Advertising executive Frederick R. Barnard once said, “One look is worth a thousand words.”[1] Visual presentation can be powerful, as advertisers like Barnard have known for a long time. Visual aids can make your presentation more memorable, more moving, and easier to understand. However, it’s precisely because of the power of visuals—and the ubiquity of images in our advertisement-saturated media environment—that you have to be discerning and selective in their use. In this module, we’ll consider when visual presentations might add to the effectiveness of your speech—and when they might not.
- Safire, William. "On Language." The New York Times, 7 Apr. 1996, https://www.nytimes.com/1996/04/07/magazine/on-language-worth-a-thousand-words.html ↵