Using Visual Aids Effectively

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Using Visual Aids Effectively

• Wheres the darn flipchart in this room?

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Why Use Visual Aids?

• They save time and add interest
• They improve listener understanding
• They improve listener retention
• They allow for different learning styles

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Verbal and Visual Recall
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Types of Visual AidsAdvantages and Disadvantages

• Overhead Transparencies
• Slides
• Flip Charts and Posters
• Objects and Models
• Handouts
• Whiteboards and Chalkboards
• Computer Assisted Audiovisuals

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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--Burnetts rule of VA

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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

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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

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More On Fonts

• Please see the overhead projector for more on
  fonts

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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

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Use Clip Art to Keep Interest

• The text can be placed here on the left, and the
  picture on the right

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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!)
• Kinkos (and others) can do the job!

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Technology and Its Impact on Communication in
Organizations

• Ill have my fax call your fax with my email
  address.

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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

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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

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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

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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 doesnt
  exist. If you know what I mean. Remember, you
  owe me a golf game next time Im in town.

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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

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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

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Email in Practice

• Dont write anything you wouldnt want to see on
  the front of the New York Times
• Dont ever respond in anger
• DONT USE ALL CAPS, IT LOOKS LIKE YOU ARE
  SHOUTING!!!
• Understand your companys email policy

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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

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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

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Videoconferencing

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

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Intranets and Organizational Communication

• Defined--any LAN or WAN capable of supporting
  internet applications
• Whats 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?