Public Speaking:  The Top 6 Tips for Using Visual Aids in Your Presentation

People remember 30% of what they hear. 40% of what they see and 50% of what they see and hear.

Thus, using visual aids when doing a presentation is a fantastic way to boost what people remember of what you say.

The key is to remember that presentations are communication.  The danger is to let the visual aid take over your presentation and communication.  Remember, the most powerful visual aid is you.  No set of power point slides or other graphics can be as engaging as the speaker.

Thus, here are some tips to keep the balance just right between you, the speaker as center of focus, and the wonderful tool of using visual aids.

Tips for Successfully Incorporating Presentation Aids into Your Speech

1. Talk to your audience rather than to the screen. Don’t turn your back to the audience.
2. Concentrate on maintaining eye contact with the audience.
3. Avoid putting the aid directly behind you. Place it to one side so that the entire audience can see it and you can move away from it and still face the audience.
4. Display the aid only when you are ready to discuss it.
5. Incorporate any aid you plan to use into your practice session. Continue to practice with the aids until you are confident that you can handle them without causing undue distractions.
6. Best way to use a pointer is that once you’ve indicated the point you wish to make with the pointer, then put it down.