oral presentation - overhead transparencies (OHTs)

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Purpose

The aim of using transparencies is to support the points you want to make in speech. The audience will be able to follow better if they can see your key points and examples as well as hearing them. OHTs can

OHTs are not the only form of visual aid available to you. For example, if you want to show what something looks like, it may be better to show the audience the thing itself rather than a picture of it.

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Design

To be effective, OHTs must be attractive and easy to read. Some basic rules are:

 

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Using overhead projectors

Overhead projectors are designed to allow the speaker to project an image while facing the audience. The image may be a picture or graphic, notes indicating the points you are making or longer texts that you want to read aloud. Whenever you use an OHT, the attention of the audience will be divided between you and the image, so there are a few basic rules to follow:

The main rule is to use OHTs to support your talk. Don't let them dominate it.

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OHTs and handouts

Some speakers give handouts for the audience to read while they are talking. The advantage of OHTs over handouts is that they focus attention on you and your talk. If you want to give a handout, it is often a good idea to wait until the end of the presentation before distributing it. Often members of the audience want to note down points from your OHTs. This can distract them from following the presentation, so it is a good idea to distribute information that the audience will want to note down on handout. As soon as someone starts taking notes, tell the audience that they do not need to do so because they will get the information on the handout.

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