Chapter 12: Ideas & Materials for Instruction
CHAPTER 12: Supporting Your Ideas Visually
Overview Objectives Ideas for Instruction
Functions of Presentational Aids
Promoting Clarity ·Assisting
Retention ·Providing Emphasis ·
Providing Support ·Encouraging
Emotional Involvement ·Highlighting
Using Graphs to Communicate Data:
Some Practical and Ethical Guidelines
·Stimulating Interest ·Enhancing
Your Credibility·Highlighting Visual
Literacy ·Facilitating Extemporaneous
Delivery
pp. 238–246
12.1 Understand the diverse ways
that presentational aids can help you
as a speaker.
Discussion questions:
12a; 12b; 12c
Activities: 12a; 12b; 12c
Lecture ideas: 12a; 12b; 12c; 12d
Options for Presentational Aids
Computer-Generated Slide Shows ·
12.2 Describe the types of
presentational aids commonly
Discussion questions: 12c; 12d
Guidelines for Preparing
Presentational Aids
Employ an Actual Aid ·Design your
Aid for Quick Processing ·Strive for
Professional Quality ·Employ
“Silence” ·Anticipate Problems
pp. 250–252
12.3 Follow basic guidelines for
creating presentational aids.
Discussion questions: 12e; 12f;
12g; 12h
Activities: 12a; 12e
Lecture ideas: 12a; 12d
Form: Evaluation Form
Guidelines for Using Presentational
Aids
Practice! ·Preview in the Venue ·
12.4 Follow basic guidelines for
using presentational aids.
Discussion questions: 12i
Activities: 12a; 12e
Note:If your students will be using PowerPoint (or other software), be sure to tell them which versions of the
Ideas for Instruction
As noted elsewhere, you will not be able to cover everything in the text—nor should you attempt to (i.e.,
“The more we teach, the less they learn.”). I always “assume” students have read the assigned reading and
that my job as an instructor is to highlight a few, select ideas from the reading (or to introduce
supplemental material) for students to contemplate, reflect upon, and apply. My goal is to help them build
meaning and internalize what they have learned, retaining it for future use.
Chapter 12: Ideas & Materials for Instruction
spend more than 50 minutes per chapter. There are only so many days in the semester, after all.
For each activity or discussion item I offer, I also estimate how much time it would require. The actual
time required, of course, is going to vary from section to section depending on what students come up
with and where we—as a class—“go” with it. I always try to plan for the session (50-minute or 75-minute
or whatever) and build in enough flexibility to abbreviate, cut, or expand.
Discussion Questions. Use these to stimulate discussion and prompt reflection. As students process the
material at a deeper, more meaningful level, they likely will offer interesting observations or pose
provocative questions of their own. Make note of these, literally! Let students know when you’re
Note: Some discussion questions and/or activities have one or more corresponding PowerPoint slides.
Discussion Question 12a
Approximate time required: 2–4 min.
Why do speakers who fail to use graphs and charts, when providing statistical information in a speech,
“appear remiss?”
Are they not interested in promoting understanding? Are they lazy? After all, PowerPoint (and other
programs) allow easy creation of a chart or graph. Are they so dense as to not imagine a chart or graph
is needed? Whatever the case, the audience’s perceptions of the speaker will likely not be favorable!
Discussion Question 12b
Approximate time required: 3–5 min.
The authors note that “even a simple list can highlight key ideas as well as help listeners recall them.”
Obviously, a list can help an audience follow what you’re saying, but how about helping them remember
your ideas? Does that make sense? Why? What experiences do you have (exact or comparable) that might
suggest so?
In answering this, students will likely recall what is covered under the heading “Assisting Retention.”
In addition, they may note comparable experiences such as how they learn something (or perhaps
review for a test) via flashcards. Seeing something on a flashcard provides a visual exposure, which will
help them think more deeply as well as better remember.
