Selecting and Preparing Presentation Aids

Inappropriate Presentation Aids

The presentation aids you select should be appropriate for the audience, context, purpose and the topic.  Since you are likely to be giving your presentation in a classroom setting, use common sense about the items you choose for your presentation.  Obviously, you should not bring in drugs, alcohol, firearms or weapons of any kind (including those used for martial arts).  Pets or animals may or may not be appropriate – some animals are quite comfortable in new or strange surroundings, but many are not.  Live animals can also be a distraction to the audience, taking the focus away from the valuable information you are presenting.

Additionally, be aware of possible phobias that your audience may have.  For example, a snake or a rodent that you consider a pet may cause extreme anxiety or discomfort to someone in the audience.  Topics of this sort should be discussed with your instructor beforehand.

Presentation Aids to Avoid

Do not use chalkboards or whiteboards.  Using the board requires you to turn your back to the audience, which reduces audience involvement.  Also, the writing on a chalkboard or whiteboard can be easily smeared or accidentally erased.  Also, avoid drawing on standard letter size paper. 

Anything that can be put on a chalkboard or whiteboard or a piece of paper can be made into a slide or a poster which allows you to prepare your presentation aids in advance, rehearse with them, and use them effectively during the presentation.

Visual Aid Preparation

When you prepare your aids, keep both your audience and your topic in mind. Presentation aids must be easy for the audience to see and understand.  Use the following suggestions when preparing visual aids:

• Keep it simple. PowerPoint, Prezi slides, Google slides, or whatever format you use, should have minimal text and maximum visual appeal.  If you have a lot of detail to cover, put it on several slides rather than pack it all onto one.  Use the “less is more ” principle: less text and more images are more effective. (Watch the TED Talk “How to Avoid Death by PowerPoint” by David Phillips for additional information)
• Make it large enough for the person in the farthest part of the room to see easily. Use a large, distinct font on slides. If you want to show small objects, consider also using a slide of the object so it can be seen easily. For example, photographs, whether in a book or actual photographs, are usually too small to be seen effectively.  Showing them on the screen will be more effective.
• Text of any kind must be large enough to be read easily. Contrary to what many slide templates offer, the title font should be smaller than the font used for the content. Also, the background should be dark and the lettering light. The darker background is much easier on the eyes and allows the text and images to stand out. (Phillips)
• As an alternative, you can use poster board for charts, graphs, or drawings, or as backing for pictures which you want to show. Avoid newsprint, lined paper, or other flimsy paper which you will find difficult to handle during your presentation, and which is also very noisy and distracting when moved.  Use Velcro dots to attach parts of a diagram or other visuals.
• Be selective if you are bringing in actual items as your visual aids. Bring in items at various stages of preparation, or items that represent a whole category or collection of items.  For example, a student who gave her presentation on how to prepare a 72-hour emergency kit identified four categories of items to pack: first aid, shelter, food and water, and clothing.  However, she did not bring in everything needed in the kit.  She brought in a few representative items for each category and then offered a more detailed checklist in a handout provided at the end of the presentation.

How to Use Presentation Aids During the Presentation

• Before you begin, test your slides or video clips on the computer you will be using for the presentation, as computers in the classroom may work a bit differently than your computer at home. With classroom computers, it is more reliable to email your slides to yourself or save them to a cloud drive than to use a USB, since classroom computers are often programmed to prevent an unrecognized source from loading.
• Talk to the audience, not to your presentation aid; speak to the audience rather than look at the slide or computer screen. Avoid reading to the audience.
• Stand to one side rather than in front of the visual aid when you are referring to it.
• Be near the visual aid when it is time to use it. If you are away from the aid when it is time to use it, either pause and walk to it, or just keep speaking while you get to the aid.  Do not apologize or draw attention to the fact that you are moving to get to the presentation aid.
• When changing slides, click to make the change and then move away from the computer station to avoid getting “stuck” in a confining location. Or, even better, ask a classmate to change the slides for you or see if your instructor has a presentation clicker. (You may even want to get one for yourself – many are around $12 – $15)
• Make sure that your aids can be easily seen and/ or heard by everyone in the audience. For slides, use a large (28 – 40 point) font, and remember to use light lettering on a dark background.  If you have small objects, hold them up and forward, and toward each side of the room.  If you are using drawings or charts, make sure they are large enough for all to see and understand.  Prepare drawings or charts as you would a slide, using large, clear print and images.  Avoid using small images or too much detail.
• Talk while “doing”. If you assemble or make something during the presentation, continue to speak and describe what you are doing.  Avoid long pauses.
• Use visual aids as they correspond to the content of your presentation. Visual aids should be shown when they pertain to a specific point in the presentation. When you are finished with a particular visual aid, change to a neutral slide, or cover it up, or move it out of the center of view.
• Do not pass anything out to the audience during the presentation as they would then be watching for their “turn” rather than listening to you. If you have something to pass out to the audience, wait until the presentation is finished.
• Never apologize if a slide gets mixed up, or a visual aid falls over or the computer does not work the way you planned. Simply pause, fix it if you can, and carry on.  Remember, it is just an aid.  Even if it you cannot fix it, you should still be able to go forward with your presentation.