Effective Use of Visual Aids as Objects to Make a Presentation Better

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Increase Credibility
Create Dramatic Effect
Gaining and Maintaining Attention
PowerPoint of no Return
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Visual aids are the objects, programs, and/or people and animals that are used to make a presentation better. A visual aid may be just visual, plain print, or audio-visual, to contain sound. The various forms of visual aid used in the world today include, video recordings, graphs, PowerPoint presentations and people. This case study discusses the importance of appropriate visual aids usage in the day to day life of people in different professions.

Increase Credibility

Visual aids are used to show professionalism in various fields of practice (Eline, 1984). A lawyer, for example, uses visual aids such as tapes and police reports while presenting his/her cases in court. If a lawyer does not present appropriate hard evidence for his case, his credibility is questioned. Hard evidence sometimes includes people and medical reports which are visible and which promote clarity in the presentation of a lawyers case. In the broadcasting of news, the news presenters support their story by use of clips from the scene from which the story was developed. In case a story is not supported by visual aids their credibility is risked because people will not just take their word for it.

In the field of business, visual aids indicate professionalism in a field study and proposal. When submitting the study or proposal to the stakeholders concerned, one should provide the proper samples of the data which led to their analyses. A person who provides graphs, pictures, people and multimedia materials to support their argument is considered to be professional. The people who do not support their arguments are considered unprofessional, and their proposals may be dismissed on the basis of lack of credibility.

Create Dramatic Effect

The use of visual aids creates a dramatic effect on the presentation in that it makes it appealing (Eline, 1984). A lot of people may find it more appealing to watch news on the television than to have then broadcasted through the radio transmitters. The television transmission gives an extra touch to the story by presenting the appropriate pictures and multimedia clips to support their presentations. In a business firms conference hall, the introduction of supporting visual aids such as influential people who have succeeded in the topic being discussed provides an extra touch to the presentation. The use of video clips and other multimedia materials during presentation make it intriguing and understandable.

Gaining and Maintaining Attention

The use of properly prepared visual aids kills the monotony of listening to ones presentation, increasing the attentiveness of the listeners (Eline, 1984). This is done by occasionally diverting the attention of the listeners from the speaker to something that is not only entertaining, but which also enriches the topic of presentation. In the scene of broadcasting the attention of the audience is held by their curiosity to see what really happened and this curiosity is satisfied by the visual aids presented for each story. In a court of law, the judges and jurys attention is caught and maintained through the presentation of arguments backed up by hard evidence such as witnesses.

In business firm presentations whereby proper visual aids are used, the presentation is not only interesting but also enriching. As a result, the attention of the audience is captured and the effect of what the presenter is putting across increased. In the absence of these visual aids the presentation is likely to be more boring and have less effect on the stakeholders. With use visual aid the attention of the audience is shifted between the presenter and the visual aids thus promoting understanding.

PowerPoint of no Return

The use of PowerPoint slides for presentation has proven to be ineffective especially while used inappropriately. To ensure the appropriate of power points slides as visual aids to enhance a presentation, ample preparation and careful usage are essential. The presenter should be having ample knowledge on how to use slides to avoid giving the wrong impression to the audience, he must know what he is doing and how to do it. PowerPoint slides are visual aids and are supposed to enhance the presentation not down play it. Ensure that you are well informed on the topic as the slides are intended for summary (Guffey & Almonte, 2009).

The PowerPoint slides created should be made to capture the audience by being interesting. They are supposed to enhance the presentation and make it better not worse. The slides should thus be interesting and relevant to the topic of presentation. Only the appropriate information should be used on the slide and any other information considered not appropriate for the slide should be presented in other medium of communication. It is very important to remember that the power point presentation is supposed to complement the presenter and thus the major means of presentation should be through speech and paralinguistic (Guffey & Almonte, 2009).

Conclusion

Visual aids are powerful in enhancing a presentation if used the correct way. They increase the credibility of the presenter in what he does, create an extra touch on the presentation and help with audience attention. The correct choice of what visual aid to use to present what information is important and should be carefully handled. The main means of presentation should not be forsaken for the visual aids but should be enhanced through them.

References

Eline, L. (1984). How to Prepare and Use Effective Visual Aids. Alexandria, VA: American Society for Training and Development.
Guffey, M. E., & Almonte, R. (2009). Essentials of Business Communication. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.

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