Tips for Using Visual Aids


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Tips for Using Visual Aids Effectively

Remember that ``visual aids" are aids. They are not the product most of us are selling when we make a presentation. Therefore, if you are selling professional services, you want the focus to be on the presenter(s) and their skills. If you are selling products, you want the focus on the product and its features. Just because you *can* create killer Powerpoint presentations and put a lot of colors and clip art in them, doesn't mean you should!

1.Visit the room in advance (make a sketch of the elements like windows, doors and permanent A/V equipment, like screens or projectors).

Use your own equipment to the extent it's feasible, and test theirs in advance if you plan to use it.
Watch out for noisy fans (equipment or room) that can impair hearing.
Note the shape of the table and number of chairs. Ask where the key decision maker usually sits.

2. When using poster boards, transparencies or flip charts, remember that--

All charts should be horizontal (preferred) or vertical.
Two or more colors (black plus a color on white background) will help improve retention of the information.
Upper and lower case letters (initial caps only where needed) should be used for all text. All-capital letters are harder to read.
Put no more than seven list items on one visual aid.
End with a summary chart of key points and leave it displayed until you leave the room (subliminal advertising).

3. Keep the lights on at all times, even when using slides.

4. Use a tabletop easel or flip chart or small computer screen for fewer than five people.

5. Use poster boards for fewer than nine people.

6. Overhead transparencies are okay for up to 25 people. (Use big, bold type)

7. Let the prospects take the best seats for viewing the presentation. Your team is already sold.

8. Use the format favored by your audience, not what is easiest for your team to produce or what you always use in your in-house presentations.

9. Speakers should stand with the visuals to his or her left when facing the audience.

10. Be sure the visual aids do not dwarf or overpower the presenter. Unless you are in the business of making and selling graphic presentations technology, keep the focus of the presentation on your speakers, not on artwork or the technology.

11. Have blank flip-chart paper, poster boards, or transparencies and suitable pens available when explaining complex matters, so you can diagram or write bullet points on the spot.

12. Rehearse! Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse! It can often make the difference between a team that exhibits confidence and surety, and one that seems just a little less certain or hesitant. The prospect *will* notice.

For more information on these topics and other strategic issues, see Winning Proposals: A Step-by-Step Guide to the Proposal Process by Kaye Vivian, ABC (AICPA, 1993).




		Page last updated: January 4, 1999