Discussion Question 12c
Approximate time required: 3–5 min.
Chapter 12: Ideas & Materials for Instruction
Revealing the source of one’s visual content is not only ethical but it is also smart. Why?
Discussion Question 12d
Approximate time required: 3–5 min.
PowerPoint has many detractors. Why? Can you relate to the backlash against people using PowerPoint in
their presentations? On what basis? What correctives would you advise for anyone using slideware?
Responses likely will mirror the “advice” given in the highlighting feature: “How Not to Use
PowerPoint.” Students will likely have lots of “horror stories” that testify to the validity of those entries.
Discussion Question 12e
Approximate time required: 4–6 min.
One should design an aid for “quick processing” so listeners can grasp the meaning of the aid with minimal
effort. What should one do if she or he has something elaborate to present? For example, if a government
official is describing disaster relief measures in a hurricane-ravaged region, the official might begin with an
overview slide which functions as a preview, and then take each element of the preview and develop it, one
by one, with its own slide or slides. In the case of disaster relief, the overview might be as follows:
Rescue
Medical
Food/Water
Housing
Security
Discussion Question 12f
Approximate time required: 2–3 min.
When preparing a PowerPoint slideshow, how can one be “smart” with fonts?
Discussion Question 12g
Approximate time required: 2–3 min.
Why should a speaker illustrate only one idea in a chart, graph, or diagram (with the idea stated at the top),
Chapter 12: Ideas & Materials for Instruction
and likewise limit a video clip to illustrating a single idea?
In their responses, students should note how a single idea helps keep the message clear and simple. A
Discussion Question 12h
Approximate time required: 4–6 min.
What is “silence” in a slideshow, and why is it important?
In their responses, students should note how “silence” is auditory as well as visual. Auditory sound
effects can be annoying/distracting and should (as a general rule—see the note below) be avoided when
Discussion Question 12i
Approximate time required: 2–3 min.
Why is it important to practice with one’s presentational aids?
Practicing can allow one to present more smoothly, plus be more confident. If one hasn’t practiced,
something is more likely to go wrong, and the speaker also has one more thing to be nervous about.
Suggested Activities. Use these “hands-on” applications to get students actively involved with the material.
What we suggest often requires students to synthesize what is covered in the chapter, as well as what they
were to have learned from other chapters.
Activity 12a
Approximate time required: 14–16 min.
Presentational aids can enhance a speaker’s credibility. At times, though, they may do the opposite. What
guidelines would apply? Have students generate guidelines. Going group by group, have each group offer
and explain one of their guidelines. Once you have their complete inventory, compare their offerings with
ones such as these.
To enhance credibility, visual aids must be:
truly relevant/useful
Chapter 12: Ideas & Materials for Instruction
based on credible info
Activity 12b
Approximate time required: 5–7 min.
Assemble students into small groups (four to six persons per group) and have them contemplate the
following. After allowing around five minutes, have them report to the class.
Here are the directions: “The text mentions various pictures that have motivated action and policy.
It mentions, for example, the tsunami in Indonesia in 2004 and the hurricanes that hit the U.S. Gulf Coast in
2005, and how the international community came together to provide relief. It mentions the Vietnam War
and how the picture of fleeing children intensified and generated outrage over our involvement there. What
pictures can you identify that have changed history, and how so?”
Some “answers” might include:
The dash-cam video, released in November 2015, of Laquan Martin—a Chicago area teenager—shot 16
times. The police officer who shot him was charged with first-degree murder after the video’s release.
Protesters and civil rights activists took to the streets, demanding more investigations and police reform.
[Another, similarly horrific/troubling video came out of North Charleston, South Carolina, when an
officer shot Walter Scott, a 50-year-old man multiple times in the back as he fled on foot. That officer,
too, was charged with murder, following release/analysis of the video.]
