Business Communication

Using Visual Aids

The purpose of visual aids

Generating & holding audience interest

Increasing audience recall
Clarifying & emphasizing information
Adding credibility & persuasiveness
Generating & maintaining audience interest
Increasing audience recall

The more senses involved in a communication transaction the more likely the receiver
is to understand the senders message and remember it.
Clarifying Information
Adding credibility & persuasiveness

Oral presentation with visual support is more persuasive and more effecitve from the
audiences viewpoint than are those without visual support. The audience is more likely to
approve the ideas of the persons using visual aids.
Why use visual aids?
Many possible types of visual aids

Overhead Transparencies (OHT, Acetate)

Slides

Flip Charts and Posters

Objects and Models

Handouts

Whiteboards and Chalkboards

Computer Assisted Audiovisuals (PPT)

Audio or Video (tapes, CDs, DVDs)

Flip Charts

For briefing small groups

Can be used to record audience comments and questions

Not suitable for a use in large audience settings

Useful in extended presentations where ideas are changed through interaction with
the audience

Vital in group brainstorming sessions where ideas must be recorded, narrowed, and
solidified in front of the group

Make sure the information is large enough for the entire audience to see

Posters

Smaller audience sizes (except for marketing)

Posters are permanent and removable

Eloberate posters require extensive preparation and may be costly

Posters and Flipcharts

Advantages

Can be placed close to audiences

They can provide interactive communication

They can stand alone without explanation

They can remain displayed to remind listeners of key concepts

Overhead Transparencies

For audience of 20 to 50 people

Necessity when giving a presentation in a room not equipped with a computer

projection system

Old fashioned in some industries

Transparencies

Advantages of transparencies

Projection equipment is simple and dependable

Speakers need not turn their backs to the audience

They work in well-lit rooms

Easily stored and carried

Easily produced

Can be eliminated during the speech

Transparencies

Guidelines

Number transparencies

Maintain eye contact with the audience

Point on the projector, not screen

Keep relevant information hidden until needed

Turn projector light off when not in use

Handouts

Their use allows speakers to go into depth on some points while skimming over
others

They can be especially useful for complex presentations

They provide something for audience members to take with them for future reference

Handouts give a sense of security and ownership to speakers

Handouts

Guidelines

Be sure about the quality

Include helpful lists, maps, tables etc

Be sure thay are up to date

Decide how to deal with them during the presentation

Computer presentations (ppt)

Many types of audiences

Inexpensive and customizable

Needs to be well-prepared
Tips for using slides

Use bullet statements when possible (no more than 7 per slide)
Avoid too much verbiage and clutter
Keep it simple (less is more)
Keep sound effects to a minimum

Only use long quotes and/or sentences if necessary (in which case, bring in each
sentence one at a time)

Avoid turning back to audience and reading too much

Give handouts of PowerPoint slides before speech for audience note-taking (optional)
Use slides as your notes or use PowerPoint handouts for additional notes
Use graphs for important statistics (particularly when referring to dramatic gains or

losses)

Reduce walking in front of projector

Build suspense for topic by leaving first slide blank
Avoid being tied to the mouse
Use pictures as metaphors or similes
Use slides as punch lines for humor
Use pictures and/or clipart on slides to enhance the mood
Avoid putting too much verbiage around pictures (Keep it simple)
Apply transitions and animations for effect (Dont overdo. Decide what to emphasize.)
Maintain consistency (For example, use design templates)
Be prepared for technical difficulties (Always have a plan B)

Which visual aid to choose?

It depends on

Your goal

Your audience

Your budget

Available technology
Tips for effective use of visual aids

Give handouts before or after speech only if not a distraction

Explain the handouts relevancy to topic

Keep visual aids clear and simple

Avoid lulls while you demonstrate

Practice using visual aids

Make visual aids easy for audience to see

Set up before and discuss after the showing of video clips

Use pictures or other visual aids to spark a story (there are stories in objects)

Avoid using animals and/or children if distracting

Demonstrate a task by using how-to-objects

Visual Aid Categories

Figures (charts)

Tables

Pictures and diagrams

Charts

In a bar
occurence..

chart, the height or length of each bar represents the frequency of

Bar Charts

Include no more than six bars

Label the bars themselves
Label the horizontal and vertical axes

Charts

The most frequently used diagram to emphasise the proportion or share of

occurences is the pie chart. A pie chart is divided into proportional segments according to
the share each has of the total value.

Pie Charts

Avoid slicing the pie into more than seven slices

Label the pie pieces at or near the slice

Graphs

Most suitable diagram for exploring the trend is a line graph in which your data
values for each time period are joined with a line to represent the trend.