How do you prepare your visual aids for a speech?

You don't need to default to a powerpoint deck each time! Some of the most memorable presentations and talks that I've delivered and attended have been with unusual visual aids, like a prop, a photo slideshow or live drawing.

All presentations / speeches / panel discussions need advance preparation, but not all of these types need (or should use) visual aids. In preparation, consider your audience carefully, your environment, and how your message will resonate best with the expected audience. Often, opting for no visual aids (or a very limited number) is the best choice. Assess your situation before jumping in to create visuals!

Golden rule for visuals: the audience should understand the "point" within the first few seconds of looking at them. While it's tempting to include as much detail as possible, it's more effective to be simple. A pie chart with 10 categories, all squished and hard to read, is going to be less impactful than a pie chart with 3 categories and a clear message about which slice is the biggest. Aim for clarity and concision, not comprehensiveness.

"How do you get to Carnegie Hall?" - PRACTICE Every speech / presentation / panel discussion should be preceded by a fair amount of practice. If you are using technology / visual aids, etc., you will need more practice time to ensure that everything is working. Practice how you will speak, what movements you will make for emphasis, how to not move too much, and how you will connect with your audience smoothly.

Who your audience is should greatly influence how you present and what your present. For example if I am talking about managing wealth to a bunch of doctors I might try to make it easier for them to connect by highlighting financial advisors/wealth managers are “financial doctors” where we listen to our ‘patients’ needs and challenges then ‘diagnose’ a solution. If I was making the exact same presentation to students I would lean a lot more on how problem solving for clients may be a lot similar to how students problem solve in their class or homework. The presentation deck can be framed as vanilla ice cream but every time you add different ‘toppings’ you feel your audience will resonate with and make your message easier to understand.

My favourite visual aid is pure full screen images. This will: A. Guide you as a presenter without reading off slides B. Add value to your guests with the wow factor but also stimulate their visual learning side of the brain For this approach to be ethical, royalty free photo sites need to be used. Never just take photos off google images, even if your presentation is just internal you never know ow where photos of you conducting the presentation or where the pdf of your slides might end up. Unsplash is one of my favourite sources for this. If your source is free it is always nice to credit the artist too.