Course: Public Speaking — Fundamentals of Oral Communication (COMM 1) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Marchetti
Module: Week 10 of 16 · Fall 2026 · in-person, two 75-minute sessions + one weekly Speech Workshop
Objective covered: Objective 6 — Design and use presentation aids that clarify a message, enhance audience retention, and support (rather than replace) the speaker.

This file holds two pieces: (A) the Module 10 Overview page ("Start Here") and (B) the Week 10 Announcement that drips out when the module opens. Dates below assume a Tuesday/Thursday pattern with Week 10 meetings on Tue Oct 27 and Thu Oct 29, a Speech Workshop that same week, and end-of-week work due Sunday Nov 1, 11:59 p.m. Adjust to match your section.

(A) Module 10 Overview — Start Here

Welcome to Week 10: Presentation Aids / Visual Support

This is your home base for the week. Read it first, then work the checklist below from top to bottom.

We are now deep into the second half of the term, and this week we tackle the tool most misused in public speaking: the slide deck. You have sat through presentations where the speaker reads bullet points off the screen for twenty minutes while you tune out. You have also seen talks where one powerful image made an idea snap into focus. This week you learn what separates those two experiences — and how to make sure your aids always land in the second category.

The honest truth: a presentation aid is not a speech. It is support. Its job is to clarify what the audience cannot picture on their own, to increase retention through a second channel (what they hear plus what they see), to add genuine interest, and to signal that you prepared. When it tries to do the speaker's job — carrying the whole message in text the speaker reads aloud — everyone in the room suffers.

The week's big question

"How do I design and use a visual aid so that it genuinely helps my audience — rather than replacing me or distracting them?"

By Sunday you will be able to name the four functions of presentation aids, choose the right type for each purpose (matching graphs to their best uses), apply core design principles, and integrate an aid seamlessly into a live segment without reading it.

By the end of this week, you can…

Use this as a checklist. If you can do all four out loud, you are ready for the quiz.

• [ ] Name the four functions of presentation aids — clarity, retention, interest, and credibility.
• [ ] Match each graph or aid type to its best use — pie = proportions; line = trend over time; bar = comparisons; diagram = how it works or sequential steps; map = spatial/geographic.
• [ ] Apply the core design principles — one idea per slide, large readable type, high contrast, minimal text, and the 6×6 heuristic.
• [ ] Integrate an aid effectively — reveal it when ready, reference it briefly, return attention to the audience; talk to the audience, not the screen.

What's due this week, and when

Work these in order — each one gets you ready for the next.

Meta-note: Deck 10 itself is built to model good slide design. As you work through it, notice the moves — one idea per slide, large white text on navy, minimal bullets, notes carrying the substance. That is the style you are learning to execute.

Late policy reminder: 10% off per day late. If life happens, reach out before the deadline.

How to succeed this week

• Match the type to the message. Before choosing a chart, ask: what is the data actually saying? A trend over time → line graph. Parts of a whole → pie chart. Comparison across categories → bar graph. How something works → diagram. Getting this one right makes the rest of design much easier.
• Kill the bullets. The hardest design habit to break is putting your notes on the slide. Fight it. Put keywords on the slide; put the teaching in your mouth.
• The 6×6 is a diagnostic, not a decoration. Six lines, six words each. If you have more, you have not finished designing the slide.
• Practice with the aid. The integration cues — reveal, reference, return — only become natural with repetition. Workshop 10 gives you a deliberate rep at exactly that.
• Judge the chatbot this week, not just its suggestions. When you ask an AI to "design a slide," check its output against the principles you now know. Does it give you seven bullet points? Wrong graph type? Generic design praise? Catch it.

You have been building toward this. Next week is the informative speech — and now you have the tools to support it visually. See you Tuesday.

(B) Week 10 Announcement

Release setting: post when Module 10 opens, i.e., Tue Oct 27, 2026. If your platform won't preserve the scheduled date on import, post this as a draft labeled "Release: Tue Oct 27."

Subject: Week 10 — let's fix the slides (before they bury your speech)

Hi everyone,

Quick question: have you ever sat in a presentation where the speaker put twelve bullet points on a slide and then read every single one out loud? And did you spend most of that time wondering when it would end?

That is death by PowerPoint — and it is this week's villain. More importantly, it is preventable, once you know what presentation aids are actually supposed to do.

Week 10 — Presentation Aids / Visual Support — is about using visuals as genuine support, not as a script or a document. This week you will learn when a pie chart is the right choice versus a bar graph, what makes a slide readable from the back row, why the "6×6 heuristic" matters, and — the big one — how to integrate a visual aid without ever turning your back on the audience.

Three things not to miss:

1. Speech Workshop 10 ("The Design Drill") — you will describe two well-designed slides for a real topic, critique and fix a described bad slide, and then record a 60-second segment using an aid without reading it. This is the week's main skill drill — give yourself time. Due Sun Nov 1.
2. Quiz 10 — includes a matching item on graph/aid type → best use (pie, line, bar, diagram, map). Lock that in before the quiz. Due Sun Nov 1.
3. Discussion 10 ("Do Slides Help or Hurt?") — initial post by Thu Oct 29; replies by Sun Nov 1.

One promise for the week: by Sunday, the slide deck for your upcoming informative speech (Week 11) will make sense in a way it did not before. Good design is not a talent — it is a set of principles you now have.

See you Tuesday,
Prof. Marchetti