Public Speaking Handbook

290 14 Designing anD Using Presentation aiDs

Learning Objectives

14.1 Discuss five ways in which presentation aids help communicate

ideas to an audience.

14.2 Describe the types of presentation aids and identify tips for using

them effectively.

14.3 Identify guidelines for developing effective presentation aids.

14.4 Identify guidelines for effectively using presentation aids.

Perhaps it has happened to you. A professor flashes one PowerPointTM slide after

another while droning on about British history or some other topic. As you sit

there, bored out of your socks, you think, “Why doesn’t she just hand out the

PowerPoint slides or put them online and let us go? I don’t need her to read her

notes to me.” Following such a mind-numbing experience, you can understand

the phrase “death by PowerPoint.”

PowerPoint and the multitude of other presentation aids that speakers may

use—especially visual aids—are powerful tools. They can help communicate

your ideas with greater clarity and impact than can words alone. But they can

also overwhelm your speech or be so redundant that your audience tunes you

out. This chapter will help you to avoid being a PowerPoint “executioner” and

ensure that your presentation aids add life to your speech rather than killing

your message.

A presentation aid is any object that reinforces your point visually or aurally

so that your audience can better understand it. Charts, photographs, posters,

drawings, graphs, PowerPoint slides, movies, and videos are just some of the

14.3 Guidelines for Developing

Presentation Aids

Make Them Easy to See

Keep Them Simple

Select the Right Presentation Aid

Do Not Use Dangerous or Illegal

Presentation Aids

14.4 Guidelines for Using Presentation

Aids

Rehearse with Your Presentation

Aids

Make Eye Contact with Your

Audience, Not with Your

Presentation Aids

Explain Your Presentation Aids

Do Not Pass Objects among

Members of Your Audience

Use Animals with Caution

Use Handouts Effectively

Time the Use of Visuals to Control

Your Audience’s Attention

Use Technology Effectively

Remember Murphy’s Law

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