Presentations are a very common in various business, academic as well as government sectors. They are used for pitching an idea, presenting investment plans and proposals and training among other purposes. Use of visual aids in presentations has become almost a standard feature of most presentations since at least over a century. Before any electronic displays were invented, slide projectors and hand-drawn charts were used. Today, laser projectors and LED displays are commonplace in boardrooms. While you plan on using visual displays or monitors for your next presentation, here are a few aspects to take into consideration.
Visual aids have to be done right to have the best effect
It is often said that a picture speaks a thousand words, but it is up to you to ensure that those are the right words. Just using visual display is no guarantee for capturing your audience, you have to actually do it right. Visual aids are best used by actually showing some physical stuff instead of describing it. It can also be used to help the audience interpret data by using appropriate visualization. If you are using irrelevant pictures or using the screen as a script for you to read from, you will pretty soon have a bored audience. Visual aid is a tool, and tools can never be a replacement for your skills.
Higher quality of display allows you more flexibility
If you are using a cheap projector on a wall, you will be able to get some pictures on to it, but you will be severely limited. The lower resolution will limit the amount of detail you can fit in, and the limited colours and contrast will prohibit you from making the audience appreciate any fine details in a photograph if required. It will also limit the different kinds of coloured legends to be used on a map or a graph. So often times getting a better quality display or monitor may be worth it.
Make sure your system is reliable
Your presentation is often aimed at delivering a message in the most impactful manner possible. So, if your display or other equipment fails to work in the middle of a presentation, it sends a poor message about your attention to detail. Hence, always double check to verify that there are no technical glitches before the presentation.