In this blog post, Liane shares some tips on developing a visual aid for LAMDA’s Speaking in Public exams.
A visual aid is anything visual which a speaker uses to help their audience better understand their message.
Some students may use a PowerPoint presentation (only after Grade 4 when they’re allowed), an object or even a flip chart.
The most imaginative visual aid I’ve ever seen is where my student used two puppets at war when delivering a speech on kindness and fairness to an audience of five year olds!
What’s My Message?
Before you begin developing ideas around your visual aid, it’s important to be completely clear on the core message of your speech.
Only then can you decide whether your visual aid supports your message or whether it’s a distraction.
For instance, if the purpose of your speech is to encourage your audience to take up tennis, using a football as a visual aid may not be the most appropriate choice.
Words: Less is More
If you’re using words in your visual aid (i.e. a PowerPoint presentation) it can be very tempting to fill slides with text.
A key thing to remember (and the corporate world could do with remembering this) is that when it comes to words on a slide, less is more!
If the audience are presented with reams of text, they’ll be too busy trying to read that rather than listening to the speaker.
Remember, your audience are there to hear you speak, so avoid the temptation of hiding behind an essay on a slide.
If you are going to use words, it’s much more effective to use no more than three at any one time.
A Picture tells a Thousand Words
Big bold images convey so much more than words.
If you’re going to use images in your visual aid, then it’s much more effective to present one image at one time to the audience (rather than lots of different images on one slide).
Timing
One of the most common pitfalls with most Speaking in Public students is that they don’t spend enough time rehearsing with their visual aid. At The London LAMDA Tutor, we encourage our students to develop their visual aid alongside the writing their speech.
Just like a professional actor who has to use an unfamiliar prop convincingly, using a visual aid in a speech must be fluid and well timed. If I’m using a bold image to surprise and delight my audience, I need to make sure it appears at the right time rather than ruin the surprise.
Use these tips when developing your visual aid for your Speaking in Public exam and I guarantee that your visual aid will support your core message and call your audience to take action!
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