As someone who does a lot of science communication, I have a lot of opinions about giving talks. The strongest one probably being: if there’s writing on your slides that you’re reading out verbatim, then what are you even there for?
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Reading out verbatim? Useless indeed. But including a few word summary of what you're saying? Absolutely. Helps folks with speech comprehension difficulties and makes it easier for everyone to follow.
A great presenter told me something that has stuck with me: Your audience can read your slide, or they can listen to you; they can’t do both at the same time.
I agree, learned it years ago giving presentations and teaching. You have a great ability at presenting complex information concisely, love your work. Also love that you present references to support points/information.
Absolutely agree! The verbiage on a slide should be an abbreviated point that the speaker should be elaborating on and explaining, not reading. I understand the slide deck is later sent to attendees, but it still should not be the full text of the talk. (LOVE the Bloopers!)
It happens in the IT world all the time. Each time it does, I have to resist the urge to stand up and go, "Just send me the deck so I can go do something productive."
Are you visually impaired? If so I'd love to hear your side!
I was told by a blind friend that verbatim is really not needed for visually impaired and actually makes it harder since the speech pattern is more forced. As a presenter, you are telling the same story but not reading out the slides.
Not me. But anyone who has visual impairment may want to know what the slide is and a description of what it is about. Science is not only for sighted people but for all who needs explanation as well as others who may need context as to the slide if a misunderstanding arises.
But isn't that exactly what Becky was saying?
The comment is about reading them out verbatim.
A good presentation will explain everything contained in a slide but phrase it differently to keep the story flowing and natural, while a slide can be a shorter summary and will be described in the talk.
But can you explain the X and Y axis points or the colour blue? Are you able to explain what something looks like from a slide when someone does not know what it is?
I am going to ask this!
I feel like something like "you can see the battery voltage go down with a sharp dip around 14:00 yesterday" is usually enough, even though you'd still show the actual plot since it's evidence of work done and looks neat.
Fighting For Our Friendships: Danielle Bayard Jackson
06/21/2024 | 26m 46s
. . . practical strategies to preserve and strengthen these relationships in her book, "Fighting for Our Friendships: The Science and Art of Conflict and Connection in Women's Relationships."
That's why when I present I just silently gesture towards the slides, which are conveniently packed with all the necessary content in a single slide in pt.10 font. Efficient.
Indeed. It seems that many people conducting presentations take no consideration for the time of the people present. Just reading slides is the worst case.
Many years ago at university I was in a Geology class, and the (still quite young) professor did just that. OK, it was an overhead projector and not PowerPoint, but the same idea. One of my fellow students said in a loud voice: "A monkey could do your job!" A bit rude perhaps, but he was not wrong.
The only reason to include the text of a spoken presentation in the PPT slides is if a key part of the plan is to distribute the slide deck later as a PDF. If the presenter is just reading that text, it is a cure for insomnia. 😴
The only other case I can think of is when you're worried about a language barrier (your accent or audience comprehension) so more text than usually sensible will help. Other than these, agree about not hearing+reading well at the same time.
this is probably the best advice my professors ever gave me, which is that the people in your presentation can read the thing in an email, but only the presenter can explain the context and detail what's on the presentation
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So God knows what the hell all the MBAs are learning, because I have seen some dull bloody presentations since entering the workplace.
I was told by a blind friend that verbatim is really not needed for visually impaired and actually makes it harder since the speech pattern is more forced. As a presenter, you are telling the same story but not reading out the slides.
The comment is about reading them out verbatim.
A good presentation will explain everything contained in a slide but phrase it differently to keep the story flowing and natural, while a slide can be a shorter summary and will be described in the talk.
I feel like something like "you can see the battery voltage go down with a sharp dip around 14:00 yesterday" is usually enough, even though you'd still show the actual plot since it's evidence of work done and looks neat.
Fighting For Our Friendships: Danielle Bayard Jackson
06/21/2024 | 26m 46s
. . . practical strategies to preserve and strengthen these relationships in her book, "Fighting for Our Friendships: The Science and Art of Conflict and Connection in Women's Relationships."
People can either read, OR listen. Not both.
If you put up words, shut up for a bit.
If you're talking and want people to listen, stop putting up stuff to read. Stick to diagrams, graphs, images.