As I've mentioned before, I am a fan of discourse as an art form. Debate, spoken word poetry, modern art: These all effectively display an understanding of a subject, or give meaning to something that allows the audience to experience subject matter in a way it has never thought before. ARCS delves into the various methods of speech, and touches on visual aspects of historical and modern presentation.
I'm trying to remember the last time I gave a speech without a presentation. It's a daunting though. Speech and debate was the only arena in which we were not expected to have a visual aide of some kind, and it really forced the speaker to focus on diction and syntax, without having a picture of some kind to make the argument for him/her.
I generally advocate this approach to most subjects. While a visual aide can be a highly effective tool for an experienced rhetor, it has the unfortunate side effect of being a crutch. A lazy student can now throw together a Powerpoint presentation, and rely on it solely for making an argument. It requires little flair of language, little attempts to add interest, and hardly any preparation (since most of the statements can be read off a slide without appearing totally unprofessional). I think learning how to give effective presentations should be treated like art; you start off learning how to draw the basics, and you add onto them later.
Removing a visual aide from a presentation forces the speaker to focus entirely on the actual message. Unless speakers intend to use that visual aide as an assistant to the presentation, rather than expecting it to make an argument for them, leave it at home. I want to hear your very best, most convincing, argument given from the heart--no, I do not want to see you sway awkwardly back and forth while staring at your notecards.
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