Original Comment by Will Mangum:

Presentations that I have seen that have always intrigued me were ones that had circulating pictures while the person was talking. These types of presentations are effective at getting points across without confusing the audience with text on the slides. Another element that characterized this type of presentation was the amount of rehearsal it takes to nail down transitions and timing. The ideas that you are discussing must be fully thought out and developed and the practiced several times. This type of presentation is good for people who like to publicly speak. I once watched a presentation in the style, “Pecha Kucha” which is a slide show running behind the speaker. The speaker was discussing the psychology of Disney’s management practices. The process of this presentation was amazing, and the information is still stuck with me. I remember a prominent amount of what the presentation was portraying.

The least effective presentations for me tend to be ones full of text. I cannot focus on anything the person is saying while I am reading a presentation full of text. Especially if the presenter speaks about an example and it is not on the slide. I cannot relate two different ideas where one idea is spoken, and the other is written. Selective attention comes to mind when discussing something like this. Humans cannot focus on two things at once because that is how our brains are wired. Another least effective element is the lack of fluidity and passion. When someone is not passionate about something, you can tell in the presentation. The lack of fluidity may come from not fully understanding the material and then presenting based on little factual evidence.

https://www.pechakucha.com/

My Comment:

Hi Will,

Great points in regard to the circulating pictures. It does enhance ethos to see a presenter who is so well-rehearsed that the audio matches up with the timing of the photos. It is also less distracting if the audience does not need to watch the presenter pause an argument in order to click to the next slide. These types of presentations are also impressive because it feels to me as though the visual is an extra element of the presentation simply for the audience and that the presenter does not necessarily rely on it to move through the argument. It makes the presenter seem knowledgeable which enhances their ethos. Having circulating pictures makes it so that the audience does not have too much stimuli to focus on at once. The photos entertain their eyes so that the don’t get visually distracted by something else while listening to the presenter. However, the audience just has to focus on one set of words, the audio from the presenter, instead of listening the reading at the same time. A presenter who has to practice several times is more likely to make their presentation more concise, and, in the process, cut out words that are distracting from the argument. In the “Pecha Kucha” example, I imagine the images from the slide show served as association to help remember what the speaking was saying.

Comment by Will Mangum:

Mary,

I totally agree that presentations like these are not for the presenter, they are merely for the audience to have something to look at. In the Pecha Kucha, the main discussion point was around trash cans and how management utilizes the management of waste in a Disney type of way. Many of the pictures involved trash can placements and other waste management practices around Disney. It was really cool and I actually just found it so I will paste it below if anyone is interested.

https://www.pechakucha.com/presentations/sprinkling-pixie-dust