Question

One of your staff members has been asked to give two speeches. Details
are as follows:
? first speech – large target audience; objective: to inform them of
company progress over the past year; and
? second speech – small group of staff in the marketing department;
objective: persuasion.
Write a memorandum in correct format to your staff member and give him
detailed advice on the best audio-visual aids to use for each speech in
order to enhance his presentation. Explain the reasons for your choice and
also how he should use these aids to the best advantage.
Note: Do not write the speeches.(20)

Answer 1

Memorandum

To:

From:

Date:

Subject: Audio-Visual aids for presentation

With respect to the speeches that are scheduled, the following are the requirements for the same.

For speech 1, the audio visual aids required would be a Powerpoint presentation with charts and smart arts outlining the past year statistics and at the same time, the projections for next year need to be mentioned. While we present the same, for a better impact within the audience, a small video with the updates from last year and the plans which are in the pipeline need to be included towards the end of the presentation. Few handouts with details description about the speech proceedings and additional supplementary data would be helpful for the audience.

For speech 2, the equipment required would be a white board with few large sheets in a flip charts manner with a marker to explain them the situation and at the same time, include them in the process of marking the visual that is required to make them understand the situation and the go ahead planned. At the same time, few over head projector slides done beforehand also would help progress faster with the presentation and negotiation.

The reasons for choosing the above visual aids would be as follows:

1. Powerpoint presentation – While we are addressing a large audience, with a powerpoint presentation we are coming up with an aid which most of the audience would know about and at the same time it is the best form to represent the large amount of data we want to show to the audience. A perfect blend between growth patterns and some text data can be represented in the most appealing form through the presentation.
2. Video – While ppt serves the purpose of presenting the large amount of data, the video is a form where the whole thing is represented as a summary of the whole thing and at the same time this is where the connect is established with the audience with respect to the company and the work that the company has been doing.
3. White board and flip charts – For the second speech we are looking at persuading a small group of people, there is no fixed pattern on how the meeting would progress, therefore a white board to explain the whole process and at the same time flip board to write down the queries and address the same would result in a great impact as we are answering every query arising and including the same in the bigger picture on the white board.
4. Over head projector slides – Though there is no particular manner in which how the meeting would progress, but some data in the form of numbers and visual representation in a simple manner would be a great time saver, though there is an alternative in the form of powerpoint presentation, I chose to have OHP slides, as the reason being, let it be more informal to establish a connect with the people and not make it a formal presentation and audience like scenario. The OHP slides also have an advantage of making changes on the spot in a very easy manner, that is, the inputs from the group are taken into account. Though this is a requirement as per my analysis, a presentation also would do just in case OHP is not possible.