I delivered my Project 8 Speech on using visual aids effectively on 05-Aug-2010 and won the Best Prepared Speaker Award for the session.
Visual Aids help an audience understand and remember what they hear; they are a valuable tool for speakers. The most popular visual aids are computer-based visuals, overhead transparencies, flip charts, white-boards and props.
The type of visual aid you choose depends on several factors, including the information you wish to display and the size of the audience. Visuals must be appropriate for your message and the audience, and be displayed correctly with ease and confidence.
- Select visual aids that are appropriate for your message and the audience.
- Use visual aids correctly with ease and confidence.
Before giving you the script, I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed this project speech particularly because it gave me a lot of confidence in using various props in a very effective manner. So, here we go:
”Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink. ” These are the famous lines of Samuel Coleridge.
Water is a basic necessity for your survival. It adds to years to your life.
Wisdom is the next level of necessity. It will add life to your years.
Dear Toastmasters and Guests, you can acquire wisdom from your teachers, friends, enemies, parents, strangers, animals. Almost from anybody.
You just need to be open enough to receive it.
But don’t think only living things can teach you something. You can find your Gurus even in common day-to-day things.
One such lesson I learnt from thus LCD projector. I struggled for 3 weeks to give a project 7 speech, which happened to be a computer presentation and i could not find any projector available during that time. So even though the project 8 speech was about using visual aids, I decided not to give a power point presentation.
I have brought my props. So let’s get started
<Here I took out a currency note and asked one of the Toastmasters in the audience>
This is a thousand -rupee currency note. Suppose I say I will give it to you. Will you take it? Yes you will.
What if I fold it and give it to you? Will you still take it? Yes you will.
What if crumple it and throw it in a dustbin? Will you still take it? Yes you will.
It doesn’t matter what I do to this money. It is still a thousand- rupee currency note. It still has its value.
Similarly so often in your lives, you will be crumpled, trampled, ill-treated, insulted, and yet, despite all that you will be still worth the same. Don’t let such things lower your self-esteem. Hold yourself high!
Having held your self-esteem you need to be live in peace with the world. And to live in peace with the world, what better object can there to teach you that be other than this humble pencil.
This pencil can write many correct answers, write interesting stories, and draw beautiful pictures. But can it do it all alone? No, it needs a hand to write.
Similarly you will be doing great things, but you must never forget that there is a hand guiding you. We call that hand God or a Supreme Power and for those who do not believe in God your own consciousness that always guides us.
Now and then, the pencil becomes blunt and can’t write properly. So you must stop writing and sharpen it.
This makes the pencil suffer a little, but then, it becomes capable of writing again. So you, too, must learn to bear certain pains, sorrows and setbacks, because they will make you a better person.
What if you make a mistake while writing?
The pencil will always allow you to use an eraser to rub out any mistakes and correct it. This means you must be open to accept your mistakes and correct them.
Friends, you just had your lunch and Snack break is still some time away. But let us learn something from a very common foodstuff.
Bananas! Believe me Bananas can teach you the meaning of life.
I have three of them here – A Rotten one, A Raw one and a Ripe one.
Rotten banana – Its life is gone. It is past. You did not utilize to the full. Now it is now too late!
Raw banana – This is the future. It is not ready yet. To do certain things you need to wait till the moment is right.Learn to be patient where you need to be. They say “Sabr ka fal meetha hota hai”. If you are patient, the results will be sweet.
And the Ripe Banana? This is the present moment. Make the best use of it. Just learn how to gobble it up without fear or guilt.
Dear Toastmasters and Guests, don’t you agree that there is a profound wisdom underlying common objects. As one of my friend penned down these few lines for me:
“Wisdom, Wisdom, everywhere,
In everything under the sun;
Wisdom, wisdom, everywhere,
You just need to seek and learn. “
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