The quality of your presentation aids is a critical factor in the audience’s perception of
your credibility
as a speaker.
Audience members typically have thirty seconds or less to view a presentation aid, so
speakers should consider simple design aids, with minimal text.
21
Designing Presentation
Aids
<A> OBJECTIVES
To present one major idea per aid.
To apply the same design decisions to each aid.
To use type large enough to be read comfortably.
To use color carefully.
<A> CHAPTER CONTENT OUTLINE
I.
Designing presentation
aids
A.
B.
Focus on making
your aids easy to see
and decipher as well as consistent in design.
II.
Keeping the design simple
A.
B.
Each point or idea should be assigned to a separate slide.
1.
Use the six-by-six rule, using no more than six words in a line
and six lines on
one slide.
2.
Construct your text in active verb forms and parallel grammatical structure.
3.
Allow plenty of white space for viewers.
4.
Create concise titles that summarize content and reinforce
your message.
C.
Avoid cluttering
your slides with unnecessary
graphics and text.
D. Use consistent design elements.
1. To help maintain continuity, carry
any key design elements—color, font,
uppercase and lowercase
letters, styling (boldface, underlining, italics)—
throughout each aid.
2.
Continuity ensures that viewers don’t become too distracted by various visual
elements.
III.
Selecting appropriate
typeface styles and fonts
A. A typeface
is a specific style of lettering. Typefaces come in a variety of fonts, sizes,
and upper and lower cases.
B. There
are two major categories of typeface.
1.
Serif typefaces
include small flourishes, or strokes, at the tops and bottoms of
each letter. Serif typefaces are easier on the eye
and should be used for the
body of a presentation aid.
2.
Sans serif typefaces
are
more block-like and linear. Small amounts of text,
such as headings, are best viewed in sans serif type.
C.
Two minor categories of font are script and novelty.
1. Script is cursive, like handwriting.
2. Novelty
font is unique and flashy.
a. It has a place in aids because it grabs attention, but should be used
the least because it can be hard to read and process quickly from a
distance.
D.
Several general rules should be considered when choosing type styles.
1.
Check lettering for legibility, taking into consideration the audience’s distance
from the presentation. Most text for on-screen projection should be a
minimum of 18 points or larger. Titles or headings should be 36 points or
larger, subheadings should be at least 24 points, and regular text should be at
least 18-point type.
2.
Check that the lettering stands apart from the background.
3.
Use a common typeface that is simple, readable, and not distracting.
4.
Use both uppercase
and lowercase type, as this is easier to read than all
capitals.
5.
Use any more than two typefaces in a single visual aid.
6.
Don’t overuse boldface, italics, or underlining. Use them sparingly to call
attention to important items.
IV.
Using color carefully
A.
Color has the ability to draw attention to key points, set the mood of a presentation,
and make things easier to see.
B.
Consider the meanings associated with colors, as well as being careful not to make a
presentation aid unreadable.
C.
The following brief guidelines can help you incorporate color effectively:
1.
Keep the background
color of the aid constant.
2.
Use bold, bright colors
to highlight and emphasize important points.
Certain colors can evoke different meanings by profession or culture, so consider the
subjective interpretations your audience may have when creating your presentation
aids.
3. For typeface and graphics, use colors that contrast rather than clash with or
blend into the background color.
4. Limit the number of colors you use. No more than three to four are usually
sufficient for simple presentation aids.
D.
<A> KEY
TERMS
six-by-six rule
a rule of design according to which the speaker does not include more
than six words on a line or six lines on one PowerPoint slide or other kind of visual aid.
typeface
a specific style
of lettering, such as
Arial, Times Roman, or Courier. Typefaces
come in a variety of fonts, or sets of sizes (called the “point size”), and uppercase and
lowercase.
serif typefaces typefaces that include small flourishes, or strokes, at the top and bottom
of each letter; see
also sans serif typefaces.
sans serif typefaces typefaces that are block-like
and linear and are designed without tiny
strokes or flourishes at the top or bottom of each letter; see
also serif typefaces.
CHAPTER STUDY GUIDE
I. SUMMARY QUESTIONS
What are some of the factors to consider when
preparing a presentation aid?
Many
considerations are
important in constructing an effective visual aid. First, speakers should
How can speakers keep the design of a presentation aid simple? How can speakers keep the
design consistent?
In order to achieve simplicity, speakers should assign each point a separate slide, word slides in
What is the difference between serif and sans serif typeface, and when should both be used
in a presentation aid?
Serif typefaces include small flourishes, or strokes, at the tops and bottoms of each letter. They
What are some tips for using color?
The background color should be constant, using colors consistently across all slides. Pay
II. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
What are your own personal challenges for preparing and
using presentation aids?
This is a good question to ask when getting students to express their anxieties about public
Have you ever been distracted by poor presentation aid design? What specifically did you
find distracting?
Consider asking this question before lecturing over the chapter
content so that you can make
a
What design techniques do you find most helpful and effective?
