So I had this talk down cold when I arrived in Boston and then learned I had misunderstood the rules for talks. I thought I had 7.5 minutes to go through 15 slides with a clicker. 48 hours prior to doing this talk I learned I had 30 seconds per slide and then the slide would autoadvance.
This totally fubared my joke timing, so I had spent the entire night prior to this speech practicing, going so far as to do so over lunch in my hotel room, to the amusement of the cleaning lady who also needed the room. I didn't stop being terrified out of my freaking mind until "swan dive", which was the moment that I knew I had the crowd.
Autoadvance is inhumane. Speakers should not be expected to have their timing down so well that every slide transitions smoothly. The presenter will inevitably be a couple of seconds off on every slide.
I am impressed how well you pulled it off. It is hard enough to write, memorize and deliver a 7.5 minute speech. Then to add a sadistic constraint like autoadvancing slides, that raises the bar. But you nailed it. Hats off.
It's definitely a different approach but it can encourage people to present in a way that flows more rather than a presentation that is broken up on a per-slide basis.
Auto advance is going a bit too far. It's a recipe for mediocrity. Nobody can time transitions that regularly, and missing beats are ugly and painful.
I'd rather see a rule: Advance the slide within X seconds or it will auto advance. Then limit the number of words, or something, instead of the number of slides.
It's not that hard, really. If you memorize your presentation you can reliably get within a few seconds. Most of the transitions don't require pinpoint timing accuracy, anyway.
It's really common to overlook the amount of time that will be eaten up by applause/laughter, though. Don't forget to give yourself some breathing room for that sort of thing, particularly if your speaking format penalizes you in some fashion for going over time.
Another way is to impose a hard stop at the 7.5 minute mark. If after a yellow light and a red light the presenter is still yammering, cut off their mic.
I noticed there was one particular slide that appeared only a fraction of a second after to gestured for it to appear (It looked like a human operator was watching you and advanced the slide when you indicated). That's some incredible timing!
Even if you're super prepared and you know your material is good, if you don't give presentations on a regular basis your reptilian brain just sits there screaming THEY ARE GOING TO KILL YOU to your autonomic nervous system. It happens to me almost every time I give a presentation (about twice a year), even though I really enjoy giving presentations and I am completely not nervous at all consciously.
I'm far from being a presentation pro, but I've talked myself out of getting nervous - just by reasoning it through like going on a flight.
When you're in an audience, do you want to kill a speaker? I know that when I'm in an audience, I (a) don't care at all; (b) switch off if the speaker is bad; (c) actually want to hear the information being giving them (and don't mind if the speaker is bad - and probably rooting for them if they are).
It was once pointed out to me by a public speaking coach that "the audience wants you to succeed." It's so easy to let nerves kick in and become terrified that if you make even the slightest mistake you will be booed off stage. It can feel like an adversarial relationship between you and the audience.
The reality is that in almost all cases people in the audience are there voluntarily because they want to hear what you have to say. They want you to succeed so that they can have an enjoyable experience listening to you.
I have also realized that this is true at times when I am in the audience for a speaker who is really nervous. In some small way it feels like I am part of the speech. I think most people have been in this situation and sort of cringed when a mistake happens, because you don't want to see the person on stage hurting, you want to see them do great.
Comments
This was great, but he seemed a little nervous, although his text was perfect.
So I had this talk down cold when I arrived in Boston and then learned I had misunderstood the rules for talks. I thought I had 7.5 minutes to go through 15 slides with a clicker. 48 hours prior to doing this talk I learned I had 30 seconds per slide and then the slide would autoadvance.
This totally fubared my joke timing, so I had spent the entire night prior to this speech practicing, going so far as to do so over lunch in my hotel room, to the amusement of the cleaning lady who also needed the room. I didn't stop being terrified out of my freaking mind until "swan dive", which was the moment that I knew I had the crowd.
Autoadvance is inhumane. Speakers should not be expected to have their timing down so well that every slide transitions smoothly. The presenter will inevitably be a couple of seconds off on every slide.
I am impressed how well you pulled it off. It is hard enough to write, memorize and deliver a 7.5 minute speech. Then to add a sadistic constraint like autoadvancing slides, that raises the bar. But you nailed it. Hats off.
> Autoadvