describe various media that can be used for presentation aids. We will conclude with tips for successful preparation and use of presentation aids in a speech.

With a clear understanding of the role visual aids play in enhancing a speech, Pistol Pete settled down at his computer to create a slide deck for his upcoming presentation on Oklahoma State University traditions. As he fired up his presentation software, Pete had four criteria in mind to ensure his visuals would be effective: improving understanding, enhancing memory and retention, maintaining audience interest, and establishing speaker credibility.

As he crafted his first slide, Pete decided to set the tone with a captivating image of a vibrant OSU tradition – the Sea of Orange Parade. He chose this image to immediately draw his audience into the world of OSU traditions. He believed that such a vivid depiction of a beloved tradition would not only grab attention but also make a lasting impression, enhancing memory and retention.

For the main body of his presentation, Pete decided to use a combination of brief text points and corresponding images. He was mindful to keep the text concise and informative, making sure it aligned with what he was saying verbally. He paired each point with relevant images or short video clips that illustrated the tradition in action. This visual reinforcement of his words aimed to improve the audience’s understanding of the traditions.

Pete knew the importance of credibility for a speaker. So, he was careful to orally cite the information referenced on his slides. This not only established his credibility but also provided a reference point for anyone interested in learning more about the traditions at OSU.

To maintain audience interest throughout the speech, Pete decided to infuse elements of surprise into his slide deck. He included a few ‘Did you know?’ slides at unexpected points, each revealing a fun or little-known fact about OSU traditions. He believed these elements of surprise would keep his audience engaged and attentive throughout his presentation.

As he clicked through his completed slide deck, Pistol Pete felt a surge of satisfaction. He believed he had created a visual aid that not only complemented his speech but would also enhance his audience’s understanding, keep them engaged, aid in memory and retention, and demonstrate his credibility. Now all that remained was to deliver his informative speech with the same enthusiasm and passion that had driven his research and preparation. Why do you think it’s important to keep text brief and to a minimum on slides? Is it important to include images on each slide?

* Pistol Pete scenarios are all based on hypothetical events and were written with the use of Chatgpt and careful editing by Speech Communication faculty. 

This resource is available at no cost at https://open.library.okstate.edu/speech2713/.

the resources beyond the speech words and delivery that a speaker uses to enhance the message conveyed to the audience

Discussion Questions

• What are some ways that you can establish common ground with your classmates as the audience?
• Ceally wants to educate his college classmates about the increased use of profanity in contemporary music. He would like to play sound clips of some of the most offensive lyrics to illustrate his point. Would you advise Ceally to play these songs, even though doing so might offend or upset members of the audience? Why?
• Tynisha wants to convince her audience that we need a ban on alcoholic drinks at sporting events. Her survey results suggest that nearly 85% of her audience wants to continue the current policy of allowing alcohol sales at athletic events. Should she change her purpose to fit the existing attitudes of her audience? Why or why not? How can she establish common ground with this audience?
• What are some ways you can establish ethos with your audience before, during and after your presentation?
• Why is it important to understand the demographics, psychographics, and interests of your audience? What are the pitfalls of not conducting any audience analysis before speaking?
• Think of other areas of life in which audience analysis (or something like it) is essential (for example: needs assessments, strategic planning, individualized education planning). Why is it important to first understand the unique needs of a group before offering information or solutions to problems? How can we use our understanding of audience analysis to inform our communication in other areas of life
• Identify your values. On a sheet of paper, take a minute to write down how you would spend a million dollars on others. Next, take a minute to write down how you would spend a million dollars on yourself. Finally, review your two lists and identify common themes. What you choose to spend your money on reflects your values. Here are a few ideas of some of the value categories that may include things you would buy: items for your family, home, community, health, education, adventure, luxury, or nature/environment. These would be some of the values by which you live your life.
• Cereal Box/Pizza/Stores we like to buy from/Movies/TV shows - consider the audience who would be most drawn to a certain type of cereal/pizza, etc.

of or relating to the sense of taste

Introduction to Speech Communication Copyright © 2021 by Individual authors retain copyright of their work. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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34 What Are Presentation Aids?

When you give a speech, you are presenting much more than just a collection of words and ideas. Because you are speaking “live and in person,” your audience members will experience your speech through all five of their senses: hearing, vision, smell, taste, and touch. In some speaking situations, the speaker appeals only to the sense of hearing. They more or less ignore the other senses except to avoid visual distractions by dressing and presenting themselves in an appropriate manner. But the speaking event can be greatly enriched by appeals to the other senses. This is the role of presentation aids.

Presentation aids are the resources beyond the speech words and delivery that a speaker uses to enhance the message conveyed to the audience. The type of presentation aids that speakers most typically make use of are visual aids: pictures, diagrams, charts and graphs, maps, and the like. Audible aids include musical excerpts, audio speech excerpts, and sound effects. A speaker may also use fragrance samples or food samples as olfactory (sense of smell) or gustatory (sense of taste) aids. Finally, presentation aids can be three-dimensional objects, animals, and people; they can also change over a period of time, as in the case of a how-to demonstration.

As you can see, the range of possible presentation aids is almost unlimited. However, all presentation aids have one thing in common: To be effective, each presentation aid a speaker uses must be a direct, uncluttered example of a specific element of the speech. It is understandable that someone presenting a speech about Abraham Lincoln might want to include a photograph of him, but because everyone already knows what Lincoln looked like, the picture would not contribute much to the message unless, perhaps, the message was specifically about the changes in Lincoln’s appearance during his time in office.

Other visual artifacts are more likely to deliver information more directly relevant to the speech—a diagram of the interior of Ford’s Theater where Lincoln was assassinated, a facsimile of the messy and much-edited Gettysburg Address, or a photograph of the Lincoln family, for example. The key is that each presentation aid must directly express an idea in your speech.

Moreover, presentation aids must be used at the time when you are presenting the specific ideas related to the aid. For example, if you are speaking about coral reefs and one of your supporting points is about the location of the world’s major reefs, it would make sense to display a map of these reefs while you’re talking about location. If you display it while you are explaining what coral actually is, or describing the kinds of fish that feed on a reef, the map will not serve as a useful visual aid—in fact, it’s likely to be a distraction.

To be effective, presentation aids must also be easy to use and easy for the listeners to see and understand. In this chapter, we will present some principles and strategies to help you incorporate effective presentation aids into your speech. We will begin by discussing the functions that good presentation aids fulfill. Next, we will explore some of the many types of presentation aids and how best to design and utilize them. We will also describe various media that can be used for presentation aids. We will conclude with tips for successful preparation and use of presentation aids in a speech.

the resources beyond the speech itself that a speaker uses to enhance the message conveyed to the audience

of or relating to the sense of smell

of or relating to the sense of taste

Exploring Public Speaking Copyright © by Edited by Nicolet College is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Aesthetics and Delivery

Learning Objectives

• Explain reasons why presentation aids are important in public speeches;
• Detail how presentation aids function;
• Discuss strategies for implementing and integrating presentation aids.

When you give a speech, you are presenting much more than just a collection of words and ideas. Because you are speaking live, your audience members will aesthetically experience your speech through all five of their senses: hearing, vision, smell, taste, and touch. In addition to your verbal and nonverbal embodiment, presentation aids assist in amplifying your content for the audience’s overall experience.

Presentation aids are the resources beyond the speech itself that a speaker uses to enhance the message conveyed to the audience. The type of presentation aids that speakers most typically make use of are visual aids: pictures, diagrams, charts and graphs, maps, and the like. Audible aids include musical excerpts, audio speech excerpts, and sound effects. A speaker may also use fragrance samples or food samples as olfactory (sense of smell) or gustatory (sense of taste) aids. Finally, presentation aids can be three-dimensional objects or they can change over a period of time, as in the case of a how-to demonstration. As you can see, you have a range of presentation aids at your disposal.

Effective presentation aids are guided by two questions:

• How can I best represent an idea in my speech through a presentation aid?
• When is best to introduce it to the audience?

If you’re able to answer these two main questions, the audience is more likely to understand your idea more fully. Each presentation aid a speaker uses must be a direct, uncluttered example of a specific element of the speech. It is understandable that someone presenting a speech about Abraham Lincoln might want to include a photograph of him, but if there’s a high probability that the audience knows what Lincoln looked like, the picture would not contribute much to the message unless, perhaps, the message was specifically about the changes in Lincoln’s appearance during his time in office.

In this example, other visual artifacts may be more likely to deliver relevant information—a diagram of the interior of Ford’s Theater where Lincoln was assassinated, a facsimile of the messy and much-edited Gettysburg Address, or a photograph of the Lincoln family, for example. The key is that each presentation aid must directly express an idea in your speech.

Moreover, presentation aids must be used at the time when you are presenting the specific ideas related to the aid. For example, if you are speaking about coral reefs and one of your supporting points is about the location of the world’s major reefs, it would make sense to display a map of these reefs while you’re talking about location. If you display it while you are explaining what coral actually is, or describing the kinds of fish that feed on a reef, the map will not serve as a useful aid—in fact, it’s likely to be a distraction.

In this chapter, we will discuss some principles and strategies to help you incorporate effective presentation aids into your speech. We will begin by discussing the functions that good presentation aids fulfill. Next, we will explore some of the many types of presentation aids and how best to design and utilize them. We will also describe various media that can be used for presentation aids.

Functions of Presentation Aids

Why should you use presentation aids? If you have prepared and rehearsed your speech adequately, shouldn’t a good speech with a good delivery be enough to stand on its own? While it is true that impressive presentation aids will not rescue a poor speech, it is also important to recognize that a good speech can often be made even better by the strategic use of presentation aids. Remember that your speech is an experience rather than the isolated transmission of information, so presentation aids can enhance or detract from the aesthetics.

Presentation aids can fulfill several functions:

• improve your audience’s understanding of the information you are conveying;
• enhance audience memory and retention of the message;
• add variety and interest to your speech;
• enhance your credibility as a speaker.

Let’s examine each of these functions.

Improving Audience Understanding

Human communication is a complex process that often leads to misunderstandings. If you are like most people, you can easily remember incidents when you misunderstood a message or when someone else misunderstood what you said to them. Misunderstandings happen in public speaking just as they do in everyday conversations.

One reason for misunderstandings is that perception and interpretation are highly complex, individual processes (remember that communication is always cultural and contextual rather than a universal set of symbols). Most of us have seen the image in which, depending on your perception, you see either the outline of a vase or the facial profiles of two people facing each other, known as the Rubin’s vase (Hasson et al, 2001). Or you may have listened to a song for years only to have a friend say, “uh, those aren’t the lyrics!” These examples demonstrate how interpretation can differ, and it means that your presentations must be based on careful thought and preparation to maximize the likelihood that your listeners will understand your presentation as you intend them to.

As a speaker, one of your basic goals is to help your audience understand your message. To reduce misunderstanding, presentation aids can be used to clarify or to emphasize. Use table 10.1 to identify questions that underly clarifying or emphasizing ideas.

Aiding Retention and Recall

The second function that presentation aids can serve is to increase the audience’s chances of remembering your speech. An article by the U.S. Department of Labor (1996) summarized research on how people learn and remember. The authors found that “83% of human learning occurs visually, and the remaining 17% through the other senses—11% through hearing, 3.5% through smell, 1% through taste, and 1.5% through touch.”

For this reason, exposure to an image can serve as a memory aid to your listeners. When your graphic images deliver information effectively and when your listeners understand them clearly, audience members are likely to remember your message long after your speech is over.

An added plus of using presentation aids is that they can boost your retention and memory while you are speaking. Using your presentation aids while you rehearse your speech will familiarize you with the association between a given place in your speech and the presentation aid that accompanies that material.

Adding Variety and Interest

A third function of presentation aids is simply to make your speech more interesting. For example, wouldn’t a speech on community gardens have a greater impact if you accompanied your remarks with pictures of such gardens? You can imagine that your audience would be even more enthralled if you had the ability to display produce for your audience live. Similarly, if you were speaking to a group of gourmet cooks about spices, you might want to provide tiny samples of spices that they could smell and taste during your speech.

Enhancing a Speaker’s Credibility

The final function of a presentation aid is to increase your ethos, or credibility. A high-quality presentation will contribute to your professional image. This means that in addition to containing important information, your presentation aids must be clear, clean, uncluttered, organized, and large enough for the audience to see and interpret correctly. Misspellings and poorly designed presentation aids can damage your credibility as a speaker. Even if you give a good speech, you run the risk of appearing unprofessional if your presentation aids are poorly executed.

In addition, make sure that you give proper credit to the source of any presentation aids that you take from other sources. Using a statistical chart or a map without proper credit will detract from your credibility, just as using a quotation in your speech without credit would. This situation will usually take place with digital aids such as PowerPoint slides. The source of a chart or the data shown in a chart form should be cited at the bottom of the slide and orally in your speech.

If you focus your efforts on producing presentation aids that contribute effectively to your meaning, that look professional, and that are handled well, your audience will most likely appreciate your efforts and pay close attention to your message. That attention will help them learn or understand your topic in a new way and will thus help the audience see you as a knowledgeable, competent, and credible speaker. With the prevalence of digital communication, the audience expectation of quality visual aids has increased.

Avoiding COMMON PRESENTATION AID PITFALLS

Using presentation aids can come with some risks. However, with a little forethought and adequate practice, you can choose presentation aids that enhance your message and boost your professional appearance in front of an audience.

One principle to keep in mind is to use only as many presentation aids as necessary to present your message or clarify a component of your idea. Too often, speakers fall into a “must have long and detailed presentational aids for the entire speech” – in these cases, the aid can overshadow or distract from the content, rather than to clarify or add emphasis. Instead, simplify as much as possible, emphasizing the information you want your audience to understand rather than overwhelming them with too much text and too many images.

Another important consideration is context. Remember to survey the literal context of your speech to decide what aid is possible – is there technology? Is there a poster stand or a white board? Are there speakers? Is there WiFi? Keep your presentation aids within the limits of the working technology available to you. Whether or not your technology works on the day of your speech, you will still have to present. As the speaker, you are responsible for arranging the things you need to make your presentation aids work as intended. Carry a roll of duct tape so you can display your poster even if the easel is gone. Find an extra chair if your table has disappeared. Test the computer setup. Have your slides on a flash drive AND send it to yourself as an attachment or post to a cloud service. Have an alternative plan prepared in case there is some glitch that prevents your computer-based presentation aids from being usable. And of course, you must know how to use the technology.

