Communication aids and technology tools

What this topic covers

A good speaker does not only talk. A good speaker also decides what the audience should see and hear, and chooses the tools that carry the message. This topic covers communication aids (charts, slides, handouts, video and models), the way to match a graph to your data, the principles behind readable slides, the skills of an effective oral presentation, the four Ps of presenting, the manners of online meetings, and the habits that make a presentation accessible to everyone in the room.

The same principles work in a class report, a barangay assembly, a company briefing and a thesis defense.

1. Why use communication aids

Aids are not decoration. They earn their place when they make an idea clearer or easier to remember, show data that would take too long to say, or keep the audience interested. The speaker is still the main channel; the aid supports the speaker.

Choose an aid by asking four questions. Who is the audience (age, background, number of people)? What is the purpose (to inform, to persuade, to teach a skill)? What is the setting (a small classroom, a covered court, a video call)? What equipment is really available? A video is a poor choice in a barangay hall with no power outlet near the stage; a large printed poster may serve better.

2. Kinds of communication aids

Aids are usually grouped by the sense that receives them.

Objects and models are the right choice when a picture is not enough, as when a nursing student shows the parts of a heart with a model.

Handouts deserve a special mention. A handout is a printed or digital sheet the audience keeps. Use it for details that are too long for a slide, such as full tables of figures or a reference list. If it is given out at the start, listeners read ahead and stop listening, so many speakers hand it out at the end.

3. Choosing the right graph for your data

The data and the message decide the display. Ask: what do I want my audience to see? Then match the display to that answer.

A few rules keep graphs honest and readable.

• Give every graph a clear title that says what it shows, and label the axes with units.
• Keep a pie chart to a few slices, about five or six at most. If there are many categories, or the slices are nearly equal, a bar chart is easier to read.
• Remove clutter. Heavy grid lines and 3-D effects make charts harder to read.
• Use a table, not a chart, when the audience needs exact numbers.

4. Designing slides that help

Slides are visual aids, and the rule for all visual aids is the same: the audience must grasp them in a few seconds, because they are also trying to listen to you.

• One idea per slide. If a slide needs two headings, it is probably two slides.
• Readable font size. A common guideline is body text of at least 24 points, in a plain font such as Arial or Calibri. Test it by standing at the back of the room.
• Strong contrast. Use dark text on a light background or light text on a dark one. Yellow on white vanishes in a bright room.
• Few words. The 6×6 guideline suggests no more than six lines on a slide and about six words in each line. It is a guideline, not a law: slides hold key words, and the speaker supplies the sentences.
• Consistent, meaningful design. Use the same fonts and colours throughout, and use a photo or diagram only when it explains something.

Death by PowerPoint

The phrase death by PowerPoint describes slide after slide packed with paragraphs that the speaker reads aloud word for word, facing the screen. The cure: write keywords, not sentences; put the detail in the talk or a handout; and face the audience.

Mayer's multimedia principles, in brief

The educational psychologist Richard Mayer has studied how people learn from words and pictures. At an introductory level, these principles matter.

• Multimedia principle. People learn better from words and pictures together than from words alone.
• Coherence principle. Remove extraneous material: decorations, unrelated facts and background music that do not serve the learning goal.
• Signaling principle. Help the audience find what matters, with a heading, bold type, a colour highlight or an arrow.
• Redundancy principle. When you narrate a graphic, do not also show the same words on screen and read them out. A diagram with spoken explanation works better than a diagram plus a paragraph that duplicates the explanation.
• Spatial contiguity principle. Place labels and explanations next to the part of the picture they describe, not in a separate box far away.

5. Delivering an effective oral presentation

Structure

A talk needs a shape that listeners can follow without a map. A standard shape has three parts.

• Opening. Get attention (a question, a short story, a fact you can verify), state your purpose, and preview your main points.
• Body. Present two to four main points in a logical order, each with an example or data. Use signposts such as first, next and to summarise.
• Closing. Summarise the main points, restate the message in one memorable sentence, and, if appropriate, ask the audience to act.

