You can get your message across much more successfully by using visual aids than you can by just talking. Your presentation will be more effective and more memorable. People will only remember about twenty per cent of what they hear and about fifty per cent of what they see. However, they will remember about eighty per cent of what they hear and see.
So using visual aids can be a very good thing. However, please remember that they are just an aid. We have seen far too many presentations go wrong where the speakers have clearly spent all their time producing attractive visual aids but not thought enough about what their mission statement was and how the visual aids could best be used to achieve the mission.
A visual aid can be something as simple as a flip chart or as complicated as a PowerPoint presentation with integrated audio and video. However the basic approach should always be the same; only use the aid if it helps you achieve your goal. Here are three questions you should ask yourself:
Are they appropriate for your audience?
If you are making the after-lunch presentation at a sales conference, you will want to have loud and brash visual aids that will keep your audience amused and awake. However, if you are presenting to the board of directors, you will want to have more sober visual aids.
Are they relevant to your mission?
Creating visual aids can be great fun. However, don’t get carried away. If it doesn’t help your mission, you shouldn’t use it. Just because you have information, it doesn’t mean you have to use it.
Are they visible to your audience?
Wherever possible, you need to check out the room where you will be giving your presentation in advance. In a large room, a flip chart is often unreadable from the back of the room. You’d be much better off using an OHP. If you write by hand, write big and clearly. If you type, use a larger font. If you are giving a PowerPoint presentation, check how they are going to be projected on the screen; stand at the back of the room and flip through the slides using your wireless mouse.