Finally, presentation aids do not “speak for themselves.” When you display a visual aid, you should explain what it shows, pointing out and naming the most important features. If you use an audio aid such as a musical excerpt, you need to tell your audience what to listen for. Similarly, if you use a video clip, it is up to you as the speaker to point out the characteristics in the video that support the point you are making—but probably beforehand, so you are not speaking over the video. At the same time, a visual aid should be quickly accessible to the audience. This is where simplicity comes in. Just as in organization of a speech you would use 3-5 main points, not 20 main points, you should limit categories of information on a visual aid.

Types of Presentation Aids

Now that we’ve explored some basic hints for preparing presentation aids, the next step is determining what type of presentation aid is best. We’ll discuss types of aids that fall into two categories: representations of data and/or representations that display a real process, idea, person, place, or thing. In other words, ask yourself: “what type of information do I think needs to be accentuated? A statistic? An image of an idea?” Once you answer, the categories below can help you determine which aid would be the best to display that type of information.

Representations of Data

If you are looking to clarify a complex piece of data or piece of evidence from your speech, you may decide that a chart, graph, or diagram is best. Charts, graphs, and diagrams help represent statistics, processes, figures, or other numeric evidence that may be otherwise difficult to comprehend if just spoken.

Chart : A chart is commonly defined as a graphical representation of data or a sketch representing an ordered process. Whether you create your charts or do research to find charts that already exist, it is important for them to exactly match the specific purpose in your speech. Figure 10.1 (“Acupuncture Chart”) shows a chart related to acupuncture and may be useful in a speech about the history and development of acupuncture. However, if your goal is to show the locations of meridians (the lines along which energy is thought to flow) and the acupuncture points, you may need to select an alternative image.

There are two common types of charts: statistical charts and sequence-of-steps chart.

• Statistical Charts : For most audiences, statistical presentations must be kept as simple as possible, and they must be explained. When visually displaying information from a quantitative study, you need to make sure that you understand the material and can successfully and simply explain how one should interpret the data. This is surely an example of a visual aid that, although it delivers a limited kind of information, does not speak for itself. As with all other principles of public speaking, KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE.
• Sequence-of-Steps Charts : Charts are also useful when you are trying to explain a process that involves several steps. If you are working with a scientific or medical argument, you may need to visually map the sequence because the process is otherwise difficult to follow.

Graph: A graph is a pictorial representation of the relationships of quantitative data using dots, lines, bars, pie slices, and the like. Graphs show how one factor (such as size, weight, number of items) varies in comparison to other items. Whereas a statistical chart may report the mean (or average) ages of individuals entering college, a graph would show how the mean age changes over time. A statistical chart may report the number of computers sold in the United States, while a graph will use bars or lines to show the breakdown of those computers by operating systems such as Windows, Macintosh, and Linux.

Public speakers can show graphs using a range of different formats. Some of those formats are specialized for various professional fields. Very complex graphs often contain too much information that is not related to the purpose of a speech. If the graph is cluttered, it becomes difficult to comprehend. If you find a graph that has useful information, ask: “do I need to represent this graph as-is or can I represent a key portion of the graph that’s most relevant to my data?”

There are 3 types of graphs that we’ll introduce: line graphs, bar graphs, and pie graphs.

• Line Graph : A line graph is designed to show trends over time. You could, for example, use a line graph to chart Enron’s stock prices over time.
• Bar Graph: Bar graphs are useful for showing the differences between quantities. They can be used for population demographics, fuel costs, math ability in different grades, and many other kinds of data. The graph in Figure 10.2 (“Suicide vs. Homicide”) is well designed. It is relatively simple and is carefully labeled, making it easy for you to guide your audience through the recorded numbers of each type of death. The bar graph is designed to show the difference between rates of suicides and homicides across various age groups. When you look at the data, the first grouping clearly shows that eighteen- to twenty-four-year-olds are more likely to die because of a homicide than any of the other age groups.
• Pie Graph: Pie graphs are usually depicted as circles and are designed to show proportional relationships within sets of data; in other words, they show parts of or percentages of a whole. They should be simplified as much as possible without eliminating important information.

Figure 10.2

Diagrams : Diagrams are visual representations that simplify a complex process. They may be drawings or sketches that outline and explain the parts of an object, process, or phenomenon that cannot be readily seen. When you introduce a diagram, you are working to label parts of a process for your audience. For example, you may decide to diagram how human communication occurs because simply describing that process would be too complex.

Charts, graphs, and diagrams can present challenges in being effective but also in being ethical. To be both ethical and effective, you need a good understanding of what statistics mean, and you need to create or use graphs that show amounts clearly. Remember that clarifying is a key goal of presentational aids, so ask: is my graph or chart making my information more or less difficult to comprehend?

Representations of Real Processes or Things

In contrast, a second set of presentational aids represents real processes, things, persons, places, or ideas. While charts and graphs simplify more complex or abstract ideas, data, or evidence, this set of presentational aids attempts to add emphasis to real, literal stuff. This includes: maps, photos, videos, audio recordings, and objects (diagrams can also fall into this category, depending on what you’re mapping).

Maps: Maps are extremely useful if the information is clear and limited. There are all kinds of maps, including population, weather, ocean current, political, and economic maps, so you should find the right kind for the purpose of your speech. Choose a map that emphasizes the information you need to deliver and are trying to represent. For example, you might decide that a map outlining the Hawaiian Islands would be helpful to clarify the spatial dimensions of the state. Although the map may not list the names of the islands, it is helpful in orienting the audience to the direction and distance of the islands to other geographic features, such as the Pacific Ocean.

Photographs and Drawings: Sometimes a photograph or a drawing is the best way to show an unfamiliar but important detail. For example, if you gave a speech about the impact of plastics on ocean life, you may decide to include a photo of a beached whale who had suffered from plastic inhalation. The photo may emphasize the impact of plastic that speaking otherwise doesn’t capture.

Video or Audio Recordings: Another very useful type of presentation aid is a video or audio recording. Whether it is a short video from a website such as YouTube or Vimeo, a segment from a song, or a piece of a podcast, a well-chosen video or audio recording may be a good choice to enhance your speech.

There is one major warning to using audio and video clips during a speech: do not forget that they are supposed to be aids to your speech, not the speech itself! In addition, be sure to avoid these four mistakes that speakers often make when using audio and video clips:

• Avoid choosing clips that are too long for the overall length of the speech.
• Practice with the audio or video equipment prior to speaking. If you are unfamiliar with the equipment, you’ll look foolish trying to figure out how it works. Be sure that the speakers on the computer are on and at the right volume level.
• Cue the clip to the appropriate place prior to beginning your speech, and try to avoid any advertisement interruptions (which can make the aid look unprofessional).
• The audience must be given context before the video or audio clip is played, specifically what the clip is and why it relates to the speech. At the same time, the video should not repeat what you have already said, but add to it.

Objects: Objects refer to anything you could hold up and talk about during your speech. If you’re talking about the importance of not using plastic water bottles, you might hold up a plastic water bottle and a stainless-steel water bottle as examples.

Ways to Display Your Presentation Aid

Above, we’ve discussed why you might use a presentation aid and what aid might work best. “How do I display these?” you might be wondering. For example, if you decide that a graph would be helpful in clarifying a complex idea, you have options on how to present that graph to the audience, including presentation software or more low-tech means. We’ll talk through each below.

Using Presentation Software

Presentation software and slides are a common mechanism to display information for your audience. You are likely familiar with PowerPoint, but there are several others:

• Prezi, available at www.prezi.com
• Slide Rocket, available at www.sliderocket.com
• Google Slides, available in Google Drive and useful for collaborative assignments
• Keynote, the Apple presentation slide software on Macs
• Impress, an Open Office product (http://www.openoffice.org/prod-uct/impress.html)
• AdobeAcrobat Presenter

Each software allows you to present professional-looking slides. For example, you can use the full range of fonts, although many of them are not appropriate for presentations because they are hard to read. Use Table 10.3 to track advantages and disadvantages of using slides.

Remember that presentation software aids are a way to display what you want your audience to know—a graph, an idea, an image. Presentation software is not the only way to display these, so slides should be a purposeful choice. W hat you display is the top priority.

Before we continue, we have one note: You’ll notice that “text from the speech” is not included in our list of types of presentation aids in the section above. You may decide that adding emphasis to a key word or concept from your speech is needed – and that’s OK! You may even decide that providing that concept, visually, for the audience is worthwhile by writing or displaying the words, and that’s OK, too. However, remember that presentation aids are included for a reason, and it’s often unnecessary to provide an entire outline of your speech’s text through a presentation software like PowerPoint slides. Speakers, too often, copy and paste parts of their speech onto a PowerPoint slide and think, ‘There! A presentation aid!” Ask: what purpose does this text serve for my audience? If your answer doesn’t result in clarifying, emphasizing, or retaining, it’s likely not needed.

Creating Quality Slide Shows

Slides should show the principles of good design, which include unity, emphasis or focal point, scale and proportion, balance, and rhythm (Lauer & Pentak, 2000). Presenters should also pay attention to tone and usability. With those principles in mind, here are some tips for creating and then using presentation software.

• Unity and Consistency: use a single (readable) sans serif font, single background, and unified animations for your visuals so that they look like a unified set. Each slide should have one message, photo, or graphic.
• Emphasis, Focal Point, and Visibility: all information should be large enough—at least 24-point font— for audiences. To guarantee visibility, follow the 7X7 rule: no more than seven horizontal lines of text (including the heading) and the longest line should not exceed seven words. Finally, provide higher contrast between text and slides.
• Tone : Fonts, color, clip art, photographs, and templates all contribute to tone, which is the attitude being conveyed in the slides. Make sure the tone of the presentation software matches the overall aesthetic tone of the speech.
• Scale and Proportion : Use numbers to communicate a sequence. If bullet points are used, the text should be short. Adjust graphs or visuals on the slide, avoiding small or multiple visuals on the same image.
• Balance and rhythm : Work to create symmetry and balance between each slide. When presenting, think about what’s being displayed on the slide to the audience and when. If you aren’t using it, insert a black screen between images.
• Usability : With any image or graphic, make sure to include “alt text” – or a description of what the image is. Proving alt text is helpful for users with screen readers.

We recommend that you survey your university’s resources for assistance with creating quality and accessible presentation slides.

Low-Tech Presentation Aids

In addition to presentation slides, there are other “low-tech” ways to display. Instead of providing a diagram on PowerPoint, you may decide that drawing it live is more beneficial. Below, we talk through a few additional means to display your information to the audience.

Dry-Erase Board

If you use a chalkboard or dry-erase board, what you display should still be thought-out, rehearsed, and clearly professional. You run the risk of appearing less prepared, but numerous speakers do utilize chalk and dry-erase boards effectively. Typically, these speakers use the chalk or dry-erase board for interactive components of a speech. For example, maybe you’re giving a speech in front of a group of executives. Chalk or dry-erase boards are very useful when you want to visually show information that you are receiving from your audience. If you ever use a chalk or dry-erase board, follow these five simple rules:

• Write large enough so that everyone in the room can see (which is harder than it sounds; it is also hard to write and talk at the same time!).
• Print legibly; don’t write in cursive script.
• Write short phrases; don’t take time to write complete sentences.
• Never turn your back to the audience while you’re talking.
• Be sure you have markers that will not go dry, and clean the board afterward.

A flipchart is useful for situations when you want to save what you have written for future reference or to distribute to the audience after the presentation. As with whiteboards, you will need good markers and readable handwriting, as well as a strong easel to keep the flipchart upright.

Posters often represent a key graph, idea, or visualization. For a poster, you likely want to display one key piece of information at one key part of your presentation. Otherwise, posters are probably not the best way to approach presentation aids in a speech. There are problems with visibility as well as portability. Avoid producing a presentation aid that looks like you simply cut pictures out of magazines and pasted them on.

Handouts are appropriate for delivering information that audience members can take away with them. As we will see, handouts require a great deal of management if they are to contribute to your credibility as a speaker.

First, make sure the handout is worth the trouble of making, copying, and distributing it. Does the audience really need the handout? Second, make sure to bring enough copies of the handout for each audience member to get one. Having to share or look on with one’s neighbor does not contribute to a professional image. Third, consider timing. We recommend providing the handout at the conclusion of your speech.

Reminders for Integrating Presentation Aids

Regardless of what presentation aid you choose—a photo, chart, map— and the medium that you’ll display it—a handout, slide deck, audio device— all presentation aids require rehearsal. While we’ve included tips on integrating presentation aids in your speech throughout this chapter, use the following list of strategies to integrate your aid into the speech.

• Gather all citation information and provide it both visually and orally to your audience.
• In your speaking notes, mark where you will integrate the presentation aid so that you don’t forget about it due to nervousness.
• Determine where the presentation aid will be when it’s not being displayed.
• For a PowerPoint presentation, include blank/black slides that are used when your visual aid isn’t in use.
• Store other objects in non-distracting locations.
• Rehearse your transitions into and out of the presentation aid.

The Mythical Norm and Presentation Aids

In Chapter 8 on nonverbal delivery, we introduced the idea of the mythical norm. As you remember, when you’re an audience member, it’s important to reflect on the assumptions that we hold about the speaker. Are we judging a speaker based on our own assumptions of what’s normal?

Similarly, when you’re making decisions about presentation aids as a speaker, it’s important to be reflexive about who is in the audience. Are you making decisions about presentation aids based on our own assumptions about what’s normal and who’s normal? Are you assuming, for example, that all audience members are able-bodied and able to visually and audibly experience your presentation aid?

Creating an accessible experience for audience members must be a priority. For example, you may want to avoid red and green colors on your visual aids as they’re not perceivable to all audience members. While constructing presentation software of slides, make sure you include alt-text for images, especially if you provide the slides to the presentation. These are for audience members who may be sight-impaired. Check out guidelines for the presentation software you’re using on how to embed alt-text. Additionally, be weary of smells that may be intense or irritate audience members. Overall, be careful not to assume that audience members also fit the mythical norm as you construct your presentation aid.

