Using visual aids
In which of the following scenarios would a video clip be the most useful form of visual aid?
A speech comparing presidential speaking styles
Carla used presentation software to prepare visual aids to accompany her speech. She started creating slides several weeks before the speech to give her time to practice her delivery, and included at least a paragraph of text on each slide explaining the images being presented. What is wrong with this scenario?
The amount of text used in visual aids should be kept to a minimum.
Which is the most important benefit for the audience when the speaker uses fewer words on slides?
The audience can process images and graphics rather than reading.
Bryce wanted to use a drawing of a map to highlight important places to visit in Fiji. What should he remember when preparing his visual aid?
To keep the drawing simple To make it large enough that people can see
When preparing a presentation using presentation technology, you should do which of the following?
Use fonts that are easily read Keep the slides fairly simple Use limited amounts of text
What is the most effective method of showing a photograph or drawing during a speech?
Using a presentation program such as PowerPoint or Canva
Which of the following is the most common mistake beginning speakers make when using charts?
Including too much information
When speakers use a video for a presentation, they should do which of the following?
Avoid low-resolution video Edit the video to be no longer than 30 seconds Have it cued to begin at the correct spot
Which of the following is a tendency that makes visual aids less effective?
Including too much information.
Dani is preparing a speech for sociology class and had lots of information on United States demographics that she wanted to display in a visual aid. However, once she puts all the information in a chart, it becomes too cluttered to understand at a glance. What should Dani do?
Create a second chart
Which of the following are recommended guidelines for constructing slides with text using presentation technology?
Do not use more than two fonts per slide. Choose fonts that are easy to read. Use fonts consistently.
Which of the following should be the intended uses of presentation technologies?
Enhancing your message Clarifying and strengthening ideas
True or false: Each talking point should be accompanied by a slide or visual example.
False
True or false: It is best to wait until the day of your presentation to prepare visual aids so that you can adapt them to the final version of your speech.
False
True or false: Presentation technologies are rarely used outside of the school setting.
False
Which of the following are steps to keep in mind when creating a visual aid using presentation technology?
Figure out which information needs to be highlighted Decide where the visual aid works best
Verity is giving a speech at a senior center on how to use touch-screen devices. She spent hours designing flashy slides, many of which incorporated images, embedded video, and text in different fonts. Which of the following is true of Verity's presentation?
Her visual aids include too much detail that can detract from her speech.
Terrence gave a speech on the Apollo 11 space mission and decided to show a 5-minute video clip of the launch and of moon landing in the middle of the speech to help illustrate his ideas. However, by the end of the clip the class seemed distracted and bored. What mistake did Terrence make?
His video clip should be shorter than 30 seconds.
What is the best way to remember when to click on the next slide while giving a speech using presentation technology?
Include cues for changing the slide in your speaking outline.
When preparing visual ads, you should do which of the following?
Keep them simple Prepare them in advance Make them large enough
Howie was preparing a speech to his classmates about his recent trip to China. As he put together his visual aids, he decided to use a colorful photo of a Chinese New Year parade as his background. He then used one decorative font and listed numerous points on each slide. By doing this, which guideline for preparing visual aids did he violate?
Keep visual aids simple.
Which of the following are good reasons to limit the amount of text on slides?
Less text means audiences can more easily process information as you speak Including more words means that the text might get very small More words distract audiences
Terry is giving a speech to a mechanics class on the two-stroke engine. To illustrate his point, Terry brought a three-inch model of an off-road motorcycle, which he held up during his discussion of common two-stroke vehicles. Which guideline for preparing effective visual aids did he violate?
Make sure visual aids are large enough.
Which of the following are examples of commonly used presentation technologies?
PowerPoint Canva Prezi
Which of the following are color combinations that should be avoided due to the difficulty of differentiating between them?
Red and green Orange and red Blue and green
Belinda made a line graph illustrating the amount of money that music companies made over the past decade. During her presentation, she briefly shows the graph and says, "Clearly, there has been a decrease in sales over the past several years." She then moves on to her next visual aid. What mistake did she make?
She did not take time to explain the visual aid.
For her speech on the artist Claude Monet, Keisha prepared presentation slides, which she emailed to herself. When she got to class she found out that the school network was down. Of the following options, which one would have been the best backup plan?
She should have saved a copy of her slides to a flash drive.
Clara gave a speech at work describing which products were the company's best sellers. The speech included a pie chart showing the proportion of total sales for each product. When she came to the slide with the pie chart, Clara said, "As you can see, a few products outsell all the rest," then moved on to her next point. What is wrong with this scenario?
She should spend more time explaining what the chart shows and what it means.
While preparing for a speech to his geology class, Kyle came across a useful illustration of the layers of the Earth in a book he found in the library. Kyle brought the book to class to use during his speech, holding it up as he discussed the topic of stratification. What is wrong with this scenario?
The illustration is too small to be helpful
PowerPoint and similar programs can reduce the effectiveness of a presentation if the speaker does which of the following?
Throws the presentation together quickly Reads the speech to the audience off the slides Allows technology to dominate the speech
An illustrator is giving a speech to an art class on her technique for drawing some of her most well-known characters. Which of the following would be the most effective form of visual aid?
The speaker's hand
To what does the phrase "Death by PowerPoint" refer?
The tendency of speakers to read through boring and poorly designed visual aids as if they were a manuscript.
Drawings, photographs, graphs, and videos are examples of
visual aids.
When preparing a visual aid using technology for your speech, it is best to
avoid making it too fancy or too plain.
Barry wanted to explain to his audience the various types of nautical flags. His best option for a visual aid to illustrate his ideas would be
photographs of the flags in use.
When deciding whether to use a chart as a visual aid, you should remember that charts
should be uncluttered. should not contain too much information. help present blocks of information.
Carlos is preparing visual aids for a speech to his United States Government class and has a number of important points to make, resulting in a slide with 14 lines of type. In order to make sure his slides are legible, Carlos should
spread his points across multiple slides.
True or false: Writing in ALL CAPS is more difficult to read than text written using normal capitalization rules.
true
