“Of crimes against the audience? Not guilty.”

“Of crimes against the audience? Not guilty.”

Enhancing yourpresentation skills

Wendy Rodgers, University of Guelph LibraryOLA Superconference; Feb. 4, 2005

Public speaking is 1% presentation and 99% preparation.

mind message material myself

Presentation metaphysics

Why are we here?



Mutual goal: successful communication

Effects of performance orientation


Effects of communication orientation


“But you didn’t look nervous…”

The illusion of transparency


The self-focused speaker


The audience-focused speaker

Being fully present gives you presence

• “Lose yourself”• Lose your self-focus


We’recausinga scene!


Audience as scene partner

• Relationship• What are you fighting for?• Tactics



Why do we use PowerPoint?


c2003 Edward Tufte, The Cognitive Style of Powerpoint

PowerPoint “seeks to set upa dominance relationship between speaker and audience.”

Edward Tufte


The tyrannyofexpectations

Respect your audience


You finished reading this long before I finished saying it.


“Genuine speech is the expression of a genuine personality . . . Whenever genuine speech is spoken, it creates community.”

- Northrop FryeIf you’re still reading, you know that this

quotation has nothing to do with my point, which is: don’t show one message and say another.



• Don’t use animations or sounds unless you have a good reason.

• This is not a good reason.


Prepare to respect your audience

• Write outside PowerPoint• Analyze for visual opportunities• Plant flags• Use aid when you need aid• Be quantitative


The speaker is a visual aid


Prepare thyself

• Not just how long, but how you prepare

• Time yourself• Memorize opening & closing lines• Use brief notes • Tours and Toastmasters• Post-mortem• Steal!



Two excerpts fromMartin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech

Take a cue from improv

The best way to look good is to make your scene partner look

good.


Documents

“Of crimes against the audience? Not guilty.”