To finish this chapter, we will recap a few key pieces of information. Whether your aid is a slide show, object, or dry erase board, these standards are essential:

• Presentation aids must be easily experienced by your audience.
• Presentation aids must be portable, easily handled, and efficient. They should disappear when not in use.
• Presentation aids should be aesthetically pleasing, which includes in good taste. Additionally, electronic media today allows you to create very “busy” slides with varieties of fonts, colors, collages of photos, etc. Keep in mind the principles of unity and focal point.
• Color is another aesthetic aspect. Some colors are just more soothing, readable, and appropriate than others. Also, the color on your slides may be different when projected from what is on your computer.
• Provide credit when using images that aren’t your own.
• Finally, presentation aids must support your speech and have high relevance to your content.

This chapter has covered a wide range of information about all kinds of audio and visual aids, but audiences today expect and appreciate professionally designed and handled presentation aids. The stakes are higher now, but the tools are many.

Media Attributions

• Acupuncture Chart is licensed under a Public Domain license
• Homicide_suicide_USA © Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is licensed under a Public Domain license

Speak Out, Call In: Public Speaking as Advocacy Copyright © 2019 by Meggie Mapes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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10 Presentation Aids to Use to Make Your Speech Stand Out

Do you remember every single piece of information about some topics that you were taught by your teacher during geography lectures? And if you do, what’s the reason that after so many years of completing education, some geography lessons are still inked in your mind? Perhaps your teacher had used some relevant teaching aids (such as globe, maps, etc.) to supplement verbal instructions. Well, visual aids are helpful not only in education but also in business presentations. 

Undoubtedly, a well-crafted speech is important to ace a presentation; visual aids are equally crucial to enhance the effectiveness of your message and make it easier to understand and memorable for the audience. Visual aids assist in quick information processing and retention by triggering the brain even if it is feeling fatigued.

Let’s discuss some visual aids that can help add more clarity, comprehension, and meaning to your presentations.

1. Chart and Graph

Chart and graph are the perfect visual aid to illustrate the relationships between variables, trends over time, comparisons, patterns between data points, the proportion of the whole part, etc. Using these visuals, you can represent data variables in the form of categories, percentages, and frequencies.

Expert Tips:

• Don’t use flashy special effects; keep it simple.
• Give the right title to your chart or graph to convey your message clearly.
• Choose contrasting colors to highlight two data sets.
• Avoid using 3D graphs as they are hard to read.
• If you use different colors or shades to depict the different data sets or variables, make sure you provide an index to explain them.

2. Diagrams

Diagrams are sketches or drawings that can be used in presentations to represent certain things that can’t be demonstrated through images and photographs. When you showcase data using tables, some facts are not revealed. Diagrams help bring out these facts and relations. Diagrams can also be used to explain the structure, functioning, and working processes.

There are different types of diagrams, such as flowchart, Venn diagram, mind map, funnel chart, journey map, etc.; it is important to choose the right one that can better resonate with your information. It is recommended to use a more professional version of the diagram designed with computer software.

As icons are self-explanatory visual elements, they make interaction faster and impactful without making the audience feel overloaded with text. Icons have a high symbolic value, and they enhance the aesthetics of the presentation, rendering it a unique visual appeal. Since icons have universal meaning, they are easily understandable regardless of language barriers.

• Icons should be scalable for different screen sizes.
• Don’t overload icons with non-essential graphic elements.
• The icons should be relevant to the context you are going to represent and must match the tone and style of the brand.

Maps depict a 2D model of the real world and are the best pick to portray sales territories, locations, business outlets, history, demographics, and geographical details of any specific region. You can also incorporate maps in your slides to represent the shortest route, connectivity of infrastructure across different regions, climatic conditions of different cities of a country, and much more. 

• Use vector-based, editable maps in your presentations so that you can adapt them to your corporate design.
• Use a color legend to illustrate data by country and region.
• Combine maps with bar or pie charts to provide a clear overview of any discrepancies between regions.  
• Supplement maps with icons to make information more meaningful.

You can take your presentations to the next level by incorporating videos in smarter ways. A well-thought-out video adds persuasion and personalization to the content, enlivens your slideshows, and captures the sensory memory of the audience. Moreover, videos break the monotony and allow the audience to relay the information and reconcentrate with full attentiveness. These visual aids also provide an emotional input to influence the actions, choices, and decisions of the viewers.

• Don’t use video just for the sake of adding drama to your slideshows.
• Avoid including video clips that are too long for the overall length of the presentation.
• Use videos that complement your core message.
• Don’t include complicated videos; a simple video with short animation can serve your purpose well.

You can’t brim your slides with too much content as it will ruin the effectiveness of the entire presentation. If you want to provide a detailed overview of the central insights, core concepts, and main points, you can distribute the handout at the commencement or end of the presentation. Handouts support and enhance your presentation and act as a memory aid and guide for the audience.

• The handout is the concrete manifestation of your presentation, so it should follow the same structure as your slides. However, it should have additional information, not the exact printout of slides.
• The handout must have a consistent feel and a professional look.
• If you are using information from other sources, then include references in the handout to let the audience know where they can find more information about a particular point.
• Provide contact details so that the audience can contact you at some time in the future.

You can facelift your PowerPoint presentations and give them a more structured look by organizing quantitative data into rows and columns using a table. You can leverage this visual aid to represent data related to accounting audits, quarterly reviews, KPI comparisons, price lists, etc., and provide efficient and fast readability. In addition, tables ease the cognitive burdens of viewers and reduce the time required to extract the information. 

• To make tables more creative, you can animate them, add icons, and beautify them with stunning colors.
• To lay emphasis on any particular data series in the table, animate them one-by-one instead of all at one time.

8. Pictures and Images

If you are planning to talk about an unfamiliar but important topic in your brainstorming session, team meeting, or conference, you can make use of images or pictures to break incomprehensible information into digestible bits and add more clarity to your message. Further, you can add a personal touch to your presentations by including these aids.

These visual aids also help break the ice and get the undivided attention of the audience. The best part about pictures and images is; they quickly drive audience engagement and make an impactful connection with them irrespective of language barriers.

• Use original images/pictures to increase the authenticity of your presentation.
• Images used for the sake of filling empty spaces on slides may distract your audience. So, use images that are relevant to the context, amplify your message, and reflect your brand personality.
• To avoid blurriness, incorporate high-definition images.

9. Flipchart and Whiteboard

If you want to add some informality to your speaking session, making it more interactive at the same time, you can use a flipchart or whiteboard. Since these visual aids don’t require tech knowledge to use them, anyone can easily utilize them.

These aids are also very useful if your presentation involves brainstorming any specific point/idea with the audience. The flow of ideas occurs naturally when a group of people works together to create them. In such a case, you can jot them down quickly on the flipchart or whiteboard.

• Write in larger fonts so that people sitting in the back can easily read the words you have written.
• Use more saturated and darker pen colors to make information clearly readable.
• Instead of writing in front, stand to the side of the board so that everyone can see the board while you are writing. 
• Write short sentences.
• Don’t write anything before the commencement of your speech; otherwise, the audience will get engaged in reading the content written on the board without paying attention to what you are saying.

10. Models and Props

Models and props are physical objects that you can hold in your hands while explaining a specific topic verbally. Nearly anything can be a prop: a water bottle, a globe, a model car, etc. These visual aids provide a multi-sensory experience and act as memorable and powerful metaphors.

• Props and models must be relevant to the speech or presentation.
• You can use these visual aids if the original object is too large to bring in and if you want to add more comprehension and clarity to your message/information.
• Never leverage these aids as a way of avoiding interaction or eye contact with the audience. 

Visual aids , also known as sensory aids, help you shun rambling and stay on the topic and organize your speaking points. They also act as a savior if you get hit with a bout of fright on the stage. Indeed, presentation aids, if used thoughtfully, render clarity to your message, stimulate an emotional response in the audience, and empower the overall presentation; however, they are not a substitute for a poorly-crafted and unprepared speech . So, select visual aids astutely and use them only if you really need to explain a complex concept or fulfill a specific purpose related to the presentation, not just for the sake of using them. In a nutshell, the presentation aid must have high relevance to your content, and it must strongly support your talk.

Do you have more insights to share with us? Feel free to write to us in the “Comment” section. And if you find the blog post informative, do share it on your social media handles.

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Ashish Arora

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eCore Public Speaking Textbook (COMM 1113)

• Download PDF Prints
• The Basics of Public Speaking
• Listening in Public Speaking Settings
• Ethics in Public Speaking
• Unit 1 Glossary
• Developing Topics for Your Speech
• Organizing and Outlining
• Introductions and Conclusions
• Special Occasions
• Unit 2 Glossary
• Audience Analysis
• Researching Your Speeches
• Supporting Your Speech Ideas
• Informative Speaking
• Unit 3 Glossary
• Persuasive Speaking
• Logical Reasoning
• Presentation Aids
• Unit 4 Glossary
• Attribution and References

What are Presentation Aids?

When you give a speech, you are presenting much more than just a collection of words and ideas. Because you are speaking “live and in person,” your audience members will experience your speech through all five of their senses: hearing, vision, smell, taste, and touch. In some speaking situations, the speaker appeals only to the sense of hearing. They more or less ignore the other senses except to avoid visual distractions by dressing and presenting themselves in an appropriate manner. But the speaking event can be greatly enriched by appeals to the other senses. This is the role of presentation aids.

Presentation aids are the resources beyond the speech words and delivery that a speaker uses to enhance the message conveyed to the audience. The type of presentation aids that speakers most typically make use of are visual aids: pictures, diagrams, charts and graphs, maps, and the like. Audible aids include musical excerpts, audio speech excerpts, and sound effects. A speaker may also use fragrance samples or food samples as olfactory (sense of smell) or gustatory (sense of taste) aids. Finally, presentation aids can be three-dimensional objects, animals, and people; they can also change over a period of time, as in the case of a how-to demonstration.

As you can see, the range of possible presentation aids is almost unlimited. However, all presentation aids have one thing in common: To be effective, each presentation aid a speaker uses must be a direct, uncluttered example of a specific element of the speech. It is understandable that someone presenting a speech about Abraham Lincoln might want to include a photograph of him, but because everyone already knows what Lincoln looked like, the picture would not contribute much to the message unless, perhaps, the message was specifically about the changes in Lincoln’s appearance during his time in office.

Other visual artifacts are more likely to deliver information more directly relevant to the speech—a diagram of the interior of Ford’s Theater where Lincoln was assassinated, a facsimile of the messy and much-edited Gettysburg Address, or a photograph of the Lincoln family, for example. The key is that each presentation aid must directly express an idea in your speech.

Moreover, presentation aids must be used at the time when you are presenting the specific ideas related to the aid. For example, if you are speaking about coral reefs and one of your supporting points is about the location of the world’s major reefs, it would make sense to display a map of these reefs while you’re talking about location. If you display it while you are explaining what coral actually is, or describing the kinds of fish that feed on a reef, the map will not serve as a useful visual aid—in fact, it’s likely to be a distraction.

To be effective, presentation aids must also be easy to use and easy for the listeners to see and understand. In this chapter, we will present some principles and strategies to help you incorporate effective presentation aids into your speech. We will begin by discussing the functions that good presentation aids fulfill. Next, we will explore some of the many types of presentation aids and how best to design and utilize them. We will also describe various media that can be used for presentation aids. We will conclude with tips for successful preparation and use of presentation aids in a speech.

Functions of Presentation Aids

Why should you use presentation aids? If you have prepared and rehearsed your speech adequately, shouldn’t a good speech with a good delivery be enough to stand on its own? While it is true that impressive presentation aids will not rescue a poor speech, a good speech can often be made even better by the strategic use of presentation aids. Presentation aids can fulfill several functions: they can serve to improve your audience’s understanding of the information you are conveying, enhance audience memory and retention of the message, add variety and interest to your speech, and enhance your credibility as a speaker. Let’s examine each of these functions.

Improving Audience Understanding

Human communication is a complex process that often leads to misunderstandings. If you are like most people, you can easily remember incidents when you misunderstood a message or when someone else misunderstood what you said to them. Misunderstandings happen in public speaking just as they do in everyday conversations.

One reason for misunderstandings is the fact that perception and interpretation are highly complex individual processes. Most of us have seen the image in which, depending on your perception, you see either the outline of a vase or the facial profiles of two people facing each other. Or perhaps you have seen the image of the woman who may or may not be young, depending on your frame of reference at the time. This shows how interpretations can differ, and it means that your presentations must be based on careful thought and preparation to maximize the likelihood that your listeners will understand your presentations as you intend them to do so. (You can see these images at http://members.optusnet.com. au/~charles57/Creative/Drawing/vases.htm and https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=P9iv173VtGM.)

As a speaker, one of your basic goals is to help your audience understand your message. To reduce misunderstanding, presentation aids can be used to clarify or to emphasize.

Clarification is important in a speech because if some of the information you convey is unclear, your listeners will come away puzzled or possibly even misled. Presentation aids can help clarify a message if the information is complex or if the point being made is a visual one.

If your speech is about the impact of the Coriolis Effect on tropical storms, for instance, you will have great difficulty clarifying it without a diagram because the process is a complex one. The diagram in Figure 9.1 (“Coriolis Effect”) would be effective because it shows the audience the interaction between equatorial wind patterns and wind patterns moving in other directions. The diagram allows the audience to process the information in two ways: through your verbal explanation and through the visual elements of the diagram. By the way, the Coriolis Effect is defined as “an effect whereby a mass moving in a rotating system experiences a force (the Coriolis force ) acting perpendicular to the direction of motion and to the axis of rotation. On the earth, the effect tends to deflect moving objects to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern and is important in the formation of cyclonic weather systems.” You can see why a picture really helps with this definition.

Figure 9.2 (“Model of Communication”) is another example of a diagram that maps out the process of human communication. In this image you clearly have a speaker and an audience with the labels of source, channel, message, receivers, and feedback to illustrate a basic model of human communication. As with most models, it is simplified. (Can you remember what two components of the communication process, explained in Chapter 1, that are missing here?)

Another aspect of clarifying occurs when a speaker wants to help audience members understand a visual concept. For example, if a speaker is talking about the importance of petroglyphs in Native American culture, just describing the petroglyphs won’t completely help your audience to visualize what they look like. Instead, showing an example of a petroglyph, as in Figure 9.3 (“Petroglyph”) can more easily help your audience form a clear mental image of your intended meaning.

