Effective Presentation Aids

Page 299

Bill Gates is a technology buff, to be sure. He is the man behind Microsoft, the company that invented the ubiquitous presentation software, PowerPoint. So when he gives speeches on behalf of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, it’s not surprising that he uses PowerPoint slides to graphically display information on changing death rates from malaria in poor countries and the impact of mosquito netting, vaccines, and other preventatives. But Gates also thinks outside the technological box when it comes to presentation aids: “Malaria is, of course, spread by mosquitoes,” he tells the crowd. “I’ve brought some here,” he adds, as he opens a jar to let a small fleet of (uninfected) insects fly around the auditorium. “There’s no reason only poor people should have the experience” (Gates, 2009). This simple presentation aid got the audience’s attention and made the fight against malaria familiar to anyone who has ever swatted a mosquito off their arm on a summer evening.

Like Gates, today’s speakers have many tools to create dramatic visual presentations that enhance their words and deepen the audience’s understanding of the topic. We’ll explore how presentation aids work in this section.