At some point we've all had to sit through a boring presentation.
The really scary part is that some of us may have given a boring
presentation! Your job as the presenter is to convey the vitally
important information so that your audience will retain it. That
sounds really simple, but the fact of the matter is that it isn't
that easy. Engaging with your audience is a hard thing to do. A
study preformed at the University of California in Los Angeles
found that presentations that included visual aids helped to increase
the audiences' attention. The study found that 55% of the audience
learned directly from the visuals. Another 38% learned directly
from the audio messages given. When these to stimuli are used together
93% of your audience would be able to learn the information.
The Wharton Research Center found that your audience would only
retain 7% of the information presented, if it is only verbally
given. When visuals are used along with a verbal presentation the
retention rate will climb to 38%. The study also found that presenters
that used visuals achieved 67% of their objectives. The presenters
that did not use visuals only achieved 33% of their objectives.
From these statistics it is easy to see how visuals can help you
educate your audience. Armed with this information about how visuals
can impact your audience we want to help you create a high impact
presentation. As the saying goes "a picture is worth a thousand
words" but if you use too many pictures or graphics your message
can be lost. This article will cover three types of visuals that
you can use - clip art, pictures, and video.
Clip art is a quick and easy way to add a visual to your presentation.
Since clip art is so easy to use, it's also easy to get carried
away. You do not want to have clip art on every slide or it will
work against you. Mixing up your slides will help you to be more
effective when presenting. The general rule is to add a visual
every 3-5 slides. Along with being quick and easy, clip art will
retain its quality if you scale up or down. Microsoft Office come
with some clip art already installed for you to use. You can also
buy clip art for your specific need.
Pictures are becoming easier to incorporate because of scanners
and digital cameras. The greatest benefit of using a picture is
that it shows the actual product. Unlike clip art, if you were
to talk about a new product you can show the actual product, not
just a representation. This can help if you want to be very specific
about your topic. Pictures tell us so much about a product or service.
If you were to see a picture of a young-smiling person in an advertisement
for a customer service company, you feel that the company is pleasant
to deal with and was on the cutting edge. Your audience will subconsciously
receive messages from your visuals that will say volumes more than
your words. That is why it is so important to select your visuals
wisely.
Video is the latest thing in Power Point presentations. Video
clips can be added to your presentation as easily as a picture.
This will captivate your audience the way no other visual can.
By providing action to your presentation you ensure that your message
is reaching your audience. Keep the clips to no more than 20 seconds.
You will not want every slide to contain a video or it will lose
its uniqueness but mixing one in every 10 slide will keep your
audience on their toes.
About
Jennifer Rotondo