Emphasizing

When you use a presentational aid for emphasis, you impress your listeners with the importance of an idea. In a speech on water conservation, you might try to show the environmental proportions of the resource. When you use a conceptual drawing like the one in Figure 9.4 (“Planetary Water Supply”), you show that if the world water supply were equal to ten gallons, only ten drops would be available and drinkable for human or household consumption. This drawing is effective because it emphasizes the scarcity of useful water and thus draws attention to this important information in your speech.

Another way of emphasizing that can be done visually is to zoom in on a specific aspect of interest within your speech. In Figure 9.5 (“Chinese Lettering Amplified”), we see a visual aid used in a speech on the importance of various parts of Chinese characters. On the left side of the visual aid, we see how the characters all fit together, with an emphasized version of a single character on the right.

So, clarifying and emphasizing are two roles that support the “Improving Audience Understanding” purpose of presentation aids. What are other purposes?

Aiding Retention and Recall

The second function that presentation aids can serve is to increase the audience’s chances of remembering your speech. An article by the U.S. Department of Labor (1996) summarized research on how people learn and remember. The authors found that “83% of human learning occurs visually, and the remaining 17% through the other senses—11% through hearing, 3.5% through smell, 1% through taste, and 1.5% through touch.”

For this reason, exposure to an image can serve as a memory aid to your listeners. When your graphic images deliver information effectively and when your listeners understand them clearly, audience members are likely to remember your message long after your speech is over. Moreover, people often are able to remember information that is presented in sequential steps more easily than if that information is presented in an unorganized pattern. When you use a presentation aid to display the organization of your speech (such as can be done with PowerPoint slides), you will help your listeners to observe, follow, and remember the sequence of information you conveyed to them. This is why some instructors display a lecture outline for their students to follow during class and why a slide with a preview of your main points can be helpful as you move into the body of your speech.

An added plus of using presentation aids is that they can boost your memory while you are speaking. Using your presentation aids while you rehearse your speech will familiarize you with the association between a given place in your speech and the presentation aid that accompanies that material.

Adding Variety and Interest

A third function of presentation aids is simply to make your speech more interesting. For example, wouldn’t a speech on varieties of roses have greater impact if you accompanied your remarks with a picture of each rose? You can imagine that your audience would be even more enthralled if you had the ability to display an actual flower of each variety in a bud vase. Similarly, if you were speaking to a group of gourmet cooks about Indian spices, you might want to provide tiny samples of spices that they could smell and taste during your speech.

Enhancing a Speaker’s Credibility

Presentation aids alone will not be enough to create a professional image. As we mentioned earlier, impressive presentation aids will not rescue a poor speech. Even if you give a good speech, you run the risk of appearing unprofessional if your presentation aids are poorly executed. Conversely, a high quality presentation will contribute to your professional image. This means that in addition to containing important information, your presentation aids must be clear, clean, uncluttered, organized, and large enough for the audience to see and interpret correctly. Misspellings and poorly designed presentation aids can damage your credibility as a speaker.

In addition, make sure that you give proper credit to the source of any presentation aids that you take from other sources. Using a statistical chart or a map without proper credit will detract from your credibility, just as using a quotation in your speech without credit would. This situation will usually take place with digital aids such as PowerPoint slides. The source of a chart or the data shown in a chart form should be cited at the bottom the slide.

If you focus your efforts on producing presentation aids that contribute effectively to your meaning, that look professional, and that are handled well, your audience will most likely appreciate your efforts and pay close attention to your message. That attention will help them learn or understand your topic in a new way and will thus help the audience see you as a knowledgeable, competent, and credible speaker. With the prevalence of digital communication, the audience expectation of quality visual aids has increased.

Avoiding Problems with Presentation Aids

Using presentation aids can come with some risks. However, with a little forethought and adequate practice, you can choose presentation aids that enhance your message and boost your professional appearance in front of an audience. One principle to keep in mind is to use only as many presentation aids as necessary to present your message or to fulfill your classroom assignment. The number and the technical sophistication of your presentation aids should never overshadow your speech.

Another important consideration is technology. Keep your presentation aids within the limits of the working technology available to you. Whether or not your classroom technology works on the day of your speech, you will still have to present. What will you do if the computer file containing your slides is corrupted? What will you do if the easel is broken? What if you had counted on stacking your visuals on a table that disappears right when you need it? Or the Internet connection is down for a YouTube video you plan to show?

You must be prepared to adapt to an uncomfortable and scary situation. This is why we urge students to go to the classroom well ahead of time to test the equipment and ascertain the condition of items they’re planning to use. As the speaker, you are responsible for arranging the things you need to make your presentation aids work as intended. Carry a roll of masking tape so you can display your poster even if the easel is gone. Test the computer setup. Have your slides on a flash drive AND send it to yourself as an attachment or upload to a Cloud service. Have an alternative plan prepared in case there is some glitch that prevents your computer-based presentation aids from being usable. And of course, you must know how to use the technology.

More important than the method of delivery is the audience’s ability to see and understand the presentation aid. It must deliver clear information, and it must not distract from the message. Avoid overly elaborate presentation aids. Instead, simplify as much as possible, emphasizing the information you want your audience to understand.

Another thing to remember is that presentation aids do not “speak for themselves.” When you display a visual aid, you should explain what it shows, pointing out and naming the most important features. If you use an audio aid such as a musical excerpt, you need to tell your audience what to listen for. Similarly, if you use a video clip, it is up to you as the speaker to point out the characteristics in the video that support the point you are making—but probably beforehand, so you are not speaking over the video. At the same time, a visual aid should be quickly accessible to the audience. This is where simplicity comes in. Just as in organization of a speech you would not want to use 20 main points, but more like 3-5, you should limit categories of information on a visual aid.

Types of Presentation Aids

Now that we’ve explored some basic hints for preparing visual aids, let’s look at the most common types of visual aids: charts, graphs, representations, objects/models, and people.

A chart is commonly defined as a graphical representation of data (often numerical) or a sketch representing an ordered process. Whether you create your charts or do research to find charts that already exist, it is important for them to exactly match the specific purpose in your speech. Figure 9.6 (“Acupuncture Charts”) shows two charts related to acupuncture. Although both charts are good, they are not equal. One chart might be useful in a speech about the history and development of acupuncture while the other chart would be more useful for showing the locations of meridians (the lines along which energy flows) and the acupuncture points.

The rest of this section will explore three common types of charts: statistical charts, sequence-of-steps chart, and decision trees.

Statistical Charts

For most audiences, statistical presentations must be kept as simple as possible, and they must be explained. The statistical chart shown in Figure 9.7 (“Birth Weight Chi-Square”) is from a study examining the effects of maternal smoking on a range of congenital birth defects. Unless you are familiar with statistics, this chart may be very confusing. When visually displaying information from a quantitative study, you need to make sure that you understand the material and can successfully and simply explain how one should interpret the data. If you are unsure about the data yourself, then you should probably not use this type of information. This is definitely an example of a visual aid that, although it delivers a limited kind of information, does not speak for itself. On the other hand, if you are presenting to an upper level or graduate class in health sciences or to professionals in health occupations, this chart would be appropriate. As with all other principles of public speaking, KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE.

Sequence-of-Steps Charts

Charts are also useful when you are trying to explain a process that involves several steps. The two visual aids in Figure 9.8 (“Steps in Cell Reproduction”) both depict the process of cell division called mitosis using a sequence-of-steps chart, but they each deliver different information. The first chart lacks labels to indicate the different phases of cell division. Although the first chart has more visual detail and may look more scientific, the missing information may confuse your audience. In the second chart, each phase is labeled with a brief explanation of what is happening, which can help your audience understand the process.

Decision Trees

Decision trees are useful for showing the relationships between ideas. The example in Figure 9.9 (“Open Educational Resource Decision Tree”) shows how a decision tree could be used to determine whether to use open-source textbook material. As with the other types of charts, you want to be sure that the information in the chart is relevant to the purpose of your speech and that each question and decision is clearly labeled. This particular tree is pertinent to this textbook, which is an open educational resource drawing from other open educational resources, and the decision tree shows some of the processes the authors went through to decide on the content of this text.

Strictly speaking, a graph may be considered a type of chart, but graphs are so widely used that we will discuss them separately. A graph is a pictorial representation of the relationships of quantitative data using dots, lines, bars, pie slices, and the like. Graphs show how one factor (such as size, weight, number of items) varies in comparison to other items. Whereas a statistical chart may report the mean ages of individuals entering college, a graph would show how the mean age changes over time. A statistical chart may report the amount of computers sold in the United States, while a graph will use bars or lines to show their breakdown by operating systems such as Windows, Macintosh, and Linux.

Public speakers can show graphs using a range of different formats. Some of those formats are specialized for various professional fields. Very complex graphs often contain too much information that is not related to the purpose of a student’s speech. If the graph is cluttered, it becomes difficult to comprehend. In this section, we’re going to analyze the common graphs speakers utilize in their speeches: line graphs, bar graphs, pie graphs, and pictographs.

A line graph is designed to show trends over time. In Figure 9.10 (“Enron’s Stock Price”), we see a line graph depicting the fall of Enron’s stock price from August 2000 to January 2002. Notice that although it has some steep rises, the line has an overall downward trend clearly depicting the plummeting of Enron’s stock price. This is far more effective in showing the relationship of numbers than a chart (as in Figure 9.7) or reading the numbers aloud.

Bar graphs are useful for showing the differences between quantities. They can be used for population demographics, fuel costs, math ability in different grades, and many other kinds of data. The graph in Figure 9.11 (“Suicide vs. Homicide”) is well designed. It is relatively simple and is carefully labeled, making it easy for the speaker to guide the audience through the recorded numbers of each type of death. The bar graph is designed to show the difference between rates of suicides and homicides across various age groups. When you look at the data, the first grouping clearly shows that eighteen- to twenty-four-year-olds are more likely to die because of a homicide than any of the other age groups.

The graph in Figure 9.12 (“Distribution of Income and Wealth in the United States”) is a complicated bar graph depicting the disparity between the so-called “haves” and the “have nots” within the United States. On the left hand side of the graph you can see that the Top 20% of people within the United States account for 84.7% of all of the wealth and 50.1% of all of the income. On the other hand, those in the bottom 40% account for only 0.2% of the wealth and 12.1% of the actual income.

While the graph is very well designed, it presents a great deal of information. For example, it shows “wealth” and “income,” for several groups; however, these are related but different concepts. In a written publication, readers will have time to sit and analyze the graph, but in a speaking situation, audience members need to be able to understand the information in a graph very quickly. For that reason, this graph is probably not as effective for speeches as the one in Figure 9.11 (“Suicide vs. Homicide”).

Pie graphs are usually depicted as circles and are designed to show proportional relationships within sets of data; in other words, they show parts of or percentages of a whole. They should be simplified as much as possible without eliminating important information. As with other graphs, the sections of the pie need to be plotted proportionally. In the pie graph shown in Figure 9.13 (“Causes of Concussions in Children”) we see a clear and proportional chart that has been color-coded. Color-coding is useful when it’s difficult to fit the explanations in the actual sections of the graph; in that case, you need to include a legend, or key, to indicate what the colors in the graph mean. In this graph, audience members can see very quickly that falls are the primary reason children receive concussions. However, the pie graph in Figure 9.14 (“World Populations”) is jumbled, illegible, confusing, and overwhelming in every way. The use of color coding doesn’t help. Overall, this graph simply contains too much information and is more likely to confuse an audience than help them understand something.

Similar to bar graphs, pictographs use numbers and/or sizes of iconic symbols to dramatize differences in amounts. An example is found in Figure 9.15. Pictographs, although interesting, do not allow for depiction of specific statistical data. If you were trying to show the output of oil from various countries through oil wells, each oil well representing a ten million barrels a day, it might be hard for the audience to see the difference between a third of an oil well and a fourth of one, but that is a significant difference in amounts (3.3 million versus 2.5 million).

Graphs can present challenges in being effective but also in being ethical. To be both ethical and effective, you need a good understanding of what statistics mean, and you need to create or use graphs that show amounts clearly. If you were showing GPAs of freshmen, sophomore, junior, and senior students at your college, and the bottom number on the graph was 2.25 rather than 0.0, that would result in a visually bigger difference than what really exists (see Figure 9.16).

Diagrams are drawings or sketches that outline and explain the parts of an object, process, or phenomenon that cannot be readily seen. Like graphs, diagrams can be considered a type of chart, as in the case of organizational charts and process-flow charts.

When you use a diagram, be sure to explain each part of the phenomenon, paying special attention to elements that are complicated or prone to misunderstanding. In the example shown in Figure 9.17 (“The Human Eye”), you might wish to highlight that the light stimulus is reversed when it is processed through the brain or that the optic nerve is not a single stalk as many people think.

Maps are extremely useful if the information is clear and limited. There are all kinds of maps, including population, weather, ocean current, political, and economic maps, so you should find the right kind for the purpose of your speech. Choose a map that emphasizes the information you need to deliver. The map shown in Figure 9.18 (“African Map with Nigerian Emphasis”) is simple, showing clearly the geographic location of Nigeria. This can be extremely valuable for some audiences who might not be able to name and locate countries on the continent of Africa. The map also shows the relative size of Nigeria compared to its neighbors. Figure 9.19 (“Rhode Island Map”) is a map of the state of Rhode Island, and it emphasizes the complicated configuration of islands and waterways that characterize this state’s geography.

Photographs and Drawings

Sometimes a photograph or a drawing is the best way to show an unfamiliar but important detail. Figure 9.20 (“Wigwam Photograph”) is a photograph of a wigwam, a dwelling used by Native Americans in the North East. Audiences expect high quality in photographs now, and as with all presentation aids they should enhance the speech and not just “be there.” It is common to put stock photographs on PowerPoint slides as “clip art,” but they should be relevant and not detract from the message of the slide.

Video or Audio Recordings

Another very useful type of presentation aid is a video or audio recording. Whether it is a short video from a website such as YouTube or Vimeo, a segment from a song, or a piece of a podcast, a well-chosen video or audio recording may be a good choice to enhance your speech. Imagine, for example, that you’re giving a speech on how Lap-Band surgeries help people lose weight. One of the sections of your speech could explain how the Lap-Band works, so you could easily show a forty-three second video available on YouTube to demonstrate the part of the surgery. Maybe you could include a recording of a real patient explaining why they decided to get the Lap-Band.

There is one major warning to using audio and video clips during a speech: do not forget that they are supposed to be aids to your speech, not the speech itself. In addition, be sure to avoid these five mistakes that speakers often make when using audio and video clips:

• Avoid choosing clips that are too long for the overall length of the speech. Your instructor can give you some guidelines for how long video and audio clips should be for the speeches in your class, if they are allowed (and make sure they are).
• Practice with the audio or video equipment prior to speaking. If you are unfamiliar with the equipment, you’ll look foolish trying to figure out how it works. This fiddling around will not only take your audience out of your speech but also have a negative impact on your credibility. It also wastes valuable time. Finally, be sure that the speakers on the computer are on and at the right volume level.
• Cue the clip to the appropriate place prior to beginning your speech. We cannot tell you the number of times we’ve seen students spend valuable speech time trying to find a clip on YouTube or a DVD. You need to make sure your clip is ready to go before you start speaking. Later in this chapter we will look at using video links in slides.
• In addition to cuing the clip to the appropriate place, the browser window should be open and ready to go. If there are advertisements before the video, be sure to have the video cued to play after the ad. The audience should not have to sit through a commercial. There is a website called TubeChop that can allow you to cut a segment out of a YouTube video, then creating a new link. It has limitations but can be useful.
• The audience must be given context before a video or audio clip is played, specifically what the clip is and why it relates to the speech. At the same time, the video should not repeat what you have already said, but add to it.

Objects or Models

Objects and models are another form of presentation aid that can be very helpful in getting your audience to understand your message. Objects refer to anything you could hold up and talk about during your speech. If you’re talking about the importance of not using plastic water bottles, you might hold up a plastic water bottle and a stainless steel water bottle as examples.

Models, on the other hand, are re-creations of physical objects that you cannot have readily available with you during a speech. If you’re giving a speech on heart murmurs, you may be able to show how heart murmurs work by holding up a model of the human heart. As will be discussed in the section on handouts below, a speaker should not pass an object or model around during a speech. It is highly distracting.

People and Animals

The next category of presentation aids are people and animals. We can often use ourselves or other people to adequately demonstrate an idea during our speeches.

Animals as Presentation Aids

When giving a speech on a topic relating to animals, it is often tempting to bring an animal to serve as your presentation aid. While this can sometimes add a very engaging dimension to the speech, it carries some serious risks that you need to consider.

The first risk is that animal behavior tends to be unpredictable. You may think this won’t be a problem if your presentation aid animal is small enough to be kept confined throughout your speech—for example, a goldfish in a bowl or a lizard or bird in a cage. However, even caged animals can be very distracting to your audience if they run about, chirp, or exhibit other agitated behavior. The chances are great that an animal will react to the stress of an unfamiliar situation by displaying behavior that does not contribute positively to your speech or to the cleanliness of the physical environment. Additionally, the animal’s behavior may not only affect audience attention during your speech, but potentially during your classmates’ speeches as well.

The second risk is that some audience members may respond negatively to a live animal. In addition to common fears and aversions to animals like snakes, spiders, and mice, many people have allergies to various animals. One of the authors had an experience where a student brought his six-foot yellow python to class for a speech. As a result, one of the other students refused to stay in the room because of her snake phobia (the instructor was not too comfortable either).

The third risk is that some locations may have regulations about bringing non-service animals onto the premises. If animals are allowed, the person bringing the animal may be required to bring a veterinary certificate or may be legally responsible for any damage caused by the animal.

For these reasons, before you decide to use an animal as a presentation aid, ask yourself if you could make your point equally well with a picture, model, diagram, or other representation of the animal in question.

Speaker as Presentation Aid

Speakers can often use their own bodies to demonstrate facets of a speech. If your speech is about ballroom dancing or ballet, you might use your body to demonstrate the basic moves in the cha-cha or the five basic ballet positions.

Other People as Presentation Aids

In some cases, such as for a demonstration speech, you might want to ask someone else to serve as your presentation aid. You should arrange ahead of time for a person (or persons) to be an effective aid—do not assume that an audience member will volunteer on the spot. If you plan to demonstrate how to immobilize a broken bone, your volunteer must know ahead of time that you will touch them as much as necessary to splint the break.

You must also make certain that they will arrive dressed presentably and that they will not draw attention away from your message through their appearance or behavior. The transaction between you and your human presentation aid must be appropriate, especially if you are going to demonstrate something like a dance step. In short, make sure your helper will know what is expected of them and consents to it.

Using Presentation Slides

Ever since the 1990s and the mainstreaming of personal computer technology, speakers have had the option of using slide presentation software to accompany their speeches and presentations. The most commonly known one is PowerPoint, although there are several others:

• Prezi, available at www.prezi.com
• Slide Rocket, available at www.sliderocket.com
• Google Slides, available in Google Drive and useful for collaborative assignments
• Keynote, the Apple presentation slide software on MACs
• Impress, an Open Office product (http://www.openoffice.org/product/impress.html)
• AdobeAcrobat Presenter

These products, some of which are offered free for trial or basic subscriptions (called a “freemium), allow you to present professional-looking slides. Each one is “robust,” a word used to mean it has a large number of functions and features, some of which are helpful and some of which are distracting. For example, you can use the full range of fonts, although many of them are not appropriate for presentations because they are hard to read. In this section we will discuss the proper use of presentation slides, with the assumption that you understand the basics of cutting, pasting, inserting, etc. involved in these products. You may have taken a class in high school where you learned to use the technology, but that is not the same as learning to use them for actual presentations.

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Presentation Slides

In some industries and businesses, there is an assumption that speakers will use presentation slides. They allow visualization of concepts, they are easily portable, they can be embedded with videos and audio, words can dance around the screen—why wouldn’t a speaker use them? You will probably also be expected to have slide presentations in future assignments in college. Knowing how to use them, beyond the basic technology, is vital to being a proficient presenter.

But why not use them? Franck Frommer, a French journalist and communication expert, published the book How PowerPoint Makes You Stupid (2012), whose title says it all. He criticizes the “linearity” of PowerPoint and similar presentation software, meaning that audiences are not encouraged to see the relationship of ideas and that PowerPoint hurts critical thinking in the audience. Slide follows slide of bulleted information without one slide being more important or the logical connections being clear.

As recently as the mid-2000s, critics such as well-known graphic expert and NASA consultant Edward Tufte (2005) charged that PowerPoint’s tendency to force the user to put a certain number of bullet points on each slide in a certain format was a serious threat to the accurate presentation of data. As Tufte put it, “the rigid slide-by-slide hierarchies, indifferent to content, slice and dice the evidence into arbitrary compartments, producing an anti-narrative with choppy continuity.”

Tufte argues that poor decision making, such as was involved with the 2003 space shuttle Columbia disaster, may have been related to the shortcomings of such presentation aids in NASA meetings. While more recent versions of PowerPoint and similar programs allow much more creative freedom in designing slides, this freedom comes with a responsibility—the user needs to take responsibility for using the technology to support the speech and not get carried away with the many special effects the software is capable of producing.

It should be mentioned here that Prezi helps address one of the major criticisms of PowerPoint. Because Prezi, in its design stage, looks something like a mind map on a very large canvas with grid lines, it allows you to show the relationship and hierarchy of ideas better. For example, you can see and design the slides so that the “Big Ideas” are in big circles and the subordinate ideas are in smaller ones.

In addition to recognizing the truth behind Frommer’s and Tufte’s critiques, we have all sat through a presenter who committed the errors of putting far too much text on the slide. When a speaker does this, the audience is confused—do they read the text or listen to the speaker? An audience member cannot do both . (Remember the pipeline graphic in the section on attention.) Then, the speaker feels the need to read the slides rather than use PowerPoint for what it does best, visual reinforcement and clarification. We have also seen many poorly designed PowerPoint slides, either through haste or lack of knowledge: slides where the graphics are distorted (elongated or squatty), words and graphics not balanced, text too small, words printed over photographs, garish or nauseating colors, or animated figures left up on the screen for too long and distracting the audience. What about you? Can you think about PowerPoint “don’ts” that have hurt your reception of a presentation or lecture? This would be a good discussion for class, and a good way to know what not to do with your own slides.

Creating Quality Slide Shows

Slides should show the principles of good design, which include unity, emphasis or focal point, scale and proportion, balance, and rhythm (Lauer & Pentak, 2000). Presenters should also pay attention to tone and usability. With those principles in mind, here are some tips for creating and then using presentation software.

Unity and Consistency

Generally it is best to use a single font for the text on your visuals so that they look like a unified set. Or you can use two different fonts in consistent ways, such as having all headings and titles in the same font and all bullet points in the same font. Additionally, the background should probably remain consistent, whether you choose one of the many design templates or if you just opt for a background color.

In terms of unity, the adage, “Keep It Simple, Speaker” definitely applies to presentation slides. Each slide should have one message, one photo, one graphic. The audience members should know what they are supposed to look at on the slide. A phrase to remember about presentation slides and the wide range of design elements available is “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.”

Another area related to unity and consistency, as well as audience response, is the use of animation or movement. There are three types of animation in slideshows. First, you can embed little characters or icons that have movement. These may seem like fun, but they have limited use and should not stay on the screen very long—you can use the second type of animation to take them off the screen.

That second type is the designed movement of text or objects on and off the screen. Although using this function takes up time in preparing your slides, especially if you want to do it well and be creative with it, it is very useful. You can control what your audience is seeing. It also avoids bringing up all the text and material on a slide at one time, which tempts the audience again to pay more attention to the screen than to you. Movement on the screen attracts attention (see Factors of Attention), for better or worse. PowerPoint, for example, allows bouncing words, pulsating text, swirling phrases, even Star Wars scroll, which may or may not serve your purpose.

The third type of animation is called slide transitions, which is the design of how the next slide appears. In PowerPoint you can have the slides appear automatically or as blinds, as little checkerboards, from different sides of the screen, in opening circles, etc. (You can also use sound effects, but that is strongly discouraged.) In Prezi, the slides transition by zooming in and out, which is a clever effect but does make some audience members experience motion sickness. In general, you want to use a consistent and efficient pattern of movement with the second and third types of animation.

Emphasis, Focal Point, and Visibility

Several points should be made about how to make sure the audience sees what they need to see on the slides.

1. It is essential to make sure the information is large enough for the audience to see; and since the display size may vary according to the projector you are using, this is another reason for practicing in advance with the equipment you intend to use.

2. The standard rule is for text is 7 X 7, or sometimes (if the screen is smaller) 6 X 6. Does this mean 49 or 36 words on the slide? No. It means, in the case of 7 X 7, that you should have no more than seven horizontal lines of text (this does not mean bullet points, but lines of text, including the heading) and the longest line should not exceed seven words.

3. Following the 7 X 7 rule will keep you from putting too much information on a slide, and you should also avoid too many slides. Less sometimes really is more. Again, there is no hard and fast rule, but a ten-minute speech probably needs fewer than ten slides, unless you can make a good argument for more based on the content of the speech. If, however, the slides are just text, more than ten is too many.

4. Do not assume that all the templates feature visible text. Text should not be smaller than 22 point font for best visibility, and some of the templates use much smaller fonts than 22 point. This is especially important in those situations where the speaker creates handouts. Text smaller than 22 is very difficult to see on handouts of your slides. (However, handouts are not recommended for most situations.)

5. High contrast between the text and slides is extremely important. 

White fonts against very dark backgrounds and black fonts against very light backgrounds are probably your safest bet here. Remember that the way it looks on your computer screen is not the exactly how it will look when projected—the light is coming from a different place. Avoid words on photos. Figure 9.21 shows a photo with the words placed across the center of the image. Not only does this obviously obscure some of the picture, it also makes the words difficult to read. Figure 9.22, by contrast, has the accompanying text placed just blow the image, making both much easier to see, and a citation is provided.

6. Also in terms of visibility, most experts say that sans serif fonts such as Arial, Tahoma, and Verdana are better for reading from screens than serif fonts such as Times New Roman, Bookface, Georgia, or Garamond. Merriam-Webster (2018) defines “serif” as “any of the short lines stemming from and at an angle to the upper and lower ends of the strokes of a letter.” Serifs are additions to the letters on different fonts that give them a different appearance and help the flow of eye when reading.

How does the slide in Figure 9.23 stack up beside these rules for visibility? You probably noticed that slide is a “fail” in terms of high contrast between the font and background and the use of a block of text not broken up for easy reading. The audience would feel like they are supposed to read it but not be able to. Also, since the text is a quotation from John Dewey, the text should have quotation marks around it.

Fonts, color, clip art, photographs, and templates all contribute to tone , which is the attitude being conveyed in the slides. If you want a light tone, such as for a speech about cruises, some colors (springtime, pastel, cool, warm, or primary colors) and fonts (such as Comic Sans) and lots of photographs will be more appropriate. For a speech about the Holocaust, more somber colors and design elements would be more fitting, whereas clip art would not be.

Scale and Proportion

Although there are several ways to think about scale and proportion, we will discuss three here. First, bullet points. Bullet points infer that the items in the bulleted list are equal and the sequence doesn’t matter. If you want to communicate order or sequence or priority, use numbers. Do not mix outline points or numerical points with bullet points. Also, you should not put your outline (Roman numerals, etc.) on the slide.

Bullet points should be short—not long, full sentences—but at the same time should be long enough to mean something. In a speech on spaying and neutering pets, the bullet point “pain” may be better replaced with “Pet feels little pain.”

Second, when you are designing your slides, it is best to choose a template and stick with it. If you input all your graphics and material and then change the template, the format of the slide will change, in some cases dramatically, and you will have distorted graphics and words covered up. You will then have to redesign each slide, which can be unnecessarily time-consuming.

The third aspect of scale and proportion is the relationship between the graphics and text in terms of size. This aspect is discussed below in the next section on “Balance.” Also, a graphic should be surrounded by some empty space and not just take up the whole slide.

In general you want symmetrical slides. Below are four examples of slides that are unbalanced (Figures 9.24-9.27); the last one (Figure 9. 28) achieves a better symmetry and design.

