Used judiciously, presentation aids can help listeners process and retain information, spark interest, convey information in a time-saving fashion, and enhance an image of professionalism.
Help Listeners Process and Retain Information
Most people process and retain information best when they receive it both verbally and visually. That is, they learn better from words and pictures than from words alone, a principle called the multimedia effect.2 However, when speakers simply read text from slides, or when graphics contain too much text, audience members will become distracted and actually retain less information than they would receiving information in one format alone.3
Promote Interest and Motivation
Effective presentation aids draw audience members into a speech and stimulate their interest through visual rhetoric—the conveyance of meaning by integrating the visual with the verbal message.4 Literally seeing the facts of an argument laid out in front of them, for example, can make a significant difference in how listeners respond to a persuasive appeal. In a call for donations for the homeless, for instance, a good argument coupled with a photograph that portrays homeless conditions, or a chart that illustrates high rates of homelessness, can more eloquently convey the speaker’s message than can the verbal argument alone.5
Convey Information Concisely
Presentation aids can concisely communicate ideas that might otherwise be difficult or time-consuming to express. Visual images, such as a child running to her mother who has just returned from military service, can vividly represent an idea or a feeling instantaneously. Complex ideas and abstract or difficult concepts can also be more clearly explained with presentation aids. For example, graphs and charts efficiently summarize statistical relationships, and different styles of jewelry are shown in close-up photographs.
Lend a Professional Image
By using quality visual aids, you show your listeners that you are approaching the presentation professionally and motivate them to approach it in the same way. Presenting your company’s official “brand” on each slide of a PowerPoint presentation, for example, increases your credibility, which further helps get your message across. But moderation is important. Emphasis, again, should be on using the aids to fulfill the speech purpose and not on the aids themselves.