This question will likely
evoke a variety of responses. Make sure to connect student comments to
III. ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS AND ACTIVITIES
QUESTIONS
The following questions may help you illustrate important points in the chapter and facilitate
students’ learning of this material. These questions can be used as:
homework questions
quizzes
in-class work (individually or in groups)
topics to generate discussion
question-and-answer sessions between instructor and students
Regardless of the type of aid
used, there are some common guidelines for creating all visual
aids. List as many of these guidelines as you can.
1.
Keep it simple—assign each point a separate slide and follow the six-by-six rule
What is the six-by-six rule?
The six-by-six rule means that you should use no more than six words in a line and six lines on
one slide.
What are some limitations in the use of presentation aids?
Presentation aids should be relevant, clear, and simple. Remember that you are giving a speech,
ACTIVITIES
The Ideal Presentation Aid (also for online courses)
Purpose: To help students brainstorm presentation aids that they might use in their own
speeches.
Instructions: Have students form groups of five. Ask them to decide what the ideal visual aid
would be for the following speeches. Ask students to consider the various types of aids
An informative speech about the different wineries in the Napa Valley
(presentation software, audio or video, flowcharts, graphs, slides, photographs, etc.) and to
decide how they
would present them in the context of each speech.
An informative demonstration speech that explains how to change
a tire
An informative speech about the federal budget
A persuasive speech that opposes violent content in children’s television programming
An informative speech about teenage pregnancy
A persuasive speech in favor of multicultural education
An informative demonstration speech that explains
how to pack for
a camping trip
An informative speech on the history of Facebook
A persuasive speech in favor of condom use over other forms of birth control
An informative speech on how
to carve a pumpkin
Editing PowerPoint Presentations
Purpose: To help students apply the design principles discussed in the chapter; to reduce anxiety
about creating visual aids.
Instructions: Before
class, design a brief PowerPoint presentation, with three to five slides, on a
topic of your choice. Design the PowerPoint as poorly as you can. Use colors that clash, fonts
that are hard to read, slides crammed with too much information, and so forth. Ask students to
edit the presentation according to the principles discussed in the chapter. This activity will
probably
need to be completed outside of class, but students can bring in printouts of their
revisions for course credit. You might also consider placing students in groups to accomplish this
activity.
If this is the first time
you give an assignment that involves PowerPoint, you may
want
to check to ensure that campus computers contain the necessary software, so that all students can
complete the activity.
The Dos and Don’ts of
Presentation Aids
Purpose: To create an awareness of the effective
use of presentation aids.
Instructions: This activity should be used at the beginning of the chapter (prior to the
instructor’s lecture/discussion on the text). Students should create a list of dos and don’ts for
using presentation aids. This can be done individually, in small groups, or as a class. Ask
students to list the worst presentation aids they have seen, citing specific mistakes made.
Discussion: After students have read the chapter and the instructor has discussed it, ask them to
revisit the list and include additional elements from the text.
Evaluating Use of Presentation Aids
Purpose: To have students practice evaluating presentation aids based on the guidelines in
Chapters 20 and 21.
Instructions: View a video of sample speeches in which the speaker uses presentation aids.
Write a brief description of the aids used in the presentation, and evaluate the speaker’s choice of
aids. Could you read the font and typeface? Do you remember anything
about the colors that
Let other class members critique the newly created visual aids based on information
learned in Chapters 20 and 21. This activity could be assigned one
class period before
groups
give their presentations. The visual aid should be relevant to the speech and appropriately
designed based on guidelines in the text. These presentation aids may be
good to save for
examples in future classes.
were used? Do you think these were
good choices for the topic? Which aids would you use
for
the same topic?
Show videos of speeches given in previous semesters and have students watch them in
class, or locate speech videos on the Internet to play in class. Things students need to consider
are the type of visual aid (e.g., graph, chart) used, its visibility, appropriateness for the audience,
and so on. If students are asked to turn in written evaluations of presentation aids, make sure
their reports include
elements learned in Chapters 20 and 21 of the text.
IV. GROUP ACTIVITIES
Collaborating to Create a Visual
Purpose: To have students collaborate with group members to create a presentation aid for an
existing speech.
Instructions:
Have students form groups to watch a famous speech or a video from a previous
class. The speech viewed should not include a presentation aid. Each group should create a
presentation aid for the speech it views, paying particular attention to the typeface styles, font
sizes, and colors selected.
This is a simple icebreaker activity to initiate discussion of Chapter 21. It works best if
you display the colors red, black, and white, which have multiple meanings. Also, using more
obscure colors may
generate some creative
answers.
The Meanings in Color
Purpose: To ask students to explore and identify
their culture’s interpretations of colors.
Instructions:
Prior to presenting
content material from Chapter 21 of the text, students should
form pairs or groups. Hold up a series of colored crayons. Ask each group to discuss its
interpretation of the meaning of the
colors shown.
Have
group members write down their thoughts. After you have presented several
crayons, ask each group to share its ideas on the
cultural meaning of the colors. How are
group
members’ ideas shaped by
American culture? Would these ideas be different if students were
from another country? How?