Re: Giving a great lecture

**D* C* <d*@juno.com>**

On Mon, 08 Mar 2004 18:03:37 -0500 Melanie <melaniev@optonline.net>
writes:
> Well now, isn't my face red.

You're going to have native Americans picketing your next talk, Melanie.

That was an outstanding list of suggestions, and anyone giving a slide
talk would do well to take them to heart. But I am a contrarian. I don't
like slide shows, and I rarely use them. I suspect that puts me in a
minority. I do use visual aids, things I can hold and pass around and
throw at people. And I make frequent use of an overhead projector.

Until your post, I hadn't thought much about why I don't like to do
slides. Partly it is because I have sat through so many soporific shows,
but that is mainly because of the presenter, not the use of slides per
se. Partly it is because I have worked all my life with words, and if I
can't adequately describe something, I feel I have failed to some extent.
Partly it is because I give a high energy talk, and slide shows tend to
be static. And partly it is because so many presenters use slides as a
crutch.

I think mainly, though, it is because slides distract an audience, or at
least divide their interest. If the audience is focused on the speaker,
if the speaker is personally interacting with them, they are listening
more intently than if they have one ear on the speaker while part of
their mind is thinking about the picture.

Another thing is that a slide projector chains you to a podium, and I
don't like podiums either. I don't like things that get between me and an
audience. I like to get out there with them, often making one on one
personal contact. Within the limits of present law and sensibilities, of
course. Though I often have an eight foot table for demonstrations, I am
usually out in front of it, sitting on the front edge, standing on it.

Tomorrow I'm giving a talk on spring bulb care. I'll tell people, for
example, to fertilize tulips when the sprouts are an inch or so high with
a 5-10-5 granular fertilizer, and a slide showing that stage would be
easy to do. Or when I tell them to plant in bunches, most lecturers would
show slides with bunches of flowers. But would any of these give the
audience more information?

So, if I may gild the lily, I'd like to add one more suggestion to your
list. When you're putting your Carousel together, look at each slide and
ask yourself, "Do I need this slide to make my point?"

BTW, I once worked with someone who came from Fequay Varina. I was sorta
hoping the place had burned down by now.

D

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