Using Graphics and Other Effective Visuals in Presentations



Effective Presentations

Types of Presentations

Presentations are used to summarize, defend, or argue important ideas to an audience. Types of presentations include the following:

• Microsoft® PowerPoint® allows users to design and present information in a slideshow.

Section I: Overview of the Process of the Preparing Presentation Slides: A Tutorial by John Battalio at explains the two main reasons for using presentation slides.

PowerPoint® is one of the most common media forms in the business environment as well as in your program at Axia College.

• Oral presentations are used to discuss topics in front of audiences. Effective oral presentations include the use of visuals or graphics.

• Reports consist of several different types of communication. For example, a formal report in business may be designed to convey sales results or suggested policy changes. An informal report may be an email from you to your boss outlining the results of your recent research.

• Flyers or brochures are usually short documents with graphics or pictures and limited text. For example, a brochure about a local spa might show pictures of the spa, someone receiving a massage, and someone exercising. The brochure would probably highlight the spa’s attractions and list the address and hours of operation.

Creating a Microsoft® PowerPoint® Presentation

Creating an effective presentation can be intimidating if you have never developed one. A presentation can, however, be as simple or involved as the creator's imagination. Using visuals in your presentations can help channel your creativity. A visual is an object or image other than plain text. Visuals include slides, pictures, graphics, or charts. The visuals included in your presentation must relate to the content and illustrate or supplement the text.

Analyzing the Audience and Purpose

Focusing on the audience members and their needs is the key to creating a presentation. Similar to writing, presentations must have a purpose and pertain to your audience. When creating a purpose statement, ask yourself, What do I want my audience to learn? or What do I want my audience members to walk away with that differs from what they arrived with? Answering these questions helps define your purpose.

Next, analyze your audience by asking the following questions about your audience:

• Who is my audience? Look again at age, gender, and nationality. Additionally, consider education or skill level based on the topic presented. For example, delivering an oral presentation about investment opportunities to a group of older individuals is different than delivering the same presentation to a group of younger individuals who can invest for a longer time and probably take more risks with their money.

• How familiar is my audience with the presentation topic? If you are using a PowerPoint® slideshow to demonstrate a new product to your coworkers, determine how much they already know about the product. If they know nothing or very little, you would explain basics such as terminology and purpose of the product. On the other hand, if you were using a PowerPoint® presentation to convey sales results to your managers, they would already know the terminology; they would just be concerned with hearing the results and possibly seeing graphs or charts to illustrate the information.

• What key information does my audience need? If you are using a flyer to present information on a topic that is broad, but you have only a small space to present the information, what are the most important facts your audience needs to know? You must focus on those few main points.

Ideas and Materials in Microsoft® PowerPoint® Presentations

A PowerPoint® presentation must give “life” to an outline of your main points. After you have gathered all the information for your presentation, organize it into main points that can be used as topics for your presentation.

View Section 1C of the Preparing Presentation Slides: A Tutorial by John Battalio at to see an outline format and example.

The following suggestions can help you outline a strong PowerPoint® presentation:

• Start with a title slide or visual.

• The next slide or visual should be an overview or an agenda of the PowerPoint® presentation.

• The “body” slides are the bulk of your PowerPoint® presentation and include the content on which you are focusing.

• Include a summary slide or visual to highlight the main points near the end of the presentation.

• Decide whether or not you will have time for Q & A’s (Questions and Answers). Most oral presentations using a format such as PowerPoint® include a slide at the end for questions. If you email a PowerPoint® presentation or hand out a report, add a statement at the end, such as If you have further questions or needs regarding this presentation, please feel free to email or call me.

Designing Visual Aids for PowerPoint® Presentations

Visual aids help draw your audience's attention to your ideas and points. When designing visual aids, keep it simple. Although visual aids can help draw your audience's attention to your points, complex or flashy visuals can draw your audience's attention away from your ideas and cause them to miss the purpose of the PowerPoint® presentation.

Visual aids must be legible and convey one idea per visual. View Section 1D-1G and Section II of the Preparing Presentation Slides: A Tutorial by John Battalio at to read tips about using graphics, creating slides, and revising a PowerPoint® presentation.

You may view an example of an effective PowerPoint® presentation on your aXcess page.

Oral Presentations

Oral presentations provide you with an opportunity to inform or persuade your audience in a face-to-face setting. In addition to logic, you can also use emotion to persuade your audience and leave them with a strong impression of your topic. Oral presentations may seem intimidating, but with good planning and practice, you can deliver an effective oral presentation.

Planning the Oral Presentation

When you plan for an oral presentation, analyze your audience just as you would for a PowerPoint® presentation. Decide who your audience is, how familiar your audience is with the topic you are presenting, and what key information your audience needs to understand.

During the planning stage, define your “take-away” point—the idea you want your audience members to understand and think about later. Focus on that point during the oral presentation and remove all unnecessary information. At the most, your oral presentation needs three main points.

Make sure your ideas relate to the audience’s skills and experiences. For example, if you are delivering an oral presentation to a group of people about your company’s product, they may not understand industry jargon. They may, however, understand if you show how the product could help in their personal lives.

Finally, in the planning stage, decide which visuals you will use. Using visuals for oral presentations is just as important as using visuals for PowerPoint® presentations. Simple visuals are usually best.

For more suggestions and tips on using visuals in oral presentations, view the Bedford tutorial at



Preparing for the Presentation

Delivering an oral presentation may seem agonizing. Writing your notes on small note cards and reviewing the information beforehand is important because the more familiar you are with the information, the better your delivery will be. It helps to practice the presentation in front of a friend, mirror, or video camera.

Delivering the Presentation

Open your oral presentation with something attention grabbing such as an anecdote or startling statement similar to the opening statement in a written essay.

If the oral presentation is in an appropriate, informal setting, considering asking questions during the presentation or developing other activities that involve your audience. The questions could relate to your topic to make the audience members think about it. Activities could include worksheets or hands-on projects related to your topic.

Make eye contact with your audience because people want to feel as if you are speaking to them one-on-one. You can use your note cards, but try not to look at them too often.

Speak loudly enough to be heard in the back of the room, enunciate your words, walk around a little (if you have enough room), and use minor gestures, such as using your hands to point to something or to emphasize an idea. In an oral speech, your voice and your body language can have much more of an emotional impact than a piece of persuasive writing. The audience members can actually see and hear you, and through these communications, they can be easily moved.

Close your oral presentation by restating your main point or by saying something positive. For example, if you are trying to motivate your employees to achieve better customer service, you might say, “Go out there and do it for yourself and for this company!”

Wrap-Up

Creating presentations can be a challenge. Not only must you decide what content to cover, but you must also decide how to convey that content to your audience in an effective manner. You want your presentation to be interesting and engaging, but do not get carried away with “cool” pictures and images that can overwhelm the audience. If you take all the above points into consideration, you should find the balance to drive home your points to the audience successfully.

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download