Wednesday, October 12, 2005

 

Let's Keep It Real

Can anyone provide some insight as to what makes an effective conference presenter? Some are certainly better than others. But as a workshop presenter, are there any DON'T DOs you'd like to share?

I ask because I'm preparing for my 4 hour NYSAIS workshop in Mohonk, NY and I have so much material I want to cover/share/expound on...you know how it goes. But at the same time I want attendees to come away with that feeling of "gosh...I really learned something." I also want to be effective.

Anyway...I'm open to feedback.

Comments:
My two cents:

Give handouts out at the end of the presentation. If you hand them out at the beginning, you lose the crowd.

Don't use Powerpoint, but if you must, keep it to a minimum, and don't use all the sound effects, etc.

Get them involved. I hate just sitting and listening. Be interactive...blog like ;)
 
Brian...

Thanks for these tips. I'm putting together a ppt and figured it was way over the time frame I wanted. Not to mention, I was planning to give handouts at the beginning. But your point is well taken.
 
I haven't read this book, and it might be too late for the session you are giving, but I ran into this statement within a blog entry by Steve Brooks.

"I chose PowerPoint as my content tool for a few reasons. Most schools have it. It sometimes gets a bad rap despite the excellent work of Cliff Atkinson. Please see my post on his great book, Beyond Bullet Points. If you are doing your PowerPoint right, you need to hear the speaker as well as see the presentation. PowerPoint should be a tool to support the speaker not a white paper with every word written down on it."

Here's the link to the book.
 
Thanks for the link and input. I'm going to order the book anyway since it would be good for my students. They go PPT wild with sound effects, crazy slide transitions etc. I guess I do too though.
 
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