The pictures of Malala Yousufzai, the 14-year-old Pakistani schoolgirl activist who was shot in the head
by the Taliban, sparked public outrage in her country and around the world. The issue of the rights of
women and girls (including the right to an education) were widely discussed.
Live streaming video of the oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico from the BP deep water drill site.
Those pictures, coupled with pictures of oil slicks, oil-soaked marshes, oil-drenched, suffering birds and
other wildlife, captured the public’s attention and generated outrage, concern, and numerous other
emotions, plus they prompted calls to rethink policy, consumer behavior, and more.
Chapter 12: Ideas & Materials for Instruction
The pictures of the civil war in the former Yugoslavia and the ethnic cleansing there. The steady stream
of pictures on the news motivated American and U.N. involvement.
Activity 12c
Approximate time required: 13–15 min.
Help students understand and develop visual literacy. First, have students read/review Highlighting Visual
Literacy: The Visual Dimension of Critical Listening. Next, place students in groups of four or five. Ask
Activity 12d
Approximate time required: 18–20 min.
Have your students work in small groups (four to six persons) to devise presentational aids for
hypothetical speeches. Assign each group a topic and brief description of the areas covered in the speech,
and let them take it from there. Instruct them to describe whatever aids they believe are appropriate and
explain 1) why the aid is appropriate, and 2) how they would devise the aid. They do not need to be an
expert on the areas described; they simply need to contemplate what type of visual assistance would be
appropriate and why. Sample topics and descriptions could include:
2) Tornadic activity in the United States. Number of tornadoes during the past decade, location and
3) High school dropouts in the United States. Overall number, plus the trend in the last 20 years.
Demographical comparisons. Common reasons for quitting school. Possible solutions.
4) Which world powers have nuclear weapons? What specific type(s) of nuclear devices does each
nation have, and what is the weapon’s destructive power? How many of each type does each
Activity 12e
Approximate time required: 13–15 min. Relevant pages: 298–301 & 296–298.
Have students work in groups (four to six persons) to compile a list of things to do and things to
avoid in the use of presentational aids. Tell them to think about various real life instances that
were instructive, as well as any parodies they have seen of public speakers by comedians that
likewise were instructive, and so on.
After they have had about five minutes to compile their lists, take turns among the groups
Chapter 12: Ideas & Materials for Instruction
having each offer one of its pointers. Briefly discuss each pointer as it is offered. Create a master
list on the board.
Continue taking pointers, group by group, item by item, quickly, until all pointers are listed in the
Lecture Ideas. Some elements in the chapter lend themselves to careful review and/or some
supplemental material. Either way, you’ll amplify something that deserves amplification. We’ll offer
some suggestions, often providing one or more corresponding PowerPoint slides.
Lecture 12a: Use one or more of the slides from the PowerPoint slideshow that accompanies this chapter
and prepare your own examples as illustrations of the concepts featured on the slide(s). Break up the
“lecture” by including some of the discussion questions we provide and/or an activity or two. Any
individual slide can function as either a preview or review of an activity or discussion item.
As noted previously, feel free to edit down the slides, observing the various principles outlined in
Lecture 12b: Using the PowerPoint slides we provide for this chapter, help students understand the
difference between employing a traditional versus nontraditional orientation in a bar graph. Note how we
are “trained” to understand the conventional arrangement. Because of our training, that which is
Lecture 12c: Contemplate how pictures can encourage emotional involvement, and consider what guidelines
might apply. Can one go too far with images, for example? Studies by scholars in communication and
scholars in psychology find that we can, indeed, go too far. For example, during the Vietnam War a video
of an actual execution (via pistol shot to the head) was widely circulated to underscore the brutality of the
enemy. Many viewers resented being subjected to those images. They did not need to see such violence to
understand the horror. (Perhaps the various beheadings of captives, broadcast on the Arab News Network’s
Chapter 12: Ideas & Materials for Instruction
Lecture 12d: Using PowerPoint slides we provide for this chapter, have students identify the design
problems in the problematic slides. Each problematic slide is followed by an improved version. Note the
differences between the two and what makes the “improved” version better than its predecessor.
