When being presented with new information, is it easier to understand when there are visual aids in the presentation? The obvious answer is yes; new information is easier to understand when visual aids are present. But why? According to Ellen Coomber, a “communication specialist”, words alone are not enough to deal with today’s complex business problems. We live in a fast paced, visually stimulated world. Billboards, TV commercials, magazine ads, everything intended to catch our attention has strong visual communication. The products in grocery stores that catch your attention are the brightly packaged goods, the car that catches your eye on the highway is neon yellow, not beige.
The information we remember best from a presentation is the information shown to us visually as well as verbally, not just spoken words. Photographs, charts and graphs are a quick and easy way to show information that is easily understood.
In a blog by Tarah Neujahr, she reported, “researchers at University of Lugano, Switzerland say a graphic with recognizable elements used in new ways create curiosity and stimulate interest”. Using recognizable images in your presentations allow the audience to connect with you and showing recognizable images in different ways, get people thinking. Regardless of the image, including visuals keeps the attention of the audience and even when they drift away from what you’re saying, they are still able to view related information in the visuals of your presentation. By including visuals it is much more likely that people will learn more and pay attention longer.
“The whole idea of visual aids is to enhance your presentation, not to be the purpose of it.” Use visual aids to improve a good presentation and to help your audience retain the information you are sharing.
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