audio visual aids in meetings

Common Audio-Visual Aids
There are a variety of audio-visual aids that you can use to support you when making a presentation to a meeting group. Audio-visual aids are particularly useful for:

Reinforcing stated facts
Aiding the understanding of ideas
Clarifying relationships or physical layouts
Introducing a new topic area
Advantages of Different Visual Aids

You should be aware of the main advantages and potential pitfalls of the various forms of visual aid available.

Physical Models
Advantages - Very high impact, good attention getter, makes a concept tangible.

Disadvantages – Can be expensive to produce and transport, may distract audience.

Handouts
Advantages - Simple, very easy to use, no audibility/visibility problems, can depict lots of information, lasting reference, inexpensive.

Disadvantages - Can be a distraction, low impact, don't enhance actual presentation.

Flipcharts and Whiteboards
Advantages - Simple, easy to use, can be pre-prepared, can be annotated via discussion, inexpensive.

Disadvantages - Visibility can be a problem, low impact, takes time to annotate, easily damaged.

OHP – Overhead Projectors
Advantages - Very common equipment, easy to use, easy to interact with, can be prepared quickly, transparencies can be stored.

Disadvantages - Requires power supply, can be noisy, can absorb the presenter, light can distract, considered low-tech.

Slide Shows
Advantages - Professional, good at getting attention, retains interest, can have high impact.

Disadvantages - Requires power supply, expensive to produce, requires set-up and practice, can be noisy, requires low ambient light, prone to technical failures, considered low-tech.

Audio Recordings
Advantages - Very effective in specialist role, inexpensive broadcast equipment.

Disadvantages - May need specialist recording skills, can be time consuming, only short duration use.

Video Discs and Tapes
Advantages - Very high impact, common broadcast equipment.

Disadvantages – Production requires specialist skills and or equipment, takes time to produce and can be expensive for professional production, may compete with presenter.

PC/Computer based presentations
Advantages – professional, flexible and impactful, most popular method of presentation, equipment widespread and increasingly affordable.

Disadvantages – poorly produced presentations can have detrimental impact. Preparation and set-up time required if using third-party equipment, compatibility issues.

Digital Whiteboards
Advantages – very flexible, use as a whiteboard, a projection surface for PC presentations, interactive flipchart

Disadvantages – not very portable, top-of-the-range models still very expensive.

Teleprompter/Autocue
Advantages – used well it can enable the professional delivery of a long or complex presentation.

Disadvantages – used poorly it can make even a short presentation dull.

Multimedia
Advantages – combine the use of modern digital aids to create a powerful and impactful presentation, can be easy to update.

Disadvantages – more things to go wrong or fail if there is a power-cut, can be expensive if video production included.

USING VISUAL AIDS

How to use Projected Presentations
The PC and LCD/DLP projector have become the most common visual aid to support presentations. They enable effective interaction with the audience; switch on the projector and all eyes will move to the projected image. Professionally installed celing mounted projectors enable a laptop PC to be operated from a lecturn to the side of the presentation screen, keeping the area between the audience and the projected display clear.

The PC based projected presentation has virtually forced the Slide presentation and OHP presentation into obsolescence.

The following guidelines apply equally to the slickest PC presentation, an “old-school” OHP presentation or even a 35mm transparency slide show.

Turn it off when you have covered an area of your presentation so that all eyes (and ears) return to you the presenter. The impact of this can be greatly enhanced if you have some control over the room lighting. Either through the use of a remote control or an assistant, so that the sequence of actions you should adopt would be: turn off the light, turn on the projector, turn off the projector, turn on the light.

A common mistake is to leave the projector on throughout the presentation. If you do this you will be displaying either irrelevant information or a blank white panel; both of which are very distracting.

Another pitfall to avoid is overuse.

Putting more information on screen than can be easily absorbed at a glance will have a negative impact on what you are saying, particularly if it is too small to read for those at the back of your audience.

Before your audience arrives, check that the information you are projecting can be easily read by those at the back.

With PC based presentations that have been created in software like Microsoft’s PowerPoint or OpenOffice Impress, it is a good idea to print a handout based on your presentation content, to provide to your audience at the end of your presentation. If you tell them that you will be doing this at the beginning of the presentation, this will avoid lapses of concentration as audience members scrabble to make notes of key points you make.

Using Flipcharts and Whiteboards Effectively

Flipcharts and whiteboards are regarded as being somewhat unprofessional as a presentation medium, because they are usually hand-written with marker pens.

However, modern digital whiteboards support various modes of input and can print out content too, making them a viable and sophisticated visual support.

The main advantage of flipcharts and conventional whiteboards is their use as a tool in informal and impromptu meetings - particularly where interaction with the audience is important. Therefore they are commonly used in the context of design review meetings, quality control meetings, brain-storming sessions and so on.

When writing on flipcharts or whiteboards in real-time; check with the furthest away members of the audience that they find it legible.

Using a Teleprompter/Autocue

Teleprompt systems have been around for over 50 years and are widely used in TV as the name suggests and at major presentations such as corporate AGMs, political speeches, product launches etc.

Basically, they allow a scripted presentation to be delivered to large audiences with a degree of naturalness. How natural is down to how well the speaker normally reads and presents, and also how much they have rehearsed with the teleprompt operator they will use on presentation day.

They are expensive to hire so are limited to the big occasion, but used well with a multimedia presentation, can produce very professional and captivating results

To ensure a speech appears natural rather than dull, interaction is important. Most often subdued lighting will prevent you seeing the audience, but if you look where their eyes should be, those in the audience will be convinced that you are actually making eye contact with them.

This works best if your eye contact moves from one section of the audience to another, so head movement is important in maintaining this illusion.

Head movement is also important to remove the impression that you are actually reading a speech and furthermore because it adds energy to the presentation. This coupled with occasional gesticulation and even the odd ad-lib, will have your audience convinced that you are just a natural-born presenter.

Multimedia or Multiple Media?

The use of more than one aid to support a presentation is increasingly common - as messages and the way they are presented becomes ever more sophisticated.

These multiple media presentations lend themselves to creation and presentation via PC and LCD or DLP projectors and could include static graphical displays, video displays, animated Flash displays, synchronized audio and even a digital whiteboard.

The costs for multimedia equipment and the software required for its creation have fallen considerably, making them accessible for most.

On top of this you could be using a teleprompter/autocue system to make your oration appear naturally professional.

When you are designing a multiple media presentation you should be aware that it will multiply the potential dangers of errors, bad timing and equipment failures.

The best advice is to use multiple media only if you need to in order to deliver the message, but avoid it if you are able to deliver the message effectively without it.

If you are including multiple media then allow a greater time - both for preparation and rehearsal; and be ready to adapt your presentation should any of the equipment let you down on the day.

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