Rhythm in Presenting

The rhythm of your slide display should be reasonably consistent—you would not want to display a dozen different slides in the first minute of a five-minute presentation and then display only one slide per minute for the rest of the speech. Timing them so that the audience can actually take them in is important. Presenters often overdo the number of slides, thinking they will get a better grade, but too many slides just causes overkill.

If you can obtain a remote mouse to change slides, that can help you feel independent of the mouse attached to the computer. However, you have to practice with the remote “clicker.” But if you have to use the mouse to change slide, keep your hands off of it between clicks. We have seen students wiggle the little arrow all over the screen. It is extremely annoying.

Whether using a remote “clicker” or the attached mouse, you must attend to the connection between what is on the screen and what you are actually talking about at the moment. Put reminders in your notes about when you need to change slides during your speech.

For better or worse, we have become very screen-oriented in our communication, largely because screens change often and that changing teaches us to expect new stimuli, which we crave. If the screen is up but you are not talking about what is on the screen, it is very confusing to the audience.

If you are using PowerPoint and if you are not talking about something on a slide, hit the “B” key or the blank screen button on the remote mouse. This action will turn the screen to black. You can also hit the “W” key, which turns the screen to white, but that will make the audience think something is coming. Unfortunately, the downside of the “B” key action is that it will return you to the previous screen. To avoid this, some presenters put a black slide between slides in the presentation so that hitting the forward key gives the same effect, but hitting it again takes them to a new screen. (Other programs have similar functions; for example, if using Prezi, the “B” key also shows a black screen.)

In fact, a basic presentation rule is to only show your visual aid when you are talking about it, and remove it when you no longer are talking about it. Some other practical considerations are as follows:

1. Be sure the file is saved in a format that will be “readable” on the computer where you are presenting. A common example is that a Keynote presentation (Apple) does not open on all PCs. You can save Keynote as a .ppt file for use on a PC. Likewise, if you chose to use Prezi or other web-based presentation software, you will need a strong, reliable Internet connection to show the slides.

2. Any borrowed graphic must be cited on the slide where it is used; the same would be true of borrowed textual material. Putting your sources only on the last slide is insufficient.

3. A very strong temptation for speakers is to look at the projected image rather than the audience during the speech. This practice cuts down on eye contact, of course, and is distracting for the audience. Two solutions for that are to print your notes from the presentation slides and/or use the slides as your note structure. Also remember that if the image is on the computer monitor in front of you, it is on the screen behind you.

4. Always remember—and this cannot be emphasized enough—technology works for you, not you for the technology. The presentation aids are aids, not the speech itself.

5. As mentioned before, sometimes life happens—technology does not work. It could be that the projector bulb goes out or the Internet connection is down. The show must go on.

6. If you are using a video or audio clip from an Internet source, it is probably best to hyperlink the URL on one of the slides rather than minimize the program and change to the Internet site. You can do this by highlighting a key word on the slide, right clicking to find “hyperlink,” and then pasting the URL there. Although you can also embed video in a PowerPoint, it makes the file extremely large and that may cause problems of its own.

7. Finally, it is common for speakers to think “the slide changes, so the audience know there is a change, so I don’t need a verbal transition.” Please do not fall into this trap. Verbal transitions are just as, and maybe more, necessary for a speech using slides.

Low-Tech Presentation Aids

One reason for using digital media is that they can’t be prone to physical damage in the form of smudges, scratches, dents, and rips. Unlike posters and objects, presentation software can be kept professional looking if you have to carry them through a rainstorm or blizzard. However, there are times when it makes sense to use “low-tech” media for presentations. Here are some directions for those times.

Dry-Erase Board

If you use a chalkboard or dry-erase board, you are not using a prepared presentation aid. Your failure to prepare visuals ahead of time can be interpreted in several ways, mostly negative. If other speakers carefully design, produce, and use attractive visual aids, yours will stand out by contrast. You will be seen as the speaker who does not take the time to prepare even a simple aid. Do not use a chalkboard or dry-erase board and pretend it’s a prepared presentation aid.

However, numerous speakers do utilize chalk and dry-erase boards effectively. Typically, these speakers use the chalk or dry-erase board for interactive components of a speech. For example, maybe you’re giving a speech in front of a group of executives. You may have a PowerPoint all prepared, but at various points in your speech you want to get your audience’s responses. (More recent technologies, such as on iPads, allow you to do the interaction on the screen, but this would have to be supported by the environment.) Chalk or dry-erase boards are very useful when you want to visually show information that you are receiving from your audience. If you ever use a chalk or dry-erase board, follow these four simple rules:

1. Write large enough so that everyone in the room can see (which is harder than it sounds; it is also hard to write and talk at the same time!).

2. Print legibly; don’t write in cursive script.

3. Write short phrases; don’t take time to write complete sentences.

4. Be sure you have markers that will not go dry, and clean the board afterward.

A flipchart is useful for situations when you want to save what you have written for future reference or to distribute to the audience after the presentation. As with whiteboards, you will need good markers and readable handwriting, as well as a strong easel to keep the flipchart upright.

You may have the opportunity in your college years to attend or participate in a “poster session.” These are times during an academic conference where visitors can view a well-designed poster depicting a research project and discuss it one-on-one with the researcher. These kinds of posters are quite large and involve a great deal of work. They can be generated from PowerPoint but often require a special printer. Otherwise, posters are probably not the best way to approach presentation aids in a speech. There are problems with visibility as well as portability. Avoid producing a presentation aid that looks like you simply cut pictures out of magazines and pasted them on. Slapping some text and images on a board looks unprofessional and will not be viewed as credible or effective.

Handouts are appropriate for delivering information that audience members can take away with them. As we will see, handouts require a great deal of management if they are to contribute to your credibility as a speaker.

First, make sure the handout is worth the trouble of making, copying, and distributing it. Does the audience really need the handout? Second, make sure to bring enough copies of the handout for each audience member to get one. Having to share or look on with one’s neighbor does not contribute to a professional image. Under no circumstances should you ever provide a single copy of a handout to pass around. It is distracting and everyone will see it at different times in the speech, which is also true about passing any object around the room.

There are three possible times to distribute handouts: before you begin your speech, during the speech, and after your speech is over. Naturally, if you need your listeners to follow along in a handout, you will need to distribute it before your speech begins. If you have access to the room ahead of time, place a copy of the handout at or on each seat in the audience. If not, ask a volunteer to distribute them as quickly as possible while you prepare to begin speaking. If the handout is a “takeaway,” leave it on a table near the door so that those audience members who are interested can take one on their way out; in this case, don’t forget to tell them to do so as you conclude your speech. It is almost never appropriate to distribute handouts during your speech, as it is distracting, takes up time, and interrupts the pace of your presentation.

To finish this chapter, we will recap and remind you about the principles of effective presentation aids. Whether your aid is a slide show, object, a person, or dry erase board, these standards are essential:

• Presentation aids must be easily seen or heard by your audience. Squinting and head-cocking are not good reactions. Neither should they look at the screen the whole time and ignore the speaker.
• Presentation aids must be portable, easily handled, and efficient.
• Presentation aids should disappear when not in use.
• Presentation aids should be aesthetically pleasing, which includes in good taste. Avoid shock value just for shock value. You might want to show pictures of diseased organs and teeth, deformities, or corpses for your speech to make a point, but context is everything. Will your audience react so strongly that the overall point is missed? Additionally, electronic media today allows you to create very “busy” slides with varieties of fonts, colors, collages of photos, etc. Keep in mind the principles of unity and focal point.
• Color is another aesthetic aspect. Some colors are just more soothing, readable, and appropriate than others. Also, the color on your slides may be different when projected from what is on your computer. Finally, presentation aids must support your speech and have high relevance to your content.

This chapter has covered a wide range of information about all kinds of audio and visual aids, but audiences today expect and appreciate professionally designed and handled presentation aids. The stakes are higher now, but the tools are many.

Something to Think About

What are some attention problems caused by using projection equipment during a speech? Which kind of presentation aid would be most useful for the following?

1. data on how the average American family uses its income

2. discussing the number of wind turbines in five Midwestern states

3. explaining the changes in enrollment of minority students at your college over 20 year

4. a speech on the chambers of the human heart

5. a speech on the differences between North and South Korea

6. a speech on the Sutton Hoo archeological dig in England

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10 Best Visual Aids to Drive Home Your Presentation

Feb 22, 2023 | Deliver a Presentation

Even more impactfully, you can generate greater understanding in your audience. For example, if you’re discussing a company’s finances, having a set of graphs and charts can convey a greater grasp of the figures.

Visual Aids Examples

Visual aids are more than just PowerPoint presentations. To help spark some ideas, here are ten visual aids examples to try out.

What is a visual aid?

A visual aid is anything you use in a presentation to visually drive home your point. Using visual aids can improve attention and engagement with your presentation. They’re also quite fun!

If a picture tells a thousand words, a video tells a thousand pictures. You could pause your talk at the start to show a video demonstrating an idea or concept. It can help ground your presentation and provide context for what you’re going to say next.

In one particularly spectacular example, Hans Rosling’s TED talk,   The Best Stats You Have Ever Seen ,   uses video continuously throughout the presentation. The result: a deeper understanding of a complex topic.

Don’t just describe your product: show it! Having a tactile prop you can hand around or demonstrate isn’t just informative; it’s one of the most engaging visual aid examples around. It draws the eye and captivates your audience.

For example, if you’re giving a talk on African History, showing a traditional artifact (even a replica) can go a long way towards conveying your ideas.

Just don’t overdo it. Too many props can distract your audience from the main thrust of your presentation.

3. Handouts

Are you discussing a complex topic? If so, a handout can help break down the more complex aspects of your talk. It can contain pictures and diagrams for you to refer to in your presentation. It’s also something your audience can take away at the end. And what better way to drive home your message than a lasting reminder.

That’s not to say every presentation could benefit from a handout. But when used prudently, this visual aid example can help make your presentation that bit more memorable.

4. Demonstrations

This visual aid example blurs into props a little bit. Where it differs is in its dynamic character. Think back to your school days – aren’t the lessons you remember best, the ones with a bang?

Demonstrations can serve as the hook to draw your audience into a complicated concept. You could show off how your product works in practice. Or set up a small scientific experiment to get across the core concept of your talk.

And it’s a great way to end a presentation – no other visual aid example is as memorable.

Everyone might use slides – but that’s for a reason. Slides are a simple but effective way to convey your ideas visually throughout a presentation. They can give key statistics or contain charts, graphs, or pictures.

Nor do you need to settle solely for PowerPoint. If you fancy trying something different, check out Prezi. It lets you create an interactive and fluid presentation at the click of a button.

6. Whiteboards

There’s a reason why classrooms have whiteboards. To explain a new idea or spark a discussion, there’s no better visual aid example than a whiteboard.

How about having a pause midway through your presentation to have a brainstorm? Or start off the discussion by jotting down people’s initial impression of an idea. Then, at the end, you can revisit what you wrote down and see if people’s perspective has changed.

Even better, with virtual meetings now the go-to way to conduct a presentation, many video conferencing software contains virtual whiteboards.

7. Posters and boards

If you go to a scientific conference, posters are the primary way to present. When big and visually engaging, they can help introduce an idea. Alternatively, like a lawyer in a courtroom, you can use pre-made boards throughout your presentation. It’s a little more dramatic than a PowerPoint, creating a more memorable experience.

8. Roleplay

Before you roll your eyes – stay with me. Roleplays, when done right, can be the most memorable part of a presentation (for the right reasons). It’s a chance to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. Think about how a roleplay can show a social situation. It could be a person trying to buy a product. By walking through the customer’s shoes, you could demonstrate to a prospective client just why your product or service is essential.

9. Blackboards

If you don’t have a whiteboard, blackboards are the next best thing. Though they function pretty similarly, the blackboard has an older aesthetic many remember from their schooldays. Draw diagrams, symbols, charts, and drawings with the classic chalk.

In fact, one of the benefits blackboards have over whiteboards is the ease with which you can draw. Plus, it’s always a great tool for interactive learning.

10. Flipcharts

If a room doesn’t have a blackboard or whiteboard, try a flipchart – it’s the next best thing. Unlike the other two, you can prepare some of the pages beforehand. For example, you can draw a table of pros and cons, ready for your audience to shout out their ideas.

For many, it’s just a refreshing change from the tired slide presentations.

Need more visual aids examples?

About the Author

For over 20 years Elizabeth Peterson , has enjoyed supporting individuals and companies with their communication and voice needs. Speech and Voice Enterprises, her private practice, has been in operation for over 15 years in Denver, Colorado. Ms. Peterson is heavily involved in her field and has numerous published books, therapy programs and articles in the areas of accent reduction, public speaking, leadership and communication, traumatic brain injury, stroke recovery and pediatric therapy programs.

At Speech and Voice Enterprises, we offer custom-tailored business communication classes with several training options available... Get started now with

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What are the 6 types of presentation aids?

Table of contents, what are presentation aids, what is the primary purpose of a presentation aid.

Tip: Use mainly visual aids and underline them with your voice and gesture

The 6 types of presentation aid examples.

• Visual aids (such as slides or PowerPoint)
• Auditory aids (such as taped recordings)
• Kinesthetic aids (such as objects or demonstrators)
• Graphic aids (such as charts or graphs)
• Verbal aids (such as the presenter\’s voice)
• Multimedia aids (such as computer-based presentations)

Visual Presentation Aids

Visual aids in PowerPoint are one of the most effective ways to impress your audience. You can use visual aids to explain complex ideas by using graphs, charts, pictures or videos.

Auditory Presentation Aids

Kinesthetic Presentation aids (such as objects or demonstrators)

Graphic Presentation aids

Verbal Presentation aids (such as the presenter’s voice)

Multimedia Presentation aids (such as computer-based presentations)

effective use of presentation aids

Using the right presentation software, how storytelling can connect all 6 of these presentation aids, here are some tips for creating a standout, impactful waterfall structure to impress your audience:, helpful hints and hidden presentation aids.

Implement an active voice. The subject did something, rather than something was done to them. E.g., “Wendy consulted with her agent” is an example of active voice, whereas “The agent was consulted by Wendy” is an example of passive voice.

Key Takeaways

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15.4 Tips for Preparing Presentation Aids

Learning objectives.

