At the beginning of this week, I was preparing for a conference in Portland, Maine. Bringing my daughter, Grace, with me to a hotel over 1,000 miles away was not the high stress portion of the trip. Knowing I would be in front of co-workers and customers delivering two presentations, both with a proportionately high volume of attendees was high stress.
One presentation was delivered via PowerPoint slides and live demonstration. The other, with electronic media and an interactive game where attendees could use their smart phone or tablet to answer questions, similar to a game show environment. In addition to the visual and audio content displayed, one presentation included the use of group think. The room was arranged where chairs were set out in a circle and attendees were a little apprehensive to join in on the circle, making statements of "Kumbaya?" or "Do we have to?"
Once the presentation was well into gear, and the participants were actively engaged, it was very easy to notice they were enjoying being part of a group process and learning from one another. Those that were least excited about joining into the group were also the ones that wanted to stay in the group and continue asking questions, even after the presentation was over and it was time for the session to end.
While participants did enjoy the content and learned from the presentations, there was still room for growth. This week, I learned the value of allowing for white space. Slides do not need to be filled with facts, but rather, with something that will hold value and meaning to the audience long after the presentation is over. Something that will allow for long-term memory formation to occur and promote memory recall in the future.
The action research presentation project was not an easy one, to say the least. In addition to delivering a presentation, it required the use of software to record the delivery of the presentation, editing of the presentation and then transcription of audio included in the presentation. However, all of those requirements provided an opportunity to understand how much goes into the creation of a good presentation, or at least what I hope to be a good presentation.
In alignment with what was provided in our module resources and e-learning content, I tried to add humor to the presentation. Knowing that most learners are audio and visual learners, I attempted to integrate a funny clip from an I Love Lucy episode. I also tried to incorporate well known individuals and stock photos as suggested in the readings.
While I am sure this presentation was better than what it would have been without my increased knowledge of presentation skills, there is undoubtedly room for growth. The final version had some glitches in the editing that could have been done with more proficiency. The images that were displayed may have been displayed for too long and the audience may grow bored looking at the image for over :15 seconds. These are all areas of potential growth that I am now aware of after reviewing the presentation several times. However, I am sure there is more room for growth- there is always room for growth!
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