UNIT 2

Visual aids and body language

“A picture is worth a thousand words”

Chinese proverb

1. General principles of using visuals

Exercise 1

Read the text below and find

1. eight advantages of using visual aids

2. three warnings about using visual aids

Dinkel and Parnham say that “The greatest danger (in using visual aids) is that presenters place the major emphasis on visual aids and relegate themselves to the minor role of narrator or technician. You are central to the presentation. The visual aid needs you, your interpretation, your explanation, your conviction and your justification.”

Visual aids can make information more memorable and they help the speaker. However, they must literally support what the speaker says and not simply replace the spoken information. It is also not enough to just read text from a visual aid.

There are many advantages to the correct use of visual aids. They can show information which is not easily expressed in words or they can highlight information. They cause the audience to employ another sense to receive information; they bring variety and therefore increase the audience’s attention. They save time and they clarify complex information.

The Handbook of Communication Skills

12

Exercise 2

Look at the pictures. Label the tools used to present visual information

When should you use these tools? Which is the most effective from your point of view? Why?

Exercise 3

Part 1. Listen to the extracts of three presentations. Indicate the visual aids used.

	Presentation 1	Presentation 2	Presentation 3
flip chart
whiteboard
PowerPoint slide

Vocabulary assistant

to launch - выводить на рынок

to affect - оказывать влияние

rack - подставка, стенд

Part 2. Listen again. This time try to complete the missing information in the sentences below

Presentation 1

1. Take a look at __________.

2. They clearly __________ how a combination of two significant external factors affected our business in the first __________ of this year.

3. I’ll just write some __________ on the __________ and then we will go on to discuss the next point.

Presentation 2

4. OK. Let’s now __________ at our new magnetic ski rack Matterhorn which was launched in August.

5. On the __________ you will see an __________ of the Matterhorn X-15.

Presentation 3

6. These are the __________ for Germany for the __________ three quarters of this year.

7. As you __________ here, we’ve had a very successful year.

8. To highlight our success even further, let’s __________ to the 2003 figures on the previous __________.

9. Let me just __________ to it.

Exercise 4

Match a phrase on the left with the appropriate one on the right

1. On the next page	A. from this picture, the design is absolutely new.
2. My next slide shows	B. customers have complained about the service.
3. As you can see	C. how much the market has changed.
4. Let me just show you some	D. I’ll show you our latest poster.
5. To illustrate this	E. at the figures on the next page.
6. Let’s now have a closer look	F. which shows the market development in 2005.
7. Here we can see how many	G. interesting details.
8. I have a slide	H. you will see a photo of the new XTK model.

SAYING NUMBERS

Numbers, especially long ones, are often difficult for the audience to understand. Try to say numbers slowly and clearly, and point at them while speaking.

2m two million 235m² two hundred and thirty-five square metres

1.6bn one point six billion 98% ninety-eight per cent

1/3, 3/4 one-third, three-quarters $ 150,000 one hundred and fifty thousand dollars

Remember that …

1. we use a comma in English to show thousands and a point to show the decimal place.

2. a “billion” in English-speaking countries means Milliard in German.

3. we say “2 million” or “10 billion” (not 2 millions/ 10 billions).

4. we say “2 million dollars”, 170 pounds, but “euro” can be either singular or plural.

Exercise 5

Write down the numbers you will hear

1		6
2		7
3		8
4		9
5