Public Speaking Unit- Visual Aids
Objectives
- To effectively recognize good visual aids versus bad visual aids
- To effectively the characteristics of a good visual aid
- To effectively use visual aids in a speech
Week One – Monday
Advantages of Visual Aids
Clique A picture is worth a thousand words
Visual Aids should aid you speech content NOT REPLACE
Showing a video, rather then speaking is not acceptable visual aid
They can enhance, and make the audience better understand what is going on.
Clarity
Discussing an object, show the object, ex. CPR, bring a CPR dummy
Citing statistics, showing how something works, or demonstrating something a
visual aides help the audience understand better
We live in visual world people need visuals to help understanding
Interest
Photographs and visuals create more interest than just words
Look at textbooks – pics versus just words.
Drawings, and visuals create interest and highlight
Retention
You want the audience to remember what you say
Mulit learning strategies
Visual stay with us longer
Can enhance EVERY aspect of your speech
Appear better prepared, more credible, more profession than no visual
Can help stage fright
Week One – Tuesday
Different Kinds of Visual Aids
· have a physical example of each kings
Object
It talking about guitars, bring one,
To show the audience exactly what you’re talking about.
Don’t bring in ‘big objects’ Nothing you can’t handle effectively should be used
Models
If for some reason you can bring in objects (to big, small, obscure) try a model
Photographs
In absence of objects or models pic can illustrate objects well.
Photographs need to be large enough for everyone to see (normal size
photographs are not big enough)
Drawings
Superb alternatives to photographs.
Can illustrate your points exactly as you need them too
Compensates for lack of realism
Graphs
Simplify and clarify statistics
Audiences have trouble with complex stats- graphs help
Line, pie, bar
Charts
Summarize large blocks of information
Help present sets of a process
Info to write down
Don’t include too much info
Transparencies
Compose graphs, charts, drawings and photographs and put them on cheap
transparencies and then project them
Week One – Wednesday
Guidelines for Preparing Visual Aids
Prepare in Advance
Have time to create creative, well thought out and effective visual aids
You can practice with you visual aids
Need to be integrated smoothly into your speech
Keep Simple
Should communicate ideas not how cool your visual aid is.
Include ONLY what is needed to make your point, no extra bells and whistles
Large Enough
Useless if no one can see it
Usually too small
Check visibility as you create
Be careful with ALL CAPS
Use Easily Fonts
If computer fonts, pick block fonts rather than frilly
May be less interesting but much easier to read
Use limited number of fonts
Choose a style of lettering and stick with it
Either fonts, or cursive versus printing
Use Color Effectively
Can increase recognition
Be careful about what colors
Keep it simple don’t use every color
Dark print on light background
Color can emphasize different aspects
Week One – Thursday
Good versus bad
A series of good visual aids and bad visual aids, comparing them based on the six things
we discussed Wednesday, coming up with improvements for the bad, and even how the good could be improved.
Assign Out of Class Activity
Week One – Friday
Using visual aids in your speech
Badly presented excellent visual aids will still take away from you speech
Display where listeners could see them
Everyone needs to see your visual aid
Don’t you block your visual aid
Don’t pass visual aids around
People pass around the visual aids are not paying attention TO YOU
Handouts- same thing, you can’t control when people are looking them
Display only when discussing them
Whenever it is visible someone will be looking at it
Visual Aids should not become the focus of the presentation
More than a min on your visual aid of a 4 min speech is too much
Talk to the audience not the visual aid
You should know what it says
Keep eye contact
Explain the Visual Aid
They need to be translated and related for the audience
Visual Aids only beneficial if audience understands what to look for and why
Don’t just say ‘as you can see in my visual aid’ and then continue with your
speech
Describe major feature of visual aids
Spell out meaning of charts and graphs.
Visual Aids are only as useful as the explanation that goes with it.
Practice with your visual aides
Week Two – Monday
Practice Day
· Everyone gets into groups of 5 and everyone presents their speech with visual aids to a small group
· Anyone who cannot make his or her presentation day can choose to go today.
Week Two – Tuesday
Speech Day 1-7 (4-5min a piece =35 min 5 min between and 5 min @ beginning and end
of class)
Week Two – Wednesday
Speech Day 8-14
Week Three- Thursday
Speech Day 15-21
Week Two – Friday
Speech Day 22-28
In Class Activity
Students will present a 4-5 min informative speech effectively using at least two separate visual aids. (These speeches would build on other lessons that would help them develop the rest of the speech, ideally this week of visual aids, allows them time to finish organizing and begin practicing before they present during week two) It would probability be a second speech of the semester, possibly taking the research they have already done and presenting in another way. Perhaps the other side of the issue or taking a different spin on how to organize the information or possibly taking one of their points from the previous speech and expanding it into a speech of it’s own.
Out of Class Activity
Have each student analyize advertizing for the same six things we talked about effective visual aids. Each student would find a magazine ad, look at it from about 5 feet away. Is it an effective visual aid. How does ad use fonts, colors, picture and size in their ad to be visually effective. Also have them find an ad which does not use these ideas effectively, and explain what aspects of a good visual aid does the ad violate. How would you improve the ad to make it a effective visual aid.