Visual Aids

Discussion 7

Using Visual Aids
Appropriately incorporating visual aids is one of the most challenging aspect of public speaking. First, you must decide if your voice carries a message more powerfully than a visual. If you decide a visual is imperative, what type of visual aid will you use and how will you practice deploying it effectively within your speech? Please watch the following TED Talk by Salman Khan, creator of Khan academy. After viewing the presentation, answer the following questions.

Salman Khan: Let’s use video to reinvent education (Links to an external site.)
https://www.khanacademy.org/talks-and-interviews/conversations-with-sal/v/salman-khan-talk-at-ted-2011-from-ted-com

1. How do you feel Khan’s slides impacted his audience’s ability to process the material he was speaking about? In your opinion, did the use of these visuals improve – or damage – the speech? Why?

2. Have you ever been in a lecture or meeting and been bored to death by a slide presentation? What is the difference between a great slideshow and a horrible one? What is the purpose of a slideshow?

3. If you were designing a slideshow for this speech, what images would you want to include? Why?

4. Is it possible that the power of the spoken word can be lessened by visuals? Do you feel there are occasions when words should stand alone? Give an example.