Delivering Memorable Presentations With Visual Aids

Just like in public speaking, many people find giving a presentation, especially to a large group, to be a tremendous challenge. It is very likely that at some time in your career as a business person, you will be asked to make a presentation to workshops, partners, or colleagues. Being a little nervous is a sign that you want to do well, but just as in public speaking being overly nervous or scared might pose a problem. With a little practice you can learn to overcome your anxieties or fears and make informative and memorable presentations.

The use of visual aids, coupled with good public speaking skills, work hand-in-hand to create effective presentations. Your speaking style and stage presence are personal talents that you can refine with much practice and experience. However, much emphasis is given to visual aids which are essential to all successful presentations. Here are a couple of essentials that will help to give an effective presentation with the use of visual aids.

KNOW THE AUDIENCE

It is essential that you know who will make up your audience in order to produce an effective presentation. For example, if you are presenting a presentation to a group of entrepreneur or small business owners, what you will present will differ from delivering a presentation to a roomful of corporate executives. Your business owners are going to be interested in basic ideas or explanations of helpful tips that will aid their businesses. Whereas executives are usually entertained by reports, statistics, graphs, and charts. Now if your audience is a mixture of both, then you will need to know that.

Once you have prepared your presentation accordingly, allow some time at the very start for a brief introductory engagement if possible. You can start by telling your audience a little about yourself. Then, depending on the size of your group, what you can do is to invite them to introduce themselves individually. Going back to your small business owners for an example, get each to briefly stand, give their names and the type of business they are in. You are not going to remember all of their names, but try your best to remember a few, to start off with. This will serve four purposes.

(1) You and your group are getting acquainted on a personal level.
(2) You will become more relax since you may be already gaining information as to what they may need specifically to assist them.
(3) Your audience will see that you are genuinely interested in them as individuals, and for this they will warm up to you rather quickly.
(4) This will encourage good audience interaction which is something you may like to include as part of your presentation.

If you know ahead of time that you are presenting a presentation to somewhat a larger group, then if you have time, greet people as they arrive to engage in light conversation. This will help you to be more relaxed knowing that you are not talking to a group of strangers.

CHOOSING THE APPROPRIATE TOOLS

Visual aid help your presentation make things happen. They help you reach your objectives by providing emphasis to whatever is being said. Clear pictures multiply the audience's level of understanding of the material presented, and they should be used to reinforce your message, clarify points, and create excitement.

Visual aids and audio-visuals include a wide variety of communication products, including flip charts, overhead transparencies, slides, audio-slide shows, Power Point presentations, and video tapes. Demonstrating a process or simply passing around a sample of some equipment or model are also effective way to clarify messages visually. If visual aids are poorly selected or inadequately done, they will distract from what you are saying.

You can learn more on how to deliver memorable presentations with visual aids in just 40 pages-with the help of the eBook entitled "Public Speaking and Public Presentations."

In this eBook you'll learn such things as how to train the memory, how to take control of your audience. Are you a student? You will learn how to speak confidently in front of your class. If you need to present a presentation using visuals, this book will help by giving some tips on how to effectively get the most of visual aids tools such as Power Point, videotape, or a 35 millimeter slides and more.

With the help of this publication, "Public Speaking and Public Presentation," you'll be provided with the basics to excel in one, or the other, or perhaps both without having to read hundreds of pages of material. Whether you have an agenda to speak on, or if it's a matter of choosing a topic and doing research, you can no doubt be successful in delivering memorable presentations with visual aids.

For more information on this comprehensive 40 page eBook, go to http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005EM6THC. RTJ Online blog at http://regjackonline.com/?page_id=765, provides self-help informations and tips on social media topics, to help you get the most of using social media tactics and ideals.

By Reginald Jackson