• Understand why it is important to keep presentation aids organized and simple.
• Explain how to make presentation aids easy to see, hear, and understand.
• Make sure your presentation aids work together as a cohesive set.

As we’ve seen earlier in this chapter, impressive presentation aids do not take the place of a well-prepared speech. Although your presentation aids should be able to stand on their own in delivering information, do not count on them to do so. Work toward that goal, but also plan on explaining your presentation aids so that your audience will know why you’re using them.

One mistake you should avoid is putting too much information on an aid. You have to narrow the topic of your speech, and likewise, you must narrow the content of your presentation aids to match your speech. Your presentation aids should not represent every idea in your speech. Whatever presentation aids you choose to use, they should fulfill one or more of the functions described at the beginning of this chapter: to clarify or emphasize a point, to enhance retention and recall of your message, to add variety and interest to your speech, and to enhance your credibility as a speaker.

As a practical matter in terms of producing presentation aids, you may not be aware that many college campuses have a copy service or multimedia lab available to students for making copies, enlargements, slides, and other presentation aids. Find out from your instructor or a librarian what the resources on your campus are. In the rest of this section, we will offer some tips for designing good-quality presentation aids.

Easily Seen or Heard by Your Audience

The first rule of presentation aids is that they must be accessible for every audience member. If those in the back of the room cannot see, hear, or otherwise experience a presentation aid, then it is counterproductive to use it. Graphic elements in your presentation aids must be large enough to read. Audio must be loud enough to hear. If you are passing out samples of a food item for audience members to taste, you must bring enough for everyone.

Do not attempt to show your audience a picture by holding up a book open to the page with the photograph. Nobody will be able to see it. It will be too small for your listeners in the back of the room, and the light will glare off of the glossy paper usually used in books with color pictures so that the listeners in front won’t be able to see it either.

Text-based visuals, charts, and graphs need to be executed with strong, clean lines and blocks of color. Weak lines in a graph or illustration do not get stronger with magnification. You must either strengthen those lines by hand or choose another graphic element that has stronger lines. On a poster or a slide, a graphic element should take up about a third of the area. This leaves room for a small amount of text, rendered in a large, simple font. The textual elements should be located closest to the part of your graphic element that they are about.

Carefully limit the amount of text on a presentation aid. If a great deal of text is absolutely necessary, try to divide it between two slides or posters. Many students believe that even small text will magnify amply when it’s projected, but we find that this is rarely the case. We can’t recommend a specific point size because that refers to the distance between the baselines of two lines of text, not to the size of the type itself.

We recommend two things: First, use a simple, easy-to-read type style. It doesn’t have to be utterly devoid of style, but it should be readable and not distracting. Second, we recommend that you print your text in three or four sizes on a sheet of paper. Place the printed sheet on the floor and stand up. When you look at your printed sheet, you should be able to make a choice based on which clusters of type you are able to read from that distance.

Easily Handled

You should be able to carry your presentation aids into the room by yourself. In addition, you should be skilled in using the equipment you will use to present them. Your presentation aids should not distract you from the delivery of your speech.

Aesthetically Pleasing

For our purposes, aesthetics refers to the beauty or good taste of a presentation aid. Earlier we mentioned the universal principles of good design: unity, emphasis or focal point, scale and proportion, balance, and rhythm. Because of wide differences in taste, not everyone will agree on what is aesthetically pleasing, and you may be someone who does not think of yourself as having much artistic talent. Still, if you keep these principles in mind, they will help you to create attractive, professional-looking visuals.

The other aesthetic principle to keep in mind is that your presentation aids are intended to support your speech, not the other way around. The decisions you make in designing your visuals should be dictated by the content of your speech. If you use color, use it for a clear reason. If you use a border, keep it simple. Whatever you do, make certain that your presentation aids will be perceived as carefully planned and executed elements of your speech.

Tips for Text Aids

Use text only when you must. For example, if you’re presenting an analysis of the First Amendment, it is permissible to display the text of the First Amendment, but not your entire analysis. The type must be big, simple, and bold. It needs white space around it to separate it from another graphic element or cluster of text that might be on the same presentation aid. When you display text, you must read it out loud before you go on to talk about it. That way, you won’t expect your listeners to read one thing while trying to listen to something else. However, under no circumstances should you merely read what’s on your text aids and consider that a speech.

Tips for Graphic Aids

If you create your graphic images, you will have control over their size and the visible strength of the lines. However, you might want to show your listeners an illustration that you can’t create yourself. For instance, you might want to display a photograph of a portion of the Dead Sea Scrolls. First, find a way to enlarge the photograph. Then, to show integrity, cite your source. You should cite your source with an added caption, and you should also cite the source out loud as you display the graphic, even if your photograph is considered to be in the public domain. The NASA photograph “Spaceship Earth” is such an example. Many people use it without citing the source, but citing the source boosts your credibility as a speaker, and we strongly recommend doing so.

Rules for Computer Presentations

Mark Stoner, a professor in the Department of Communication Studies at California State University, Sacramento, has written a useful assessment of the uses and abuses of PowerPoint. Stoner observes that

PowerPoint is a hybrid between the visual and the written. When we pay attention to the design of our writing—to whether we are putting key word at the beginning or end of a sentence, for instance—we are likely to communicate more effectively. In the same way, it makes sense to understand the impact that PowerPoint’s design has on our ability to communicate ideas to an audience (Stoner, 2007).

While this article is specifically about PowerPoint, Stoner’s advice works for all presentation software formats. Presentation aids should deliver information that is important or is difficult to present with spoken words only. Although many speakers attempt to put their entire speech on PowerPoint slides or other visual aids, this is a bad idea for several reasons. First, if you try to put your entire speech on PowerPoint, you will lose contact with your audience. Speakers often end up looking at the projected words or directly at the computer screen instead of at their audience. Second, your vocal delivery is likely to suffer, and you will end up giving a boring reading, not a dynamic speech. Third, you will lose credibility, as your listeners question how well you really know your topic. Fourth, you are not using the presentation aids to clarify or emphasize your message, so all the information may come across as equally important.

No matter what presentation software package you decide to utilize, there are some general guidelines you’ll need to follow.

Watch Your Font

One of the biggest mistakes novice users of presentational software make is thinking that if you can read it on the screen, your audience will be able to read it in their seats. While this may be the case if you’re in a close, intimate conference room, most of us will be speaking in situations where audience members are fifteen feet away or more. Make sure each slide is legible from the back of the room where you will be speaking.

Don’t Write Everything Out

In addition to watching your font size, you also need to watch how you use words on the screen. Do not try to put too much information on a slide. Make sure that your slide has the appropriate information to support the point you are making and no more. We strongly recommend avoiding complete sentences on a slide unless you need to display a very important direct quotation.

Don’t Bow Down to the Software

Remember, presentation software is an aid, so it should aid and not hinder your presentation. We have seen too many students who only end up reading the slides right off the screen instead of using the slides to enhance their presentations. When you read your slides right off the projector screen, you’re killing your eye contact. As a general word of advice, if you ever find yourself being forced to turn your back to the audience to read the screen, then you are not effectively using the technology. On the flip side, you also shouldn’t need to hide behind a computer monitor to see what’s being projected.

Slide Color

Color is very important and can definitely make a strong impact on an audience. However, don’t go overboard or decide to use unappealing combinations of color. For example, you should never use a light font color (like yellow) on a solid white background because it’s hard for the eye to read.

You should also realize that while colors may be rich and vibrant on your computer screen at home, they may be distorted by a different monitor. While we definitely are in favor of experimenting with various color schemes, always check your presentation out on multiple computers to see if the slide color is being distorted in a way that makes it hard to read.

Slide Movement

Everyone who has had an opportunity to experiment with PowerPoint knows that animation in transitions between slides or even on a single slide can be fun, but often people do not realize that too much movement can actually distract audience members. While all presentation software packages offer you very cool slide movements and other bells and whistles, they are not always very helpful for your presentation. If you’re going to utilize slide transitions or word animation, stick to only three or four different types of transitions in your whole presentation. Furthermore, do not have more than one type of movement on a given slide. If you’re going to have all your text come from the right side of the screen in a bulleted list, make sure that all the items on the bulleted list come from the right side of the screen.

Practice, Practice, Practice

It is vital to practice using the technology. Nothing is worse than watching a speaker stand up and not know how to turn on the computer, access the software, or launch his or her presentation. When you use technology, audiences can quickly see if you know what you are doing, so don’t give them the opportunity to devalue your credibility because you can’t even get the show going.

Always Have a Backup Plan

Lastly, always have a backup plan. Unfortunately, things often go wrong. One of the parts of being a professional is keeping the speech moving in spite of unexpected problems. Decide in advance what you will do if things break down or disappear right when you need them. Don’t count on your instructor to solve such predicaments; it is your responsibility. If you take this responsibility seriously and check the room where you will be presenting early, you will have time to adapt. If the computer or audiovisual setup does not work on the first try, you will need time to troubleshoot and solve the problem. If an easel is missing, you will need time to experiment with using a lectern or a chair to support your flip chart. If you forgot to bring your violin for a speech about music—don’t laugh, this actually happened to a friend of ours!—you will need time to think through how to adapt your speech so that it will still be effective.

Key Takeaways

• Presentation aids must be organized and simple. The universal principles of good design can be a useful guide.
• Material in presentation aids must be limited in quantity. Remember, presentation aids are supposed to aid a speech, not become the speech itself.
• Presentation aids must visually look like they were designed as a set. When presentation aids look unprofessional, they can decrease a speaker’s credibility.
• Always practice with your presentation aids, and be prepared for unexpected problems.
• Examine Figure 15.14 “World Populations” in this chapter. How could you go about making this visual aid more understandable?
• Create a new presentation aid for a previous speech given in your public speaking class. How could that aid have helped your overall speech?
• Take some time to explore the presentation software packages discussed in Table 15.1 “Presentation Software Packages” What do you see as some of the advantages and disadvantages of the different software packages?

Stoner, M. (2007). Uncovering the powers within PowerPoint. Communication Currents , 2 (4). Retrieved from http://www.natcom.org/CommCurrentsArticle.aspx?id=819

Stand up, Speak out Copyright © 2016 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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How to Improve Your Presentation Skills: 11 Practical Tips

• The Speaker Lab
• August 15, 2024

Table of Contents

Have you ever felt your heart racing just before stepping onto a stage? That’s presentation anxiety knocking. But how do you beat it? One solution is to improve your presentation skills . By honing your abilities, you achieve greater confidence in yourself. You see, great public speakers are made through practice, and lots of it. Knowing your subject inside out matters, as does understanding who you’re talking to.

This journey doesn’t start at the podium or end at the applause. It begins much earlier, in how we prepare our minds and material for that spotlight moment. To keep an audience hanging on every word requires more than good content alone. Body language speaks volumes too. So, it’s crucial to master both your verbal and nonverbal cues. This approach guarantees your message resonates deeply with all present.

Understanding the Importance of Presentation Skills

Presentation skills go beyond merely standing and speaking before an audience. They embody the essence of engaging and connecting with others. As it turns out, being able to connect with people in this way is an invaluable skill worth having. From convincing a potential new client to sharing knowledge with peers, presenting helps you get key ideas across. But here’s the kicker: it’s not only about what you say but how you say it that counts. While such finesse comes naturally to some, others need a bit of practice before they can nail it. But that’s why we’re here—to help you out.

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Mastering the Basics of Effective Presentations

Grasping the fundamentals can elevate a decent presentation to one that’s memorable. Let’s break it down.

Knowing Your Subject and Audience

Before you give your presentation, you first have to know who you’re talking to and what you’re talking about. It sounds simple because it is. But don’t let that simplicity fool you—it’s also where the magic happens. Dive deep into your topic and become the expert they expect you to be. As for your audience? Find a way to connect your presentation to them as individuals. Consider why your topic might be important to them. If you can get your topic to hit home with your audience, it’s much more likely that they’ll be impacted by what you say.

Using Open, Friendly Body Language

Our body language allows us to speak volumes without ever saying a word. So when you’re on stage, use open gestures, keep those arms uncrossed, and maintain a pleasant demeanor. Move around if space allows; make yourself bigger than just the spot behind the podium. Frequently make eye contact with the crowd instead of just looking at your notes or slides. Lastly, use gestures to complement your words, emphasizing key points.

Practicing for Perfection

When preparing for your presentation, rehearse until those nerves start feeling like excitement instead of sheer terror. Out of all presentation skills, this is perhaps one of the most important to improve. Even rehearsing in the outfit you’ll wear on presentation day can help you practice the right mindset you need. Whether or not you rewrite your script as bullet points, make sure you’re not reading off your notes. After all, you want to maintain a natural, conversational tone with your audience, not a robotic one. Before you begin your talk, breathe deeply. Not only does grounding yourself help calm your nerves, it actually improves your voice quality .

Designing Engaging Presentations

Every speaker wants to engage their audience. As a result, the ability to design engaging presentations is one skill that’s worth constantly improving. It’s all about balance, blending engaging content with sleek design.

Keeping Your Presentation Engaging and Structured

Every speaker would agree that maintaining audience interest is crucial. But how exactly do you do that? It takes a lot to focus on your presentation  and your audience at the same time. To get started, try some of these techniques.

• Tell a story: Weave your facts into a narrative because everyone loves a good tale.
• Vary the pace: Mix it up with videos, anecdotes, or jokes to keep things fresh.
• Pose questions: Asking rhetorical questions keeps minds ticking and engaged.

Maintaining structure is key. You want to guide your audience through smoothly, making sure they’re following along every step of the way. Think of it as taking them on a journey where each point builds upon the last until you reach a compelling conclusion together.

Simplicity in Slide Design

If there’s one thing you don’t want to impose on your audience, it’s a cluttered slide. So what should you to improve this presentation skill? Take a look at these tips:

• Keep it simple: A simple background with high contrast text can work wonders.
• Leverage visuals wisely: If you’re talking numbers, opt for an infographic instead of listing out stats one after another. Visuals should enhance understanding, not confuse further. Make sure they’re relevant.
• Use bullet points: Cover one idea per slide and use bullet points to break it down. This isn’t just easier for your audience to digest; it gives each point its moment in the spotlight.

