Imagine that you have been tasked with creating a presentation to recruit high school students to apply to your college or university. Assume you will be speaking to students and their parents. What kinds of presentation aids might you use? Would you use the same aids at a high school in another state? Would you use the same aids if you were speaking separately to the students or their parents? Why or why not?

Television commercials are by nature persuasive appeals created from video and audio elements. With this in mind, consider a few television commercials you have found especially memorable. How do they use presentation aids, such as music and images, to grab your attention? How do these aids relate to the commercials’ main points? How could you apply lessons from these effective commercials to your own presentations?

Think of ways that you, as the speaker, are a visual aid. How can you tailor your nonverbal delivery—things like your posture or your appearance—to reinforce your main point?