Pre-Finals in Purcom

Lesson 1: How do you use PowerPoint as a communication aid?

Most of the public communications are done to give a lecture, present a new product,
persuade people to act, build goodwill, or inform the public. Small group presentations may
be in the form of pitching an idea or concept, presenting a research proposal for funding
purposes, or entertaining a group. When doing presentations, you need to have the skills
needed to make your presentation effective.

Presentations are, according to Duarte, 2014, “considered one of the most powerful
mediums of communication.”

Presentation skills do not only include your stance on stage and your public speaking
ability but also the structure of your presentation and the technology that you are
going to use. Sometimes a good speaker fails during the presentation because he
becomes a victim of poor technology, poor visual aids, or poor understanding of the
audience. If you plan to be an effective presenter, you should be able to connect
your ability to speak, the audience's needs, and the communication aids you will use.

This chapter will focus on the use of communication aids using tools of technology to
help the presenter in delivering his message to an audience.

Communication Aids are visual support that presenters use to make their
presentation interesting and effective.
These aids help the speakers present their ideas in a clearer way by highlighting
significant information. But, most often than not, these aids inhibit understanding
among the audience because when presented with audio and pictures, our brain
cannot process listening and understanding visuals at the same time. It usually
digests the visual first before the spoken word. (Paivo, 2007) So if a speaker
overuses communication aids, there is a tendency that the audience will focus on the
communication aids instead of the speaker. You have to avoid this same mistake
when you do presentations. Use communication aids to your benefit and not to your
detriment.
There are a number of communication aids available for you to use to enhance your
presentation. We have the PowerPoint, Prezi, SlideShare, Brainshark, TED.com,
and all the non-technology driven visual aids. SlideShare, Brainshark, and
TED.com are venues where you can share your presentation and they distribute
them to the audience. The Prezi and PowerPoint are the popularly used type of
communication aid. For the purpose of explaining how you should design your
presentations, we will be discussing the use of PowerPoint in enhancing your
presentation.

WHAT IS A POWERPOINT PRESENTATION?

Let’s first introduce what a PowerPoint presentation is.
PowerPoint presentation has been the most common type of communication aid
utilized by presenters. However, it is also the most abused and misused
communication aid to date. Instead of helping the presenter be understood by his
audience, the use of PowerPoint only interferes with communication. When using
PowerPoint, presenters have this tendency to look at the screen and read the
flashed words. Please do remember that your audience is not illiterate. They can
read. Do not insult them by reading for them.

HOW DO YOU USE POWERPOINT AS A COMMUNICATION AID?

1. Make your template as simple as possible.

o not clutter it with non-essentials that would only cause distraction. Borders,
shading, logo, and too many pictures are examples of distracting elements.

2. Consider light and color.

If the venue is dark, you may use a dark background with light-colored texts. But if
the room is well-lighted, use dark-colored fonts in a light background.

3. Check your font size and style from the perspective of your audience.

If you cannot read it from their perspective, change the style and size.

4. Check the pictures you use.

For your presentation, you can use free pictures from the internet. Be very careful in
choosing. Look for copyrights. If you are going to use the pictures you took, make
sure that these pictures are of high quality.

5. Use words or phrases, NOT sentences.

Do not insult your audience by reading for them. Do not use the screen as your
notes. Choose words and phrases to emphasize important points in your
presentation. You may use bullets sparingly; making sure that each bullet will contain
a maximum of six words. A presentation full of bullets bore the audience to death.
6. Do not kill your audience with bullets. (1-6-6 Rule)

You are not to entertain your audience with movements on the screen, unless the
purpose of your presentation is to give entertainment. Animations, if overused,
distract the audience’s attention to the movement instead of the message.

7. Limit the use of animation in validating an important concept.

You are not to entertain your audience with movements on the screen, unless the
purpose of your presentation is to give entertainment. Animations, if overused,
distract the audience’s attention to the movement instead of the message.

8. Highlight to emphasize.

When using graphs or tables, make sure you highlight the most important detail to
easily draw the attention of your audience to the point of the slide. Presenting a table
with numerous items would confuse your audience because they are not sure where
to focus their attention on the table presented.

9. Slides and handouts are not one and not the same.

Slides are used for emphasizing your points while handouts are supposed to be a
summary of your presentation which the audience can take home.

The points enumerated can be modified to fit the kind of communication aid you are
to use for your presentation. Always remember that your audience came to listen to
you and not watch your presentation or watch you read your presentation.
Lesson 2: Designing Posters, Billboards, Tarpaulins
Print advertisements like posters, billboards, and tarpaulins are mediums of
communication whose purpose is, often, persuasion. You are posting these
mediums because you wanted people to look at it and take action of believing the
idea or buying the product. Because you wanted to persuade people, it is both
challenging and interesting to design messages for these mediums.

