Using Visual Aids Effectively “Where’s the darn flipchart in this room?”

Why Use Visual Aids? They save time and add interest They improve listener understanding They improve listener retention They allow for different learning styles

Verbal and Visual Recall

Types of Visual Aids: Advantages and Disadvantages Overhead Transparencies Slides Flip Charts and Posters Objects and Models Handouts Whiteboards and Chalkboards Computer Assisted Audiovisuals

Guidelines for VAs The VA should never become the REASON for the speech The VA should be appropriate for the length and format of the speech Know what technology will be available to you The higher the tech, the more you need redundancy and backup--Burnett’s rule of VA

Size Matters This is a 72 point f This is a 60 point font

This is a sans serif font--This is Arial Type Fonts Serif fonts versus Sans Serif fonts This is a sans serif font--This is Arial This is a font with serifs--This is Times New Roman

More On Fonts Please see the overhead projector for more on fonts

Additional Guidelines for Text Use only 4-6 lines of text per VA Use phrases, not full sentences Use Upper Case and Lower Case for ease of reading Leave the same space at the top of a VA Limit lines to no more than 40 characters

Use Clip Art to Keep Interest The text can be placed here on the left, and the picture on the right

How Not to Use PowerPoint In most situations, PowerPoint should NOT be used as a running outline as we do here! Use PowerPoint to generate illustrations of particular data points or pieces of support Slides are easily printed to overheads using specialized inkjet and laser jet overheads (print on the rough side!) Kinko’s (and others) can do the job!