Exam Items. Testing, of course, can be an important part of instruction. We provide numerous, high-
quality multiple-choice items in our test bank. We also offer several short-answer items and essay items.
Sample Form: Evaluation form for a visual aid.
This sample form appears on the next page. It’s always a good idea to let students know, ahead of time,
how they will be evaluated. Doing so is not only fair, but it can reinforce instruction!
Chapter 12: Ideas & Materials for Instruction
Evaluation Form for a Visual Aid Name: ________________________
Section: ________________
*Criteria for Evaluation: Instructor’s comments:
___ Constructed via computer?
___ Truly enhances presentation? (i.e., is a visual aid)
___ Appropriate type of aid? (e.g., bar graph)
___ Properly formatted? (e.g., traditional x & y axes)
___ Idea clearly announced at the top?
___ Each element labeled properly?
___ Each element introduced one at a time as discussed?
___ Readable? (e.g., content suitably sized & clear)
___ Color used effectively? (good choices & contrast)
___ Simple/coherent? (free of extraneous material
and free of distracting audio or visual effects?)
___ Effective use of “silence?” (e.g., blank slides)
___ Effective transitions between slides? (if applicable)
___ Source cited at the bottom?
___ Other: ____________________________
*An “X” in a blank indicates a problem
with the corresponding element.
____/____ points
Chapter 12: Ideas & Materials for Instruction
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Chapter Outline: Chapter 12: Supporting Your Ideas Visually
Chapter Intro:
Visual material greatly impacts how we react to information. Presentational aids are an important
communication tool, especially in our visually oriented society. Using visual and audio aids
effectively calls for careful thinking, strategic planning, and practice.
I. Functions of Presentational Aids
Learning Objective 12.1—Understand the diverse ways that presentational aids can help
you as a speaker.
A. Promoting Clarity
2. Researchers have found that “human brains extract valuable information
3. Graphs and charts make quantitative information easier to understand.
4. When using statistical support that’s the least bit complex, you should
provide visual reinforcement to assist comprehension.
B. Assisting Retention
2. Research indicates that effective presentational aids can make recall
easier, faster, and more accurate than “memories of purely verbal
messages.”
a. One study found that people remembered 43% more information
when visuals were used than when they were not.
C. Providing Emphasis
1. Visual aids help speakers underscore what is most important.
3. Graphical icons can be even more striking and memorable than a list of
keywords.
D. Providing Support
1. Presentational aids can also function as evidence to support your ideas.
2. Graphs make statistical information more vivid and show relationships.
2) Restrict yourself to two or three lines.
3) When selectively focusing on a particular segment of data,
be sure to label the graph so that your audience can fully
understand what you’ve elected to show them.
4. Creating graphs has become increasingly easy because of software like
5. The proliferation of visual imagery requires that speakers and listeners
alike develop visual literacy, or the ability to think discerningly about
visual images.
E. Encouraging Emotional Involvement
1. Pictures can elicit greater emotional involvement than if the audience were
left to conjure up their own images.
F. Stimulating Interest
1. By engaging multiple senses, presentational aids can help keep listeners
from feeling bored, distracted, or passive.
G. Enhancing Your Credibility
2. A speaker who does not use presentational aids may be seen as less
organized and less interested in audience understanding.
3. Speakers demonstrate trustworthiness when using presentational aids by
allowing listeners to “see for themselves” instead of relying exclusively on
the speaker’s judgment.
H. Facilitating Extemporaneous Delivery
2. As each item appears on the screen, it functions as a speaking outline.
3. There are risks associated with using bulleted lists.
a. A speaker can use too many lists.
b. Constantly displaying and quickly removing lists can confuse the
audience.
c. Leaving a list up long after it is useful can bore or distract
Chapter 12: Ideas & Materials for Instruction
II. Options for Presentational Aids
Learning Objective 12.2—Describe the types of presentational aids commonly available
to speakers.
