USING AUDIO VISUAL AIDS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-06370A000200200001-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 10, 2002
• Sequence Number: 1
• Content Type: BULL

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In the May BULLETIN, when
we ran an article on briefing
techniques, we promised more
information on the value and
use of audio-visual aids. This
is it: some general remarks,
descriptions of some of the
aids you are most likely to use,
and some hints on using them.
We all know what Confucius say. Let's re-
vise it a little: One picture can be worth ten
thousand words or figure. Not many of us
need to be persuaded that audio or visual aids
aid. We have seen the proof in the greater
interest, our own or in our audiences, when
we heard or gave talks which included well
manipulated, well designed, well chosen aids
We have also learned that poorly chosen, sloppily prepared, or in-
eptly handled aids impede rather than expedite interest andcompre-
hension.
We know too that an "aided" presentation isn't always the best,
that there are many things that figures or words do better. For
example, only words can tell why something was done, or what
the results mean, or what their importance is. And just as too
many words can overwhelm understanding, so too many sound-
sight devices can drown the hearer-viewer inbrightly colored and
melodious confusion.
Granted, though, that you are going to use
some instructional aids in your next briefing
or lesson. Why? Before deciding on what
to use or even whether to use it, the reasons
should be clear. And these reasons should
be one or more of the following:
AUD10=V I S UAL
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A Your material demands it, or at least asks
for it. Some of the ideas you want to present
are such that they can be expressed more quick-
ly, more forcefully, more completely, or more
accurately through a chart or film or in some
other audio-visual way than through an unaided
oral presentation. For example, you are ex-
plaining a complicated process; a schematic dia-
gram, a flow chart, a circuit model may be necessary if you want
your audience to understand what you are talking about. Or, some
of the concepts you must get over are very abstract; a cartoon, a
symbol, a quick sketch on the blackboard may give the ideas the
concrete dimensions they need for comprehensibility. Sometimes
understanding is hindered by the varying background of your audi-
ence, leading to a varying interpretation of an important point in
your talk; here again a concrete visualization of what you are
stressing may be needed to assure uniform understanding.
You want to increase interest. Purely verbal exposition can't
seize the attention or create the interest that a well designed and
graphic visual aid can. (Pitfall: an aid may be so interesting in
itself that it distracts from the idea it is expected to emphasize.
Thus, the plot or the setting of a movie maybe so engrossing that
the skills and methods demonstrated in it are never even noticed.
Keep in mind the jet designer's disciplined concept: we want the
plane to be beautiful, but it must also fly).
CYour aim is to insure retention. It seems to be true that most
people learn more through their eyes than through their ears.
This puts you at a disadvantage in getting your hearers to recall
your ideas unless you augment your voice with something for their
eyes. Charts which simplify, tapes or records which restate, pic-
tures which particularize, color which attracts give you this extra
leverage on the audience's memories. There is a tie between re-
tention and interest, and interest goes most readily to the realis-
tic or concrete or beautiful.
You want to emphasize one of the main ideas
of your briefing. You can raise your voice. You
can wave your arms or pound the lectern. But a
better way is to stress it with a graphic aid....
magnify your concept with a projector, color it
for impact, add humor with a cartoon, spell it
out on the blackboard, mimeograph it and pass
it out. Try one. Try two.
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What is a good visual aid? (Most of the qual-
ities listed here apply, with needed adjust-
ments, to audio aids as well.)
The good visual aid is Wimp. Unity marks
it. A single idea is its subject. Nothing ir-
relevant, nothing distracting from that single
concept you want to illustrate. No clutter, no
elaborate designs which confuse more than they help. Be bold in
omitting. Distortion, if accuracy is not sacrificed, can contribute
to simplicity and clarity.
The good visual aid is visibl. Every detail must be easy to see
from any part of the room. Therefore large enough, legible, un-
obstructed by instructor or equipment or heads. Make them big.
Place them high. Use a pointer.
The good visual aid is attractive. Design, color, form, movement,
all attract attention, hold it, and aid recall of the ideas illustrated.
Caution: Remember that this is an aid we are talking about; it must
be subordinate, the vassal to the liege topic of the briefing, not so
attractive that it usurps all interest. Remember too that there is
a hierarchy among the elements of a visual aid, and color or size
of type should not emphasize the subordinate at the expense of the
more significant.
