Open Thread

I also believe, Benson, that the slides can’t have too much material on them. If they are “markers” for certain points you want to make OR if they graphically illustrate a point you are making, good. But if people are busy reading slides while you are talking, generally it doesn’t work. I think people should get handouts to detail the material for review but that they should be listening to you during the presentation.

Remember the old style presentations, where a person would present a “paper”? You actually had to concentrate on listening to the person.

At one job, I once gave 53 presentations in 2 years. I started out so nervous I had to consciously breath in and breath out so that my voice wouldn’t squeak.

By the end of that job, I got it down and now am very comfortable. I think that it is important to be very aware of what you want to communicate, what you want the people to come away with and that you assess the knowledge level, interest levels and concerns of the audience. One size never fits all.

By the way, I think PowerPoint does not facilitate good presentations. The best you should hope for it is to illustrate a point with a graph, but that’s it. Half of the presentations done are bad because the speaker is fighting with his/her own material.

Biff, that’s better than having them get lumped in with harley riders / RV owners / swingers / nudists.

200

DIBS is always trying to pawn the blame off on me.