Using Visual Aids Effectively

1. Using Visual Aids Effectively “Where’s the darn flipchart in this room?”

2. Why Use Visual Aids? • They save time and add interest • They improve listener understanding • They improve listener retention • They allow for different learning styles

3. Verbal and Visual Recall

4. Types of Visual Aids:Advantages and Disadvantages • Overhead Transparencies • Slides • Flip Charts and Posters • Objects and Models • Handouts • Whiteboards and Chalkboards • Computer Assisted Audiovisuals

5. Guidelines for VAs • The VA should never become the REASON for the speech • The VA should be appropriate for the length and format of the speech • Know what technology will be available to you • The higher the tech, the more you need redundancy and backup--Burnett’s rule of VA

6. Size Matters • This is a 20 point font • This is a 32 point font • This is a 48 point font • This is a 60 point font • This is a 72 point f

7. Type Fonts • Serif fonts versus Sans Serif fonts • This is a sans serif font--This is Arial • This is a font with serifs--This is Times New Roman

8. More On Fonts • Please see the overhead projector for more on fonts

9. Additional Guidelines for Text • Use only 4-6 lines of text per VA • Use phrases, not full sentences • Use Upper Case and Lower Case for ease of reading • Leave the same space at the top of a VA • Limit lines to no more than 40 characters

10. Use Clip Art to Keep Interest • The text can be placed here on the left, and the picture on the right

11. How Not to Use PowerPoint • In most situations, PowerPoint should NOT be used as a running outline as we do here! • Use PowerPoint to generate illustrations of particular data points or pieces of support • Slides are easily printed to overheads using specialized inkjet and laser jet overheads (print on the rough side!) • Kinko’s (and others) can do the job!

12. Technology and Its Impact on Communication in Organizations “I’ll have my fax call your fax with my email address.”

13. Some Trends Regarding Technology • Organizational decentralization, both geographically and managerially • Increases productivity, decreases in employees • Dramatic increases in information sharing • Dramatic decreases in middle level management • Increased use of contract workers

14. Theoretical Approaches to Technology • Neil Postman--Amusing Ourselves to Death • Thesis--The dominant technology of the age has a profound effect on what passes for truth in a culture • Applied to business--increasing information technology will color our judgments about the credibility of information produced by other means

15. Some Email Statistics • 1991--8 million had email access • 1997--67 million have access • 1999--108 million have access • Office workers exchange 25.2 BILLION message DAILY • 20% of US businesses randomly check employee email

16. Some Email Litigation Nightmares “Yes, I know we shipped 100 barrels of [deleted], but on our end, steps have been taken to ensure that no record exists. Therefore, it doesn’t exist. If you know what I mean. Remember, you owe me a golf game next time I’m in town.”

17. Litigation Nightmares, cont. • “Did you see what Dr. [deleted] did today? If that patient survives it will be a miracle” • “Hi David, please destroy the evidence on the [litigation] you and I talked about today, Thx, Laura.” “Hi Laura. Ack yr. msg. and taken care of. Aloha, David”

18. Email Overview • Remember, email belongs to the company [Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 1986] • It is retrievable even after deletion • Monitoring by the company is legal, that is, you have no expectation of privacy • If you have a private email address that also gets used for business, expect no privacy here either

19. Email in Practice • Don’t write anything you wouldn’t want to see on the front of the New York Times • Don’t ever respond in anger • DON’T USE ALL CAPS, IT LOOKS LIKE YOU ARE SHOUTING!!! • Understand your company’s email policy

20. Steinfield Email Study, 1990 (Xerox) • Do the business advantages of email outweigh the social costs? • Yes: People learned more rapidly, social contacts valuable, increased quality of work life, increased creativity • No: responses often seem overly critical or blunt, no tempering context

21. Teleconferencing--Pros and Cons • Advantages: shorter meetings, more task oriented, more organized, more equal participation regardless of status, more open exchange of ideas, less likely to be swayed by group norms, less threatening • Disadvantages: fewer nonverbal cues to aid interpretation, tech uncertainty

22. Videoconferencing • Advantages: almost all of teleconferencing plus better chance of getting nonverbals • Disadvantages: startup costs ($20-25,000), tech uncertainty2

23. Intranets and Organizational Communication • Defined--any LAN or WAN capable of supporting internet applications • What’s on one?--Policy manuals, benefits info, price lists, product catalog, marketing literature, newsletters and announcements, online help, reports, customer data • Why do it--access for employees + staff, transparency, efficiency • Caveats--security, disclosure?