Comments on: Presenting Telstar

By: Helen Curry

Helen Curry — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 21:59:46 +0000

I really like the sync-ed presentation. At first it did sound a bit ‘read’, but the punchy image swept along giving it a momentum that made it more than just a script, it felt like a performance.

Then again, maybe it just added a tension waiting to see if it would all go wrong… That could be a device to use to break the formality – pretend the slides have a life of their own, that they are running off ahead, and pause the slides to explain a point more freely off script. Of course talking to your slides would risk sounding like a mad ventriloquist…

Still you have inspired me to think about creative approaches to Powerpoint. I do generally use lots of simple slides and mix in some images, but clearly there are much bigger ways to be creative than that which I am now going to investigate. I like that presentation zen link.

By: Owen Stephens

Owen Stephens — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 20:12:02 +0000

Thanks Kevin and Liz – I appreciate the compliments and feedback. This really has been a useful exercise and I think at the very least has made me more ready to experiment with different approaches.

By: Liz Mallett

Liz Mallett — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:11:24 +0000

Hi Owen
I don’t think the fact that it was scripted spoilt the ALT-C presentation. It was obvious that you’d done it that way in order to sync with the slides. I found it entertaining and refreshing to see a presentation done in this way.
Liz

By: Kevin Ashley

Kevin Ashley — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 21:34:10 +0000

Owen
Some really interesting reflections on presentation style – and a great introduction to telstar. I don’t think your doubts about your performance are well-founded. I recall the presentation you gave to the resource discovery infrastructure task force as outstanding. You had a personal visual style in the slides and a great mixture of being relaxed and enthused in your speaking.

I share your concerns about working from a script, though. I’ve had to do it once or twice when being simultaneously translated (and once because a nervous boss refused to believe I could keep to time without a script) and it bizarrely requires much more practice to carry off successfully when done live.

And I would second Andy’s remark about synchronised text having different uses when speaking to a mixed-language audience. It’s also helped me when listening to presentations in other languages where I’ve got a half-baked knowledge of them – the eye and the ear each take in about half if I’m lucky.

By: Owen Stephens

Owen Stephens — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 08:06:08 +0000

Hi Lukas. Yes I tried Prezi for a short talk I did at the last mashed library event. It suffered from lack of preparation on my part, and also a lack of time to really become familiar with Prezi in the time available.

One of the issues I found with Prezi was that actually I ended up as using it as just a different type of slide transition – pretty but not adding to what I was saying. This is slightly odd, as when I first saw Prezi, I thought it was what I’d been looking for in terms of the ability to ‘move around’ a space – but in practice I wasn’t able to carry this off (in this case anyway)

At the same conference I presented on Telstar I saw David White (http://twitter.com/daveowhite) present using Prezi extremely effectively – his presentation clarified in my mind the issue I had with my tightly scripted approach – he had a great rapport with the audience (it seems he also does some standup, which I guess is pretty good practice!)

I do think Prezi would work really well for some types of presentation, I’m not quite sure where to start with my ‘performance’ – something to think about

By: Owen Stephens

Owen Stephens — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 07:57:23 +0000

Thanks Andy. I should really have said that the changes in the way I present stuff is also informed by a community – and your Does Metadata Matter presentation (http://www.slideshare.net/eduservfoundation/does-metadata-matter) was one of the examples that I guess encouraged me to move in this direction.

Do you find the need to script these presentations more closely an issue as I did, or did you do this anyway, or have you found the issues disappears with the right script, preparation and practice?

By: Lukas Koster

Lukas Koster — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 07:52:42 +0000

Very good analysis and account of the different ways presentations can be done. I also am looking for better ways to present, getting rid of too much text and bullet points, and using images instead. This what Stephen Abrams does very well too.
But instead of images, I like what you have done much better.
Problems is indeed that you need to hear the speaker accompanying the slides.
(By the way, have you looked at Prezi?)
I loved your story about all the heavy work involved in getting this recording right

The result? Well, I like the slides, together with your text they make perfect sense, I could even understand what you were saying (although I had been following your reference research on line already, so I was prepared).
I agree with you that reading a script makes everything quite formal, no room for improvisations or interaction with the audience, which in my experience makes a presentation always more lively.
Can there be a “third road” in between freely commenting/speaking with “traditional” text based slides and this visual illustration type of style accompanied by scripted text? I hope so

By: Andy Powell

Andy Powell — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 07:24:40 +0000

BTW, I meant to add, I liked your ALT-C presentation – very nicely done.

By: Andy Powell

Andy Powell — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 07:24:10 +0000

I gave a talk in Italy last week, using my white text on black background, short text, rapid-fire slide-changes, synced with what I was saying technique.

Several non-English speakers came up to me afterwards to say that having key bits of text up on the screen, synced closely with what is being said was very helpful in terms of them understanding the (to them) foreign language.

I hadn’t thought about this before.