I was lucky to travel west to present at the largest
educational technology conference (west of the Mississippi) in Palm Springs. It's called
CUE (Computer-Using Educators). While I had rehearsed and near-obsessively sweated the details of my session room, it was affirming to see that I was not the only one who put in such thought into presenting in front of others.
Mark Standley, an author and Alaskan educator, gave a remarkable talk entitled "
The Art of Digital Presentations", in which he skillfully measured and then responded to the energy level of his audience in real-time. It was fun but a little unnerving to observe the "meta" aspect of delivering a presentation about what makes a great presentation.
Standley correctly stated the danger of (mis-)using PowerPoint: "
Too often the technology becomes the presentation and the speaker's voice, message, and ideas are secondary." Though many of his ideas were deceptively simple and seemingly subtle, I would argue that these small pieces of advice (selection featured below) add up to a much more engaging and enriching experience for
both presenter and audience.
- Provide handouts. Because half of your audience will be uncomfortable without them.
- Remember that adults like to talk to each other. Provide opportunities for that to happen.
- The average "wait-time" is about 4 seconds. But the average wait-time should be 11 seconds.
- Choose two "anchor-points" on the floor when speaking in front of an audience. Avoid mimicking the "caged tiger" on a stage and don't hesitate to join your audience physically as a fellow learner.
There were many other ideas offered which you can see on
his website, but I found the most surprising part of his talk was about credibility: according to Standley,
the most believed piece of information is from an overheard conversation. If that's true, it might explain why so many commercials feature "hidden camera" testimonials!
