Public Speaking

Planning the Presentation Technology (^173)
• If you use a text-based visual repeatedly but want to highlight material each time,
place a blank transparency over the material and underline, mark, or write on the
blank, using wet erase markers. This keeps your original clean, and you can easily
clean your markings off the top sheet.

Chalkboards or Whiteboards

Chalkboards or whiteboards are standard equipment in most educational settings

because of their many advantages. They’re great for explaining unfolding processes,

such as math problems. They also encourage informality, which is appropriate in some

contexts. Finally, they are useful in settings that include speaker–audience interactions

such as brainstorming sessions.^22

Unfortunately, boards have three major drawbacks. (1) You can’t prepare your visual

beforehand, and unprepared visuals create additional anxiety if you prefer to have things

ready in advance. (2) Most people don’t write well on boards, so the visuals look unpro-

fessional. (3) You turn your back on your audience while you write on the board. This is

probably the major drawback of boards in general.

Boards continue to evolve. Interactive whiteboards can connect to a document

camera or a computer with markup software. You can then use “electronic markers” or

even your finger to overwrite material on the board. Finally, you can save your markups

to files and later retrieve, email, or print out.^23

Posters and Flip Charts

For convenience and economy, poster board is a low-tech option. Because it’s readily

available in a variety of weights and colors at campus bookstores and art supply stores,

posters are widely used—even by members of Congress. In the workplace, people who

give the same speech over and over, such as financial planners, often use professionally

prepared posters. They are effective with relatively small audiences, but at greater

distances posters are difficult to see, and small details don’t show up. In addition, you

interactive whiteboards

connects to other technol-

ogy; you can overwrite

material and then save your

markups

Today’s technology provides

many ways to display visuals

in a variety of situations.

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