Tips for Preparing Visual Aids during a Presentation

Visual aids of all types will be useful when used in the right way at the right time. Remember that visual aids are just that – aids. You should not decide upon them first and build your presentation around them. Do it the other way round – plan your sessions, ensure the structure of the entire event is balanced and only then start to assess what visual aids would enhance your presentation. The key word here is ‘enhance’ – the addition of any visual aids should improve your presentation and help towards achieving your training objectives. This principle applies whether you are conduction a web based or traditional presentation. Here are some dos and don’ts:

- Do use visual aids when they enhance your message. They will break up your presentation, helping to avoid boredom amongst your audience and also making it easier to understand.
- Do not use poor quality visual aids. Slides, for example, should be easy to read and have an obvious message. If they are difficult to read or contain too much information, revise them – they will only detract from your message. Better slides will help you to get your message across.
- Do not use visual aids when they are irrelevant – they may be full of fancy effects or technical wizardry, but if they do not help in achieving your learning objective, leave them out. And while we’re on the subject of technical wizardry, don’t get carried away because then all the attendees will see are the special effects that you have used rather than your message.
- Do not use visual aids if you are not familiar with the equipment. You will not get your audience to learn anything while you are fiddling with conference software, or a projector switch. You must familiarize yourself with all the equipment well before the training session and practice, practice, practice.
- Do not use too many visual aids. Try to strike a balance between using aids, such as videos and graphs, and exercises that people can get involved in. Sitting and watching can become boring.

Top tips for preparing visual aids
- Do use visual aids – they will improve your audiences level of understanding and retention
- Don’t make them too complicated – if your audience is fascinated by the graphics and animation, they may miss your real message
- use visual aids to help you to break up the monotony for others – and for you
- Don’t merely present pages of written information copied on to acetates. This is unimaginative, difficult to see, and uninspiring … use bullet-pointed lists
- Don’t put lots of numbers on a visual aid – far better to present numerical information in the form of a graph or chart
- make your visual aids tidy and legible – too many words are difficult to digest
- Do not put any unnecessary information – such as you company logo or the date that you prepared a slide – on an visual aids – it will detract from your message; everything ; the slide should be there for a purpose – it should illustrate, explain or reinforce the point that you are trying to get across
- take care that the information you present with your visual aids is not too complicated – if you have to explain the information on a slide, for example, then it needs simplifying
- use color in your presentation to increase attention span – different colored fonts can improve your visual aids, but remember not to make them too busy
- Do choose the right sort of font for your slides: sans serif fonts – the ones without the little feet to connect the letters – such as Arial, make slides easier to read from a distance (this is another reason why you should not merely photocopy pages from your notes onto slides); serif fonts, such as Times New Roman, are ideal for notes and books but a different approach is needed for slides
- Don’t use a visual aid unless you are certain that it will improve that particular part of your presentation
- Do practice using visual aids before presenting the course
- Don’t forget to check any machines – laptop, OHP, pointing devices, etc. – immediately before each session; the failure of bulbs and electrical connections during a session is very distracting and, in my experience as both a delegate and a presenter, is more common than you might think
- Do use real objects – touch is a powerful learning medium
- Don’t hand out product samples or other objects during your presentation as this will merely distract your audience; plan their use carefully (this also applies to written handouts)