Narcoleptic Presentations

[Marc Lanctot]

On 09-05-19 12:27 PM, Richard Weait wrote:
> On Tue, 2009-05-19 at 12:00 -0400, Maureen Thornton wrote:
>> As I am not a programmer but a learner, oft times a straight lecture
>> will put me to sleep. I get lost as things get more complicated but
>> the personalization of those in attendance show me the how's and why's
>> of the lecture.
>
> What are the things that speakers can do to make their presentations
> less sleep-inducing?
>

Richard,

I agree with Maureen: encouraging interaction/questions is good. It adds 
to an otherwise monotone atmosphere, even when the presenter is a great 
speaker. Too much interaction is not good.. its values tends to diminish 
over time and the momentum of the delivery is affected, the topic 
doesn't stay on course.

I'd suggest making shorter talks but the content of the talks have often 
been less than an hour if no questions were asked. I think 45 minutes 
with 15 min of question (spread throughout and/or at the end) works 
well. I'd prefer if we focus on asking/commenting the most relevant ones 
during the talk and save the rest for the end.

Examples/demonstrations that somehow involve the audience also work 
well, even if it's just to ask them questions "How many people here have 
used X?" to keep them attentive.

I think having the lights turned on (or, brighter) during the 
presentation would help as well.

It's a hard slot.. 7:30 PM, after supper -- this is why we don't work or 
go to school at this time .. well.. most of us don't :)

Marc

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