VISUAL AIDS
Any conference room in America with a screen built in, immediately puts the speaker at a disadvantage. Why? Because ninety-nine times out of a hundred, the room's designer made the screen the major focal point and forced the presenter off to the side.

Let's remember that they're called visual aids, not visual presentations. The dictionary defines "aid" as, "support, help or assistance." So as you design your visual aids and use them in your presentations, let's be sure they are supporting you, not usurping you.

People who design outdoor advertising have a rule they call "Six by Sixty." It means they have to convey their entire message in six seconds at sixty miles an hour. Period.
Visuals aids that support you must live by a similar rule: Six by Six. This means you get a total of six lines of type and only six words on each line. (If you have a headline, that is not counted as one of the six.)

Sound scant? It is. Because the visual is meant to be support, not a piece of non-fiction. No visual aid ever persuaded a listener, clinched a sale or got a promotion. The moment people stop and actually read your overhead, they're not listening to you. And how can it be a good thing when people aren't listening to you?

The tip here is simple. People are in the room to hear and see YOU. Not your visual aids. So if you have a choice, put the screen at an angle off to one side. You take the power position in the center.

Perhaps most importantly, look at your listeners, not your images. Whether you're working with a flip chart, an overhead or an image projected from a laptop, it's fine to glance at the screen to be sure the image is in focus, but get your eyes back on the people in the room as quickly as you can. Your connection with them is the most powerful presentation tool you have.

Also see, Eye Contact

 

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