Posters and Transparencies
Posters and transparencies provide a large, physical display of key words or images that can be a useful way for you to guide your audience’s attention (especially if your speaking site is not suitable for computer display). For example, if you are informing your audience about the magnitude of the D-Day invasion of World War II, you could position one poster showing the very young faces of the soldiers alongside another showing the enormous coastline of beaches and cliffs at Normandy. As you ask your audience to look from the soldiers to the beaches, they can better imagine what it must have been like to run toward those cliffs in the midst of gunfire.
Transparencies are clear plastic sheets that are used with a projector to display text and images on a screen. Like posters, they are a useful means of showing large text or images to an audience, but they can be carried in a folder or briefcase and are often lower cost and easier to make than having posters professionally printed. Verify that your speaking site is equipped with a transparency projector or request one if that is possible. Then purchase low-cost transparency sheets at an office supply store and print or photocopy your color and black-and-white pages.
When designing posters and transparencies, it’s often helpful to keep a few key points in mind:
- Use large and legible print so that your audience members (particularly online audience members) don’t strain to understand your visual aid. For transparencies, this usually means choosing at least a twenty-point font.
- Use vivid colors to make your posters and transparencies more appealing.
- Avoid cramming more than one main idea or main point into a poster or transparency sheet unless it has a very specific purpose to enhance your meaning (for example, a collage of photos of missing and exploited children in your area).
- Put the transparency sheets and poster pages in order of use, and number them in case they get shuffled.
- If possible, use a pointer and stand near the poster to limit excessive movement.
- When using transparencies, try to stand near the screen instead of standing at the projector with your back to the audience.