Using Visuals in Oral Presentations

Active learning helps students grasp how visuals enhance communication by doing rather than just listening. Pairing visuals with spoken words builds confidence and clarity, showing children how aids support their message in real time.

• Year 2
• English
• 4 activities
• 20 min–40 min

Learning Objectives

1. Identify simple visual aids that can support an oral presentation.
2. Explain how a chosen visual aid clarifies a specific point in a story or presentation.
3. Create a simple visual aid, such as a drawing or a prop, to accompany an oral presentation.
4. Demonstrate the use of a visual aid during a short oral presentation to enhance audience understanding.

Museum Exhibit

⏱ 20 min·Pairs

Pairs Practice: Visual Story Pair-Up

Pair students and provide a simple story prompt. Each draws one visual aid to support a key part, then presents it to their partner who signals understanding with thumbs up or down. Partners switch roles and discuss improvements.

Prepare & details

What kinds of pictures or objects could you show when telling a story or sharing information?

Facilitation Tip: During Visual Story Pair-Up, circulate and prompt pairs with: 'How does your drawing help your partner tell the story differently?'

Setup: Tables or desks arranged as exhibit stations around room

Materials: Exhibit planning template, Art supplies for artifact creation, Label/placard cards, Visitor feedback form

• Apply
• Analyze
• Create
• Self-Management
• Relationship Skills

Museum Exhibit

⏱ 30 min·Small Groups

Small Groups: Prop Selection Challenge

In small groups, students retell a familiar story and hunt classroom objects or quick sketches as props. Groups rehearse together, vote on best matches, and present one to the class with feedback.

Prepare & details

How does showing a picture help your audience understand what you are talking about?

Facilitation Tip: In Prop Selection Challenge, ask groups to justify choices by holding up mismatched items and asking: 'Would this confuse your audience?'

Setup: Tables or desks arranged as exhibit stations around room

Materials: Exhibit planning template, Art supplies for artifact creation, Label/placard cards, Visitor feedback form

• Apply
• Analyze
• Create
• Self-Management
• Relationship Skills

Museum Exhibit

⏱ 40 min·Whole Class

Whole Class: Visual Presentation Carousel

Students prepare a personal story with one visual aid. Form a circle where each shares briefly; audience notes what the visual clarified. Teacher facilitates quick reflections after every three shares.

Prepare & details

Can you make a simple drawing or bring an object to help explain your presentation?

Facilitation Tip: For Visual Presentation Carousel, model how to stand beside visuals, gesture naturally, and speak to the whole group, not the image.

Setup: Tables or desks arranged as exhibit stations around room

Materials: Exhibit planning template, Art supplies for artifact creation, Label/placard cards, Visitor feedback form

• Apply
• Analyze
• Create
• Self-Management
• Relationship Skills

Museum Exhibit

⏱ 25 min·Individual

Individual: Draw-and-Rehearse Stations

At stations, students draw visuals for their own short presentation on a class theme. They rehearse alone using a mirror or recorder, then self-assess if the visual matches their words.

Prepare & details

What kinds of pictures or objects could you show when telling a story or sharing information?

Facilitation Tip: At Draw-and-Rehearse Stations, provide a timer and remind students to practice speaking in complete sentences while pointing to each part of their drawing.

Setup: Tables or desks arranged as exhibit stations around room

Materials: Exhibit planning template, Art supplies for artifact creation, Label/placard cards, Visitor feedback form

• Apply
• Analyze
• Create
• Self-Management
• Relationship Skills

Teaching This Topic

Start by modeling a short presentation with and without a visual to show the difference in engagement and comprehension. Teach students to match visuals to key points rather than decorating slides. Avoid letting students rely solely on visuals; always connect them back to spoken language. Research shows that pairing words with images improves recall, so emphasize intentional pairing over decoration.

What to Expect

Students will confidently use visuals to clarify ideas and engage listeners during oral presentations. They will explain why each visual was chosen and how it improves audience understanding, demonstrating balanced multimodal skills.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

During Visual Presentation Carousel, watch for students who speak only to their drawing or read aloud from notes. Gently remind them: 'Turn to the audience, point to your visual, and explain what it shows in your own words.'

What to Teach Instead

During Prop Selection Challenge, watch for groups choosing random objects that don’t match the story. Stop the activity and ask: 'Does this object help your partner understand the main idea? Try holding up a mismatched item and ask your group how it causes confusion.'

Assessment Ideas

Quick Check

During Visual Presentation Carousel, ask students to hold up one finger if a picture helps explain a story and two fingers if it makes it confusing. Then have them point to the part of the picture that helped them understand.

Exit Ticket

After Draw-and-Rehearse Stations, provide slips of paper. Ask students to draw one simple picture that could help explain their favorite animal and write one sentence explaining why they chose that picture.

Peer Assessment

During Visual Story Pair-Up, partners practice telling a short part of a story using a simple drawing. Their partner listens and then answers: 'What did the drawing help you understand better?' and 'Was the drawing easy to see?'

Extensions & Scaffolding

• Challenge early finishers to create a second visual aid that shows a different part of their story and explain why it works better.
• Scaffolding for struggling students: Provide sentence stems like 'This picture shows... because...' and pre-drawn simple shapes to match key ideas.
• Deeper exploration: Introduce a 'visual planning sheet' where students sketch and label three key moments before creating aids, discussing choices in pairs.

Key Vocabulary

Visual Aid	An object or picture that you can see, used to help explain something when you are speaking.
Audience	The people who are listening to your presentation or story.
Clarify	To make something easier to understand by explaining it more clearly.
Prop	An object that you use when you are telling a story or giving a presentation to help make it more interesting or clear.