Here are the guidelines to help you design your message.

1. Start with a good idea.

 2. A good idea comes to those who research, brainstorm, and listen.
In advertising, it is not easy to think of an idea if the product is
alien to you. Research about the product, understand its
beginnings, know its use, consider the goal of the company, and
voila! A good idea you have.

2. Use your life as motivation.

Some of the great ideas spur from the personal experiences of people.
The split-up of a couple in a fast-food chain could be a true-to-life scene
from the experience of one of the creators of the advertisement. It is
easier to explain or implement an idea if you have experienced it
yourself.

3. Do good in using the medium.

Find a medium that you feel comfortable with and do good at working
with it. Regularly working using the same medium will give you mastery
and ease. If you were not given the freedom to work with your chosen
medium, try to assert or learn to love the new medium.

4. Dirty your hands.

Do not be afraid to get messy when working on your design. Use your
hands to explore possibilities.

5. Remember the “rule of fives” of advertising.

The "rule of five" of advertising would tell you that the subject of the
design should have the same impact whether from a distance of 50 feet
or 5 feet.
6. Love the brand.

When you love somebody, it is easy to find all the good things in that
person. The same thing applies if you love the product. You will see all
the good things it can offer the audience, therefore, making it easy for
you to communicate an effective design.

7. Use of the magic of scales and proportion.

Scales can alter the impact of a design. Enlarging the image of flies
against an innocent child for an advocacy poster on dengue will create a
bigger impact than using texts.

8. Forget conventions.

Do understand that if you design a poster or tarpaulin, chances are it will

be posted beside other posters or tarpaulins so make it stand out - think
out of the box!

CONCLUSION

In designing posters, billboards, and tarpaulins, you should keep in mind

that a lot of audience will be able to see your work. Therefore, it is a
must that you have designed it well and with accuracy, whatever reason
it may serve.

Lesson 3: Designing Product Packages

Labeling.

You may be required to include certain information on the label of your

product when it is distributed in specific ways. For example, labels of
food products sold in retail outlets must contain information about their
ingredients and nutritional value.

Opening.

If your product is one that will be distributed in such a way that

customers will want to, and should be able to, sample or examine it
before buying, your packaging will have to be easy to open and to
reclose. If, on the other hand, your product should not be opened by
anyone other than the purchaser, an over-the-counter medication, for
instance, then the packaging will
have to be designed to resist and reveal tampering.

Size.

If your product must be shipped a long distance to its distribution point,

then bulky or heavy packaging may add too much to transportation
costs.

Durability.

Many products endure rough handling between their production point

and their ultimate consumer. If your distribution system can't be relied
upon to protect your product, your packaging will have to do the job.

Guidelines

1. Make them use the packaging for other purposes after they have
consumed the product.

Reusable packaging is an added factor to push the sales of your

product.

2. Make sure the package does no harm to the product.

Eggs in decorative tin containers will surely be a flop. Yes, the package
may be reusable but it will not keep the product safe.

3. Use the “Special Edition” effect.

People just love a good buy so special edition sales are like magnet for
them. Make sure to identify in the package what made the product
worthy to be considered a special edition product.

4. Think out of the box.

Thinking out of the box does not mean breaking rules that were pre-
defined when the product was introduced. For example, tubes were
predefined for toothpastes.

5. Use less to have more.

This means keeping your packaging simple with an impact.

6. Integrate trends with packaging design.

Whatever is new is hot so make sure that your packaging is innovative.

7. Study your market and design for them.

Knowing what clicks for the market would help you create a design they
will accept.

8. Make it fun.

A cute product packaging can easily attract your market's interest.

9. Your best competition is yourself so compete with your

product’s present packaging and outdo it.
10. Easy carry makes money.

Products with packages that people can easily grab and carry are fast-
moving in most stores.

11. Strategically use colors to outdo the competition.

Papaya soaps are usually packaged in orange boxes to emphasize the

papaya element. Look at papaya soaps in a grocery rack and try it, from
afar, you can identify your papaya soap from the rest.

12. Let them see the product.

If you have a food product, it is an advantage if people can already see
the product and not speculate if the picture on the label is the same as
the product outside.

CONCLUSION

Packaging plays a very significant role in the marketing success.

It provides protection to the product and acts as a promotional tool.

At times, customers assess the quality of the product from its

packaging.