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I stopped reading after "sent out slides before my talk." As if my presentation is ever ready to be sent out before I start presenting :-) More seriously, the
by ChuckMcM 7y ago
I stopped reading after "sent out slides before my talk." As if my presentation is ever ready to be sent out before I start presenting :-)
More seriously, the author makes their point, but it read like they were impeaching skeumorphic as "bad". The counter argument is that "slides" (what ever you want to call them) are a visual summary of the conversation at the current moment. This lets you get both your eyes and your ears into the talk, and for visual topics can be a real help for the mentally visually challenged[1].
The challenge with having the listener manage their own visual aids is that now you have part of their brain working on "what window was that in? What slide/page? up arrow or down arrow? ..." and that can make it hard to listen thoughtfully while they are thinking about how to operate the visual display tool.
[1] Amazing as it seems to me sometimes I have known people who cannot construct and then "see" a 2D or 3D representation of what you are describing in their head while you are talking. These illustrations are critical for them to follow along, and even for folks who have this skill it avoids a mismatch of what you think you have described versus what they have heard you describe.
- TeMPOraL 7y agoI personally prefer when slides show what is being talked about, instead of just summarizing the speaker's points. My problem is, I can't read the text on the slides and listen to the speaker talking at the same time. The way I try to do it is to use slides for code examples or charts, and then discuss them as they're shown, highlighting the relevant areas. I try to include pauses there, so that people have time to focus on the image without me talking. When audience size is small enough and isn't transient (e.g. a small lecture, not a conference), I give out handouts with the code & charts from slides printed on real paper - paper is much higher resolution than the screen, and it helps the people further out in the room to stay engaged.
- closeparen 7y agoAny time I build a high-stakes presentation that uses slides only for visuals, higher-ups coach me into putting the text back in. They frame this feedback in two ways: a) The listener may zone out and lose track of what you're saying. The slides should be there to pull them back in. Otherwise you risk losing them completely. b) The slide deck as a standalone artifact is expected to communicate the substance of the talk. No one is going to watch the video. But my skip lead, your promotion committee reviewers, etc. will probably flip through the slides. If it's a mystery what they're looking at, that's not good.
- TeMPOraL 7y ago> The slide deck as a standalone artifact is expected to communicate the substance of the talk. Curiously, this is the exact opposite of most advice for delivering public speeches (then again, most of that advice is for sales talks, not informative talks, so one has to filter it anyway). Slides aren't suited for effectively communicating a message outside of the context of a talk; at that point, it's better to just write a document. But I imagine the "principle of least effort" is what leads to slides being used the way you described in b).
- watwut 7y agoPublic speeches are about making listeners feel good about your speech so you get hired to speak again. They are not meant to convince or teach and no part of it matters for the future.
- TeMPOraL 7y agoI would think people become less susceptible to such parasites over time. I mean, I've outgrown listening to TED talks years ago. At some point you have to realize that the speaker only making you feel good is just wasting your time.
- closeparen 7y agoDocuments are for line workers. Past middle management, no one has the patience for that level of information density.
- leetcrew 7y agoI wish you could go back in time and explain to my college professors how to use powerpoint.