Delivery

• Voice. Speak loudly enough to reach the back, at a moderate pace, with variety in pitch. Pause after key points. Nervous speakers rush, so deliberately slow down.
• Eye contact. Look at people, not at your slides or notes, and move your eyes from one part of the audience to another. In a video call, looking at the camera feels like eye contact to the viewers.
• Gestures and posture. Stand steadily and use open, purposeful gestures. Avoid pacing, fidgeting, or pointing at the screen with your back to the audience.
• Language. A thesis defense calls for formal English, while a barangay briefing may be best given in Filipino or the local language so that everyone understands.

Managing nervousness

Almost every speaker feels nervous. You cannot remove nervousness completely, but you can manage it.

• Prepare thoroughly. Knowing your material is the best protection.
• Practice aloud, standing, with your slides and a timer.
• Breathe. Take a slow breath before you start and pause between points.
• Focus on the message, not on yourself. Listeners want you to succeed, and most do not notice small slips.
• Arrive early and check the room and the equipment.

Handling questions and answers (Q&A)

• Listen to the whole question before you answer. Do not interrupt.
• Repeat the question when the room is large, so that everyone hears it and you check that you understood. Then answer briefly and directly.
• If you do not know, say so honestly. Offer to find out and reply later. Do not bluff.
• Stay calm and courteous with a hostile or off-topic question. Thank the person, answer what you can, or offer to discuss it after the session.

6. Presenting a written report

A research paper or project proposal exists first in writing, and presenting it is not the same as reading it aloud. The audience cannot absorb a written document at speaking speed, so you must condense it.

• Open with the purpose and what you will cover.
• Summarise the key parts in order: the problem or objective, the method, the main findings and the conclusion or recommendation. Put the details in the written copy and offer it as a handout.
• Show the most important findings visually, with one chart or table per key result.
• Use shorter spoken sentences and keep to the time limit by cutting material, not by speeding up.

7. The four Ps of presentation

8. Online presentation tools and video-conference etiquette

Many presentations now happen online. Platforms such as Zoom and Google Meet let you share your screen, use a chat box and record sessions; tools such as PowerPoint and Google Slides help you design. Learn the controls before the session, not during it.

Etiquette

• Be on time and test first. Check your internet connection, microphone, camera and the link in advance.
• Mute your microphone when you are not speaking, so that background noise (a passing jeepney, a barking dog, a television) does not interrupt the session. Unmute when it is your turn.
• Use your camera as the class or meeting expects. Keep your face lit from the front and choose a quiet place. If you must switch it off because of a weak signal, say so in the chat.
• Use the chat and the raise-hand tool to ask a question or comment without talking over the speaker. Wait to be called on in a large meeting.
• When you share your screen, close unrelated tabs and turn off notifications first.
• Ask permission before recording a session.

9. Making presentations accessible

An accessible presentation can be used by people with different abilities, and it helps everyone else too.

• Captions and transcripts. Add captions to videos, and turn on live captions in Zoom or Google Meet if they are available. They help people who are deaf or hard of hearing, people watching in a noisy place or with the sound off,.
• Alt text. Give every meaningful image, chart and diagram a short description so that screen-reader users know what it shows. A good alt text is brief and describes the point, for example: Bar chart: Section C has the most students, with 42, followed by Section A. Do not start with image of.
• Colour-blind-safe colours. The most common kind of colour blindness makes red and green hard to tell apart. Do not use colour as the only way to tell things apart. Add labels, patterns or different shapes, and use colour combinations that differ in lightness, such as blue and orange.
• High contrast and large text help people with low vision.
• Describe visuals aloud. If you show a chart, say what it shows so listeners who cannot see it still get the message.

10. Guided task: a three-minute briefing

Choose a topic that you know well, such as how to prepare for a typhoon in your barangay or how to budget a weekly allowance. Plan a three-minute briefing for your classmates. First, write one sentence for the audience and one for the purpose. Then choose one communication aid and, if you use data, choose the graph or table that fits it, and sketch the slide on paper using the 6×6 guideline. Outline the opening, the two main points and the closing in keywords. Practice it aloud twice with a timer, and note one thing to improve each time. Finally, write down one question you expect from the audience and the answer you would give. This task is not graded. Keep your notes for the speaking activity in class.