guidelines for Using Presentation aids 14.4 309
phone to take photos of the object, embed the photos in presentation software,
and project the images at a size even a large audience can see.Use Animals with Caution
Most actors are unwilling to work with animals—and for good reason. At best,
they may steal the show. And most often, they are unpredictable. You may think
you have the smartest, best-trained dog in the world, but you really do not know
how your dog will react to a strange environment and an unfamiliar audience.
The risk of having an animal detract from your speech may be too great to make
planning a speech around one worthwhile.
A zealous student at a midwestern university a few years ago decided to
give a speech on cattle. What better presentation aid, he thought, than a cow?
He brought the cow to campus and led her up several flights of stairs to his
classroom. The speech in fact went well. But the student had neglected to con-
sider one significant problem: Cows will go upstairs but not down them. (The
cow had to be hoisted out a window.) These and other examples emphasize our
point: Use animals with care, if at all.Use Handouts Effectively
Many speech instructors believe that you should not distribute handouts during a
speech. Handing out papers in the middle of your presentation will only distract
your audience. However, audiences in business and other types of organizations
will often expect a summary of your key ideas in written form or a printout of
your PowerPoint or Prezi slides. If you do find it necessary to use written mate-
rial to reinforce your presentation, keep the following suggestions in mind:
• Don’t distribute your handout during the presentation unless your listeners must
refer to the material while you’re talking about it. Do not distribute handouts
that have only marginal relevance to your verbal message. They will defeat
your purpose.
• Control listeners’ attention. If you do distribute a handout and you see that
your listeners are giving the written material more attention than they are
giving you, tell them where in the handout you want them to focus. For
example, you could say, “I see that many of you are interested in the second
and third pages of the report. I’ll discuss those items in just a few moments.
I’d like to talk about a few examples before we get to page 2.”
• After distributing your handouts, tell audience members to keep the material face
down until you’re ready to talk about the material. This will help listeners resist
the temptation to peek at your handout instead of keeping their focus on
you and your message.
• Clearly number the pages on your handout material. This will make it easy for
you to direct audience members to specific pages in your handouts.M14_BEEB3981_05_SE_C14_289-314.indd 309 11/18/14 11:27 AM