Question: Reflect on a public speaking event that you have attended recently, or one that you recall particularly well, in which the speaker used presentation media. How effective was the speaker's use of presentation media? How did the media add to the speech? Were there ways in which the presentation media distracted from the speech? How might the speaker have improved his or her use of the presentation media?
The last public speaking event that I attended was during the spring semester of 2008. I am in a sorority so it is mandatory for all Greeks to attend informative events where a guest speaker will talk about a topic relating to a students success in college. In particular, I remember this one about a college student’s diet and the unfortunate results that can happen to a student that does not take care of his or her diet. Throughout the speech I was floating in and out of focus. This is because the public speakers setting was in a large room with only a few number of students. This caused a large gap between the speaker and the audience. As for a visual aid, the speaker did not use anything that would be appropriate for the large room she was supplied with. Instead, she brought papers that she held up (containing charts, statistics, facts, etc). To my misfortune I was not close enough to the speaker to notice what she was trying to present to us. This caused me to tune out the speaker even more, because I was trying to read what was on her posters but wasn’t able to make them out. By the time I finally gave up I was not on the same page with the speaker any longer, I had taken too long to understand the posters. The piece of advice that I would have given the speaker would be to know what kind of resources she would be provided with. For example, a projection screen and a computer - she did not know this source was widely available to her.
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2 comments:
Hello Jane:
I enjoyed reading about your experience because I can relate. I have attended so many speeches where the speaker did not have the appropriate presentation media and I can attest to the fact that it frustrating, especially when it is for a class. Guest speakers have attended many of my classes and the professors generally expected the students to have in-depth knowledge of the presentations. This, however, was difficult for me in some cases where there were over 100 students in the class and the speaker held up a poster board or just wrote on the board. I think it is challenging enough to engage an audience in a topic that they may not be particularly interested in; and the lack of appropriate presentation media or visuals make it that much more challenging.
Hey,
I agree that i also drift in and out during speeches, especially when in a large room. Its quite hard to pay attention when there are few people and a large amount of space. I agree that this forms a gap between the speaker and the audience. I think that it was a bad idea on the presenters part on using visuals on paper, when there was a large amount of room. In those situations, i feel that the most effective visual would be a video or powerpoint that can be projected on a big screen. I agree that its easy to tune out the speaker when you are so focused on trying to see their visual, that you don't even listen to what they are saying. Visuals can be really helpful in presentations, but if not used right, they can hurt it.
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