I was also scribbling
(typing) thoughts about presentations last class, and after seeing the recent
posts from Dr. Burton and classmate Hwanhi Chung, I decided
to contribute some of my musings.
Here is the
question I asked myself: “What is the purpose of a presentation?”
“To inspire further research by the attendees later?” posited my lofty,
philosophical self.
“To spill my knowledge into your brain?” retorted my college-general-attending self.
“To burn time?” snorted my cynical self
“Tradition?”offered my nostalgic self.
The next set of
musings could follow this question: “What makes a Keynote speaker?”
I believe that
speakers of note are invited to present because they wield one or both of these
attributes:
1. Their ideas
or experiences are deemed important enough that others should be made aware
of and gain some basic understanding concerning them. Their ideas or experiences. Not their rehashing of someone else’s
ideas or experience, necessary as that might be for purposes of context.
Steve Jobs: How to live before you die
2. The other
attribute of a great presenter is that their manner of presenting highly engages the audience, eliciting
response and action. This is the presenter who connects with his or her audience, instead of talking
at an audience.
What is the
difference between a rehash of information and the more eloquent manner of presenting?
Rehashing results
in bullet points, while a developed manner
of presenting yields a memorable experience.
Randy Bott, BYU
(0:40-1:00 for the pertinent part of the video)
In church and at
school, we are invited to present (or give talks) at least in part because the
preparation of the presentation has the potential to yield great educational returns
to the one preparing.
Shouldn’t we also
be striving to develop those two traits of the master presenters? Why not take
the opportunity to develop our own ideas
and reactions, and polish our manner
of presenting them?
A question I will
ask myself as I contribute to my upcoming group presentations:
No comments:
Post a Comment