MPS Chap. 14 Using Presentational Aids Presentational aids should be used for the right reasons in the right ways In a way, they are an extension of delivery extending your media of presentation beyond your voice and gestures The importance of using presentational aids: Increases message clarity Reinforces message impact Increases speaker dynamism Enhances speaker confidence Types of presentational aids: Objects: actual or scaled (a model) three-dimensional things can also include people (volunteers) or animals used in a speech make sure that objects are appropriate (including legal) Can give your speech immediacy & enhance its impact Graphics: two-dimensional presentational aids used to clarify or illustrate a point being made orally Pictures: can make a speaker s presentation more concrete and vivid & can be used to dramatize a point (be sure to record information about photographs and cite this goes for any use of graphics if you didn t produce them yourself) Diagrams: graphics usually designed on a computer or drawn on poster board schematic can show parts, processes, organizational structures, etc. Graphs: used to illustrate some condition or progress Line graph useful in depicting trends and developments over time (can trace two or more variables don t make too complex) Bar graph useful in comparing quantities or amounts Size and color Pie or circle graph helpful to show relative proportions of the various parts of a whole Size and color Charts: condense a large amount of information into a small space Can use a flip chart to unfold a process/create suspense
2 Can be slides Can draw chart during the speech to the same end (on whiteboard, easel, etc.) Make sure you can continue to speak as you draw Can do D. Letterman top ten lists! Woo woo! Maps: lend themselves well to speeches referring to unfamiliar geographic areas All of the graphics can be drawn on poster board or projected onto a screen Projection is especially appropriate when your audience is too large to see your presentational aid easily and clearly. There are two general types of projections: still (slides, transparencies, and opaque projections) and moving (film and video) Note: projections can be critical to business and other presentations. They may not, however, always serve the purposes of a public speaker and, particularly a student taking a public speaking class! As a beginning public speaker you need to control and be the primary focus of the speaking event When you stand at the back of the room and narrate a slide show, you get little experience in speaking before an audience Slides: still mounted transparencies or computer files designed specifically for projection, and usually shown one at a time Two disadvantages: projection equipment can be intrusive and noisy; slide must be projected in darkness to be easily visible (this focuses away from you, the speaker) Transparencies: clear or tinted sheets of plastic with words or images drawn or printed on them Shown with an overhead projector the transparency may be either prepared in advance or drawn on with a felt-tip marker during the presentation Computers can generate transparencies Transparencies may allow you to work through a problem, for example, without turning your back on the audience (as you may have to do with white board or chalk board)
3 Opaque projection: an image projected directly from a sheet of paper Opaque projectors are being replaced by high-tech visual presenters such as Elmo Can also project transparencies, video, computer slide shows and computer animation, and images of threedimensional objects Again still projections can visually enhance a presentation They help ensure images are big enough to see Make sure to practice with the equipment so you know how to operate it and how to minimize the noise it makes Rapid innovations in the field of computer graphics are exciting But be sure that any presentational aids you produce this way will enhance your message. Aim for: Clarity Simplicity Contrast Film and video: appropriate whenever action will enhance a visual presentation as the technology develops, this medium is becoming easier and cheaper to use (e.g. i-movie, DVD, etc.) Videos don t require you to darken the room Many speeches on social issues are significantly more compelling if the audience not only hears about, but also sees, graphic evidence of a problem (remember principles of decorum) Be sure to note the sources of video clips that you don t produce Generally, use only short video clips to illustrate your key ideas Provide context whenever you can Don t just show the video/film frame its interpretation Handouts: copies of any graphic presentational aid pictures, diagrams, graphs, charts, maps may be handed out to individual audience members Appropriately used under two conditions: When the information cannot be effectively displayed or projected When the audience needs to study or refer to the information after the speech
4 Generally it s not a good idea to distribute handouts before you use them people will look at them while you re talking about something else You may wish to use different colored paper so you can refer to handouts by color Now, take a look at the blue sheet... Audio and other aids: records, tapes, MP3 files (and there s audio on video and film too); can use smells and textures too can exploit all the senses with presentational aids! See it. Hear it. Feel it. Taste it. Smell it. (all within norms of appropriateness) Strategies for using presentational aids Before the speech Determine information to be presented visually Sections that are complex or detailed are good for visualization Select the types of presentational aids best suited to your resources and speech A poorly produced presentational aid can hurt your credibility This can include over-produced presentational aids Ensure easy viewing by all audience members Or hearing, smelling, etc. Make sure that the presentation aid communicated the information clearly Construct a presentational aid that is professional in appearance Practice using your presentational aids Arrange for safe transportation of your presentational aids Carry backup supplies with you If the computer crashes be prepared! Properly position the presentational aid Test your presentational aid (right before your speech if there are people present, have something that says test on it as you work out focus, lighting, etc.
5 During the speech Reveal the presentational aid only when you are ready for it Otherwise may create a distraction Talk to your audience, not to your presentational aid Refer to the presentation aid Point at its relevant feature! Finger Laser, wooden stick, metal pointer, pen, etc. Use a tool when you need it put it down when done don t wave it around at the audience or fiddle with it for the rest of the speech Direct the audience s gaze! You can use your visual presentation aid as your notes Beware this may be like a visual handout the audience will get ahead of you! Keep your presentational aid in view until the audience understands your point Take the right amount of time the audience has probably never seen it before give them the time they need to take it in Conceal the presentational aid after you have made your point Use handouts with caution Of all the forms of presentational aid, the handout can be the most troublesome If you distribute handouts before your remarks, the audience is already ahead of you Passing out information during a presentation can be distracting, especially if you stop talking as you do so Disseminating information after the presentation eliminates the distractions, but does not allow the listener to refer to the printed information while you re explaining it In general, then, use handouts in a public speech only if that is the best way to clarify and give impact to your ideas
6 However, handouts provide a record of the presenter s remarks and supplementary information the speaker did not have time to explain may be required by technical or other special audiences/occasions. Bottom line: use as many senses as you can to appropriately make your point but always remember: in a speech, your primary and most effective medium (I hope) is your speech.