In an article posted by a fellow blogger, I came across some interesting information on communicating visually. According to Matt McKay, because individuals understand and retain information differently it is important to incorporate audio and visual components in presentations where the goal is to provide others with new information. He also posts that according to the U.S. Department of Labor OSHA Office of Training and Education, “retention of information three days after a meeting or other event is six times greater when information is presented by a visual and oral means than when information is presented by the spoken word alone.” Crazy statistic, but I would have to say it makes perfect sense.
People get bored if they have to sit and listen to someone for a long period of time. They get bored, they get distracted and before long they’re going over in their head the list of things they have to get done at their desk before 4pm or the stuff that needs to be done at home before their vacation this weekend. Without a visual, you are relying on the idea that everyone in your audience is interested in what you’re saying. Without a visual you are trusting people to listen and learn all on their own, when in reality- that is impossible! The average adult has an attention span of 20 minutes. You can prolong that by giving them breaks with demonstrations, stories, and VISUAL AIDS! Pop up a short video, show them some pictures, graphs, diagrams, something to break up the sound of your voice and the continuous stream of information.
McKay concludes his blog post on visual aids by suggesting that people who are engaged in a presentation understand and retain information more effectively when visuals are used- I agree.
Resources:
No comments:
Post a Comment