Visual Aids for presentations A brief guide

Visual Aids for Presentations  Two main types  Overhead Projector  Presentation software

Features of both  OHP  Simple and robust  Widely available  Presentation software  Less widely available – needs a computer  Flexible  Easy to change or tailor presentation to different audiences

Features  Face the audience and display material  Easy and Quick to prepare  Can use slides as notes.

Planning  Aims of presentation  Information to be included  Layout of slides  Keep your audience in mind  Timing/number of slides.  Aim for min. per slide

Content  Slides are best used for  Highlighting key points as single words or short phrases  Illustrating material in the form of charts or diagrams eg. drawings of equipment, organisation charts or spider diagrams  Summarising numeric data (in graphical form)

Design  Title page: Title slightly above centre  Make quick and easy to read  Use large lettering (20 point minimum)  8 words/line, 8 lines maximum per slide  Keep diagrams clear, large and simple  Use colour for highlighting  Even if using OHP, use PowerPoint to create slides  Default fonts are of a good size.

The presentation  Check the equipment beforehand  Face your audience  Use a pen or mouse to point  Stand where the audience can see the screen

Some things to avoid  Using more than four colours  Using more than two typefaces  Slides full of text (especially with small lettering)  complex diagrams

Acknowledgement Based on “A guide to the use of the overhead projector” by Gareth Jones of ASDU, University of Teesside