What are the best visual aids to boost your self-confidence during a presentation?

If a presentation is about telling a story, then the visual aids are the roadmap. They provide the speaker and the audience with clues about the key elements of the story and they can help to sequence the unfolding of events in a meaningful way.

A visual aid says a thousand words. If you choose it wisely. Visual aids can say what your words cannot, especially when your time on stage is limited. They can enhance your message, convey emotion and even infuse humour to keep your audience alert. To a speaker building a brand, the most important value of your visual aids is to communicate your brand and make it unforgettable.

Inforgraphics, graphs, and charts can aid easy flow of presentations. These virtual aids will reduce any likely tensions or clumsiness for the speaker. Charts and graphs also make complex information more accessible and easier to understand. With graphs and charts, the audience can easily walk through the information and identify the key data from the presentation.

YOU are the presentation, not your slides. No one has ever left a meeting complimenting the way the presenter read out the information on a slide verbatim. Visual aids should always be minimal; graphics, simple animations to demonstrate processes or actions, clean charts to show key metrics, minimal words to act as guidance or anchors to the subject.

Visual aids are always a good way to gain attention of your audience and the best way for them to understand what you are conveying. As a kid, I always looked for pictures to understand a process, be it a chemistry, biology, or math! During my Master's Degree, I would catch myself making flow diagrams to understand a process. As far as presentations go, in my opinion, the basic idea is to convey your message in the simplest form, in less time, and lets not forget the most important thing - in an interesting way!

There are amazing free platforms (e.g. Unsplash) or you can simply create yours from scratch by using text prompts on Canva, or Microsoft Designer (based on DALL-E 3) Your only task is to come up with a relevant compelling prompt!

In addition to what has already been said, what is always underscored in visuals for presentations is a person with a smile, passion, humor, enthusiasm and conveying your message via story telling. You can have all the technical visuals you want, if the personality of the presenter doesn't reflect what you are sharing visually, then the presentation will not grab the attention and engage the audience. :)

When choosing your content to use as visual aids, remember, Less is best. Each piece of content must be concise, simple and provide quick value to the presentation. Ensure you turn off the visuals as you continue your presentation as they are a distraction.

Selecting visual aids is crucial: they must reflect your purpose, resonate with the audience, and suit the context. Our choice? Vibrant, Canva-crafted presentations that embody our playful and engaging brand. They pleasantly surprise adults and captivate kids, effectively bridging the age gap. Bright, fun visuals effortlessly communicate our values, simplifying complex topics. This approach not only sets us apart but also ensures our message is impactful and memorable, regardless of the audience.

Expanding on the post, let's delve into why simplicity is crucial. Complex visuals can overwhelm audiences, hindering understanding. Opt for a font that's not only readable but also aligns with your message's tone. Regarding colors, consider color psychology to evoke desired emotions. Minimal content per slide ensures focus, preventing information overload. A logical structure aids comprehension; the audience should seamlessly follow your narrative. Lastly, maintain consistency not only in design but also in formatting, ensuring a cohesive and professional visual presentation. These principles collectively enhance engagement, recall, and overall impact on your audience.

Choosing meaningful images and using one image per slide helps connect the audience. Smart Art, vector art, memes and comic strips can also serve the purpose well.

I like to make sure I know why I'm using the visual aid. There are talks I look back on and realize the images I used were irrelevant or the verbal illustration I gave was wrong for the audience. I like having someone else ask me why I'm using a visual aid so I can defend it. Sometimes I realize while I'm explaining it and sometimes they'll say "Yeah I don't buy it." Does the aid ADD to the talk or DISTRACT from the talk? If I were writing an article instead of giving a talk, what image would best support the heading for this paragraph? If there's Q&A, it's fun to tie in a picture that illustrates a point. "What do we see in this picture?" Gets the audience to participate and share where they are in the overall discussion.

PowerPoint and Digital Visual Aids: These are often the go-to choice for many presenters. They allow you to incorporate text, images, charts, and even videos into your presentation

The two core benefits to me are: 1. Grabs your audience's attention 2. Simplifies what you want to communicate Then, it's up to you to retain attention as you speak. If your visual does not do this, it's the wrong visual. For example. Simple is best. A statistic to illustrate a point. A diagram to showcase a concept. A picture (or AI image). One image, the right image, is enough to make people laugh, capture their imagination, and intrigue them. But add no text to the visual aid, use it as an attention grabber, and then speak about it...you'll have their undivided attention! (Beats reading a slide!)

The key to captivating your audience lies in how you present visual aids—with warmth, passion, and a childlike playfulness. Express sincerity from your heart and soul, not just intellect, to evoke genuine engagement and leave a lasting impact.

Utilising a concept model/diagram can help convert the complicated into a simple to digest visual aid. Visuals should be sparingly used to ensure they provide impact when shown. Whilst presenting, the visual aids should not be continuously left on.

Use of personal stories and anecdotes also makes presentations more relatable and authentic. These will also boost delivery of the speaker because the stories are very relatable.

The purpose of visual aids is to enhance impact or provide clarity. It's not about the content or the detail. It must provide significant value or otherwise it will just be a distraction

Don't use images in your presentation if you don't have to. I have seen many terrible uses of images because the presenter wants to impress. You are the salesman — I came to listen to you, not to be entertained by your slides. If fewer text can convey clarity use them. If large text is required to convey an idea you can consider an image graph or figure Clarity should be the goal. And how YOU tell the story is the most important. ? Your voice. Your rhythm. Your movements.

- Body posture. - Deep Breaths. - Using Hand gestures. - Doing Eye contact. - Speaking to one person from the audience to create familiarity.

Equally important: the total absence of visuals. The usage of a blank slide (white/black) is a powerful tool to: - Force people to look at you, - Change the pace and create a contrast, - Connect with the audience, - Facilitate the discussion, - Reduce cognitive load. Hence, the judicious use of blank slides in your presentations can be a valuable tool to manage audience attention, create contrast, facilitate engagement, and enhance the overall effectiveness of your communication. When used strategically, these simple, minimalist slides can make a big impact on your audience's experience and comprehension of your message.