The good visual aid is flexible. It must be selected and designed
and updated to fit the audience and any changes you make in your
presentation. Slides, for example, are more flexible in arrange-
ment than film strips and film strips are more flexible than a mov-
ie, where the sequence is fixed. Timeliness is another element
of flexibility: a visual aid exhibited out of sequence or displayed
too early in the briefing or delayed beyond the point where it is dis-
cussed loses most if not all of its usefulness.
The good visual aid is easy to candle. Examples of unmanageable
aids are the chart which is too awkward to lift or turn, the map
folded so often itwon't lie flat, the picture rolled
so tightly it won't stay unrolled, the projector
which won't project, the model which suddenly
can't be dismantled, the too- smallpieces of chalk.
Finally, the really good visual aid is jiynamic.
Which is not to say that a motion picture is nec-
essarily a better visual aid than a chart or that
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a working model is always more effective than a picture. But,
whether it moves or not, the aid needn't be static. It can be force-
ful; it can, if well planned, express vigor and energy.
Some good "rules" for the use of visual aids:
Preplan every aspect- -electric outlets if needed, an easel for
charts or flannel-board, distribution of handouts, size of room,
seating, placement of projector, the screen, lighting, blackboard
supplies, table or stand for models, means of darkening the room,
and so forth.
Ask yourself what can go wrong (answer: almost everything)--and
have an alternative ready: another visual aid or the mental flexi-
bility to get along without.
Rehearse. Re-rehearse. Don't commit platform suicide by trying
to use your audio-visuals without practice.
Talk to your audience, rather than to the chart or map or screen.
Don't block the audience's view of the visual aid.
Orient them to the meaning of the aid you are using, how and why
it is being used.
If possible, hide the thing until you are ready to use it.... and put
Get the advice of the graphics or art department
in your component. Ask them to go over your
material and to suggest a graphic or dramatic
way of putting it across.
Don't be diffident or apologetic about the visual
aids you use. Demonstrate them with confidence.
Pictures. Maybe enlarged photographs, drawings
slides, clippings from newspaper or magazine,
film strips. They may be projected for short or
long periods, included in a flannel-board display,
posted on the wall or bulletin board, held by the
briefer, reproduced and distributed for retention.
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Pictures are averyflexible visual aid because they can be arranged
in any sequence, and are easily portable. Projectors are usually
available for slides and film strips; larger transparent pictures,
graphs, charts, maps, etc. can be projected by a Vu-graph or
overhead projector.
The blackboard. One of the most commonly used visual aids, it is also
one of the most effective and versatile.... and one of the most
abused. Your chalk can outline, punctuate, underline, and illus-
trate your ideas.... but you can negate all this by blocking the view
of your audience while you speakyour briefing directly to the black-
board. Some suggestions: Keep it clean; erase all material on
the board as it becomes irrelevant. Organize and practice your
blackboard presentation beforehand. Write or draw large enough
so that all can see. Keep it simple, no clutter. Try colored chalk.
Stand back--keep to the side when writing and when speaking--and
make sure you are talking to the audience.
M&p.?. These are an indispensable part of many types of briefings, of-
fering directly or indirectly a vast amount of information. Gener-
ally, the larger the map and the larger the scale, the better. Spec-
ific types of maps should be used to illustrate limited concepts: de-
mographic patterns, industrial areas, farm product distribution,
etc. Often the addition of lines by the briefer is helpful,especially
if the scale of the map is too small for the room in which it is shown.
Flannel-board. This category of visual aids includes the standard flannel-
or blanket-covered surface on which cutouts with sandpaper are plac-
ed; the sheet off e rrous metal to which magnet-backed graphic materi-
al will adhere; and the newer hook-and-loop boards, the best of this
group. Presentations on these devices are valu-
able in teaching a sequence of steps, in explain-
ing office organization, and for other purposes.
Motion pictures. Particularly effective because
theyinclude both sound and motion. More useful
in a teaching situation than in a simple briefing.
It will be seldom that you' have a film produced
for the purpose of your briefing, but all or part
of a film available commercially or from other
satires may be useful. Your purpose in showing
the film and specific points to be observed during
the showing should be explained clearly. The
showing may well be followed by a discussion or
questions to fix the lesson taught or objective
sought.
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Projectors. Four broad types: The moving pic-
ture projector, familiar to most in the 8mm and