The trick here is to avoid just throwing your entire presentation onto slides. That’s what leads to clutter. Instead, focus on the key points you want to communicate, and create visual summaries that complement what you’re saying. Good presentation design matters. And sometimes less really is more when helping people understand complex topics easily. For more on creating PowerPoint presentations, check out our article here .

Mastering Nonverbal Communication

As a speaker, it’s a given that your words are a vital part of your presentation. But what about your nonverbal cues? Believe it or not, those are just as important. And don’t forget tone—delivery is often where the real magic happens.

Improving Eye Contact

For instance, take eye contact. Making eye contact with your audience demonstrates confidence and professionalism. The trick is striking the balance: too little, and you seem disengaged; too much, and it’s just awkward for everyone involved. To improve this presentation skills, practice finding that balance. Aim to make brief but meaningful eye contact with different parts of your audience throughout your presentation. A general rule of thumb is the 50/70 rule , which says to spend about 50% of your time making eye contact when speaking, bumping it up to 70% when listening or answering questions.

Avoiding Filled Pauses When Speaking

The bane of any speaker’s presentation is a slew of filler words. These are words like “um,” “uh,” and “like.” These filler sounds typically sneak into our speech because we’re nervous or trying to think on our feet. To avoid them, practice pausing with purpose in between sentences or thoughts. Silence may feel scary, but using intentional pauses can give you time to think and keeps listeners hanging onto your next word. In addition, never forget to taking deep breaths. Doing so will help calm the nerves that are triggering those verbal fillers in the first place.

By improving these presentation skills, you’ll not only boost how others perceive you, but also how confidently you carry yourself through every slide.

Overcoming Presentation Anxiety

Feeling like a bundle of nerves before you hit the stage? If so, you’re not alone. But guess what? That jittery feeling doesn’t have to be your enemy.

Techniques to Calm Nerves During a Presentation

We’ve all been there—heart racing, palms sweaty, mind blanking out just when you need it most. It feels like your body is betraying you right at the crucial moment. Thankfully, it’s entirely possible to regain control by redirecting that nervous energy. To calm yourself, try some of these techniques.

• Breathe deeply: It seems simple, but deep breaths are like a reset button for your nervous system.
• Ground yourself: Feel your feet on the ground. Literally grounding yourself in reality helps shift focus back from fear to action.
• The power pose: Standing in a posture of confidence can actually make you feel more confident thanks to some nifty brain-body communication.
• Embrace silence: If you lose track during your presentation, use this time not as an awkward pause but as an intentional break for both you and your audience.

By practicing these techniques and improving them before your presentation, they will come more naturally. Plus, the more you prepare, the fewer surprises you’ll encounter, which means less fodder for anxiety.

Transforming Nervous Energy into Enthusiasm

Nervous energy isn’t bad—it shows you care. Mastering the art involves channeling that untamed vigor into a force of zeal.

• Talk about what you love: You naturally become more animated and enthusiastic when discussing topics close to your heart.
• Harness the adrenaline rush: This rush pushes us beyond our usual boundaries, so don’t be afraid to use it. Speak louder than normal if needed or move around more freely (if appropriate).
• Redefine success: Focus on connecting with at least one person rather than impressing everyone—that takes off loads of pressure.

In essence, presentation skills aren’t just about speaking well. They’re about managing emotions effectively so they don’t manage us. So next time those butterflies start fluttering in your stomach before a big presentation, remember it’s all part of the process. Embrace the experience and use it to fuel your performance rather than let it derail you.

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Continually Improving Presentation Skills

The journey to becoming a presentation pro never really ends. Embarking on this path means consistently challenging oneself, exploring new depths, and setting sights on ever-higher achievements.

Seeking Feedback for Improvement

Let’s talk feedback. Although it might sting at first, feedback is a great way to improve your presentation skills. After every presentation, ask your audience what hit home and what missed the mark. But don’t stop there.

• Talk to a mentor: Someone who’s been where you are can give insights you hadn’t even considered.
• Solicit anonymous feedback: Sometimes people speak more freely when they’re not face-to-face.
• Use online tools: There are platforms designed specifically for gathering and analyzing presentation feedback efficiently.

Volunteering for Presentations to Gain Experience

If practice makes perfect, then volunteering is your practice arena. Seizing each moment as a platform can really polish your expertise.

• Pitch new ideas at work: Be the one who steps up during meetings with fresh insights or project proposals.
• Dive into community events: Local clubs or groups often seek speakers on various topics—perfect for testing out different styles and formats.
• Become a webinar host: This lets you play with technology while practicing how best to engage virtual attendees.

Remember, improving your public speaking skills takes time. But by consistently seeking out constructive criticism and grabbing every chance to get in front of an audience ,  you’re paving your way towards mastery. So take that deep breath, keep your head high, and take that stage. Your future self will thank you.

So there you have it. Together, we’ve learned how to improve presentation skills. This isn’t just about shaking off those stage jitters; it’s an expedition towards becoming a masterful storyteller who captivates every soul in the room.

Embarking on this journey, we dove headfirst into mastering basics like knowing your audience and subject. Plus, we covered tips on keeping slides simple yet engaging—a fine balance between clutter and clarity. And let’s not forget our silent but potent ally: nonverbal communication—where eye contact and body language can help engage your audience.

Anxiety had its moment under our microscope as well. Turns out, it’s less about fighting nerves and more about channeling them into electrifying enthusiasm.

Improving your presentation skills requires persistence—and lots of practice. The process isn’t just a path but an ongoing adventure that challenges us to grow and adapt in our quest for meaningful impact.

• Last Updated: August 6, 2024

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Instructional Delivery

• Visual Aids

Visual aids are items speakers use to enhance their message. The most commonly used visual aid is a PowerPoint presentation. In addition to or in place of a slide show, some instructors will incorporate photos, videos, posters, charts, diagrams, or other visual items into their presentations. Real-life objects or Models that participants can see and touch can also be used as visual aids.

Why are visual aids valuable?

Visual aids are valuable for many reasons:

• Clarification —Visual aids can make complicated information more digestible. The adage, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” is true. Visual aids can convey meaning and essence more effectively that words alone. For example, it would be hard for an instructor to adequately describe the different levels of bridge and pier deterioration without photographs.
• Recall —When they both listen and view (or touch), participants use more than one sensory channel to process the information. Then, they connect the new information to their existing memories in multiple ways. As a result, they retain the new information better and longer than if they had just heard words alone.
• Focus —Visual aids can focus participants’ attention on essential information. Bulleted phrases on a PowerPoint slide or easel pad can highlight and reinforce key points from a lesson. Maps, diagrams, photos, or other media can emphasize important details and put new information into an understandable context.
• Variety —Visual aids also add variety to a training presentation. Video clips and images provide an interesting visual and/or audio break from a lecture or text-heavy slides. But it is important not to add novelty or decorative images or animation to a presentation. They actually can backfire and distract learners from the message.

While visual aids are a valuable support for an instructor, they should not replace the instructor. A good rule of thumb is if the instructor can’t present the training without the visual aids, then the instructor is relying on them too much. Human error and technological glitches can and do happen. A competent instructor should be able to adapt and deliver the training without the support of visual aids. For more information on dealing with challenging issues, refer to Difficulties with Technology.

It is also important to make sure that all participants can see the visual aids clearly. When setting up the training room, take a moment to sit in chairs in all four corners of the room. Check to make sure that participants in those locations would have a clear sight line to the projection screen, easel pads, whiteboard, etc. If they would not, move the chair or shift the visual aid to improve visibility. For more information on effective classroom layouts, refer to Creating Classroom and Virtual Learning Spaces .

Also, consider how a participant with visual, hearing, or motor difficulties will be able to access the information in the visual aid. Section 508 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 2007 guidelines include print, audio, and video media and websites.

For More Information

For more information on how to ensure a visual aid complies with the law, refer to the following sources:

• Create Accessible Digital Products
• NHI Web-Based Training Standards Guide
• NHI Instructor-led Training Standards Guide
• NHI Web-conference Training Standards Guide

To use visual aids effectively, it is necessary to understand how to maximize their advantages and work around their disadvantages.

PowerPoint Slides

PowerPoint is popular because it makes it easy to create and modify professional-looking presentations. PowerPoint slides can be simple or elaborate. Colorful templates are available and users can personalize slides with colors and font styles. Slide layouts allow you to insert photos, videos, quizzes, hyperlinks, or other interactions. Also, PowerPoint files are easily transportable. You can store the files on a flash drive or share via email, and there are several handout options available in the PowerPoint print menu.

Sunshine and projection lighting sometimes create glare that obscures the presentation. It may be necessary to dim the lights which can make it hard for some participants to take notes or stay awake. If the instructor doesn’t incorporate question and answer sessions or activities, participants will be unable to engage with the content and will become passive learners. PowerPoints are especially vulnerable to technical difficulties that can disrupt a presentation such as burnt out projection bulbs, inoperable slide advancers, sound issues, broken hyperlinks, etc. For information on creating a backup plan, refer to Difficulties with Technology . Images may be clear when viewed on a laptop but are not readable when they are projected. Consider creating handouts for diagrams or other images when participants need to see the details.

Easel Pads/Chart Paper

Easel pads and chart paper may be low tech, but their simplicity and flexibility make them extremely useful in the training classroom. The blank pages and a few colored magic markers create nearly unlimited opportunities for expression. They can be used to highlight key points, capture participant ideas, and create expressive diagrams on the fly; or they can be prepared in advance and revealed at appropriate times in the lesson. One tip is to write the information in pencil and trace over it later with a marker. Another tip is to fold the corner of a page you want to turn to later or attach a small sticky note at the bottom of each pre-made sheet to help you flip to the correct page.

Participants can engage with easel pads and chart paper as well. Instructors can hand a marker to one or more participants to record key ideas at the front of the room. If there are enough easels and pads, one can be positioned by each table for a small group activity. If there aren’t enough, sheets can be torn off and distributed so the groups can record their ideas. If the information is going to be referred to in the future, the sheets can be tacked or taped to the wall.

Savvy instructors will verify that the training site host will provide enough chart paper or easel pads. Prepared instructors also travel with a set of fresh markers to avoid being stopped mid-sentence if the ink runs out. Paper and markers are expensive and the easel pads’ size and shape makes them awkward to transport. Attaching several binder clips to the bottom and sides of an easel pad will keep the pages from separating or from flapping in the wind. In the classroom, they present another disadvantage: participants in the back may not be able to see the full easel pad. For participants to be able to view the entire message, it’s a good idea to avoid writing on the bottom of the pad and continue on a new sheet, if necessary. Remember to attach sheets as high on the wall as you can to provide the greatest visibility. Even participants in the front of the room may struggle to read writing that is too small or too close together. For greatest clarity, use wide-tip markers and make letters at least 2 inches high. Leave another 2 inches of space between each line.

Videos increase participants’ interest because they add motion, images, and audio into the classroom. They also introduce variety with a new “instructor” voice. Videos enhance learning because they can transport participants outside the classroom or provide complex demonstrations. No matter who the instructor is, participants will always get a consistent message from a training video.

Technology is making it easier and less expensive to create videos, but it is not always easy to find one that fits with the learning outcomes in a lesson. Some videos may be available, but are out of date. If a suitable video exists, don’t waste participants’ time by showing the whole thing. Just show a pertinent clip. Clips should be a maximum of 2 minutes long. Be sure any video you show for a federal government course or presentation is Section 508 compliant. Keep in mind that viewing a video is a passive experience. To increase participant engagement, explain the purpose of the video, how long it will last, and set a clear task for them to accomplish as they watch and listen. Follow the video with a discussion or other engagement activity. And remember, too much of anything is not good for you. Participants will become bored if videos are overused as an instructional tool.

Handouts are extremely versatile. They can provide review information to support struggling learners. They can provide full-sized versions of charts, tables, and other images that are too small to be read on a slide. They can offer articles or documents related to the content, provide additional resources, and provide a structured space for participants to take notes. Handouts can support skill transfer because participants can use them as job aids or references when they return to their jobs.

Handouts can sometimes present document management challenges. If handouts are distributed too early, they may get lost or may be reviewed out of order, and time will be wasted as participants search for the right page. Participants may become confused if there aren’t clear document titles or page numbers. Some participants may become distracted by handouts because they will focus on what is coming up next and not on the current lesson. It is sometimes best to take the just-in-time approach and distribute handouts only when they are needed.

Whiteboards

Whiteboards are often available in training rooms. Web and video conference platforms also offer interactive, online versions. Like easel pads and chart paper, they are colorful, easy to use, and readily available. They are ideal for reinforcing key information, creating diagrams, explaining key words and phrases, or showing how the material is organized. Like with easel pads and chart paper, whiteboards can be used to capture and share participant input. Important information, like Wi-Fi passwords, key vocabulary, or ground rules can be retained, and participants can refer to them again when needed. Less important information is easily erased.

Because whiteboards are often attached to the wall and can’t be repositioned, some participants may not have a clear view of them. It also may be difficult to read something written on a whiteboard from the back of the room. Like easel pads and chart paper, it is necessary to form large, legible letters and leave space between lines of text so participants can read the message. Even on large whiteboards, space is limited and it may be necessary to erase frequently to record new information. Check with participants to make sure they have finished copying information before you erase. Fresh dry-erase markers, erasers, and cleaners are essential, and instructors often need to bring their own supply.

Tools and Techniques

• Action Plans
• Anticipation Guides
• Assessment Checklists
• Background Information
• Brainstorming
• Case Studies
• Concept Maps
• Concrete Examples
• Cooperative and Collaborative Learning
• Course Outline/Syllabus
• Current Event Articles or Commentaries
• Demonstrations
• Feedback from Peer or Instructor
• Graphic Organizers
• Group Discussions
• Hands-on Practice Activities
• Infographics
• K-W-L Charts
• Lectures and Interactive Lectures
• Observational Activities
• Oral Presentations
• Problem Solving/Problem-Based Learning
• Quick Writes/Entrance Tickets
• Real-World Problems
• Role Playing
• Self-Questioning
• Skimming and Scanning
• Soliciting Participants’ Expectations
• Structured Notes
• Summarizing
• Surveys/Interactive Polls
• Test Questions
• Think-Pair-Share
• Word Clouds/Interactive Polls
• Worked Examples

SessionLab, available at https://www.sessionlab.com/library/energiser