A. Computer-Generated Slideshows
1. Computer software such as PowerPoint or Prezi have simplified the
creation of visual aids. Tips on using both types of software are
highlighted in this chapter.
2. Even if a speaker cannot use computer assistance directly during a
presentation,
it might be used indirectly by printing a visual display and then copying,
projecting, or creating a poster-sized version of the display.
B. Chalkboard or Whiteboard
2. In most cases it is wise to choose another option.
C. Flipcharts
1. Flipcharts are oversized writing tablets.
3. Flipcharts are commonly used in meetings for discussion or brainstorming
sessions.
4. Tripods are needed to display flip charts.
D. Poster Board Drawings and Displays
1. Drawings and displays can be colorful and engaging, if well designed.
2. There are many disadvantages to consider.
a. Creating them requires a lot of time, effort, and artistic ability.
E. Handouts
1. Handouts are helpful when listeners need to be able to recall information
3. Handouts can help promote action if they provide specific information that
simplifies the task for listeners. This increases their chances of following
through.
F. Objects
1. Objects can make information more concrete, vivid, and memorable.
2. Avoid small items that need to be passed around.
G. Models
1. These useful and professional 3-D displays often can be borrowed.
H. Transparencies and Overhead Projectors
1. Overhead projectors are widely available.
3. Transparencies can be easily transported.
4. Local copy shops may be able to assist if printers will not accept
transparency stock.
I. Audio and Video Materials
2. In an increasingly media-oriented society, many listeners have grown
accustomed to audio and video support.
4. Using audiovisual materials requires careful planning as well as the proper
equipment.
5. Clips should be short and used to illustrate a single idea.
III. Guidelines for Preparing Presentational Aids
Learning Objective 12.3—Follow basic guidelines for creating presentational aids.
A. Make sure the presentational aid you are planning to use is truly an aid.
1. An aid achieves one or more of the following:
2. If a presentational aid does not fulfill one of these functions, it will not
contribute to your speech; it may only distract the audience.
3. A prop is any visual or audio material that enlivens a presentation but is
not integral to its success.
Chapter 12: Ideas & Materials for Instruction
a. A prop may be appropriate if it does not distract listeners’ attention
from the content of the speech.
B. Design your aid for quick processing.
2. For text, use a font that is easy to read, adequately sized, and clear.
3. Use good contrast, such as a dark blue background with white lettering.
4. Consider using fill patterns (for example, dots or stripes) for sectors of a
6. Handwriting (as in the case of using a flip chart) should be large, legible,
neat, and—if appropriate—color-coded for clarity.
7. When preparing audiovisual aids, keep these guidelines in mind:
a. Sound and video recordings should offer sufficient quality for easy
viewing or listening.
b. Limit sound and video recordings to a brief clip that illustrates a
C. Strive for Professional Quality.
D. Employ “Silence.”
2. Display blank sides when you want listeners focused on your spoken
words rather than on something on the screen.
E. Anticipate Problems.
1. Have a backup plan for visual aids.
IV. Guidelines for Using Presentational Aids
Learning Objective 12.4—Follow basic guidelines for using presentational aids.
A. Practice!
1. Speakers should practice using their visual aids while they are rehearsing
the speech.
B. Preview in the venue.
1. If possible, visit the site of the speech ahead of time and become familiar
with any equipment.
1. Rather than merely display something for a listener to figure out, such as a
chart, take them through it to help them process it.
F. Stay connected with your listeners.
1. Speakers should talk to the audience, not to the aid.
G. Use presentational aids ethically.
2. See Highlighting Presentational Aids and Ethics (p. 254) for a review of
ethical considerations in preparing and presenting visual and audiovisual
aids.
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Instructional ideas for Chapter Twelve
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