Utilizing Visual Aids

When visual aids are used effectively, it will help get the message across to the audience.  Appropriate visual aids increase the audience’s level of comprehension, clarity, and retention. 

Many studies have revealed that by appealing to more than one sense at the same time will significantly increase the audience’s understanding and retention level. Researchers have revealed that: 

• It is six times greater for an audience to retain the information three days after a meeting when information is presented by visual and oral means as supposed to spoken word alone

•  Approximately 83% of human learning occurs visually, and the remaining 17% through other senses

•       Three days after an event, People retain about 10% of what they heard from the oral presentation, 30% form visual, and 65% from visual and oral presentation.

Although visual aids increase the impact of your presentation, speaker needs to keep in mind that you, not the visual aids, are giving the presentation. Utilize the visual aids, do not hide behind it.

There are many forms of visual aids available for speakers to incorporate in their presentation. Every visual aids have pros and cons. Speaker needs to consider the available options and select the most appropriate visual aid. Multimedia slides, overhead transparencies, and handouts are the three of the most popular visual aids.

Medium	Pros	Cons	Notes
Multimedia Slides	-Professional appearance -Easy to use and transport -Inexpensive to update	-Incompatibility Issues -Relatively costly equipment required -Special effects often distracting	Available software programs: -Microsoft PowerPoint -Apple Keynote -Coral Presentation etc.
Transparencies	-Professional appearance -Easy to prepare, correct -Limit information show at one time	-Projected image size is sometimes too small -Difficult to write on the transparency -Speaker feel captive to machine	-Keep the transparencies simple -45-degree angle to the audience is the most effective location for an overhead projector
Handouts	-Encourages participation -Enhance recall	-May lose audience’s attention	-Discuss handouts during the presentation and hand them out after the presentation

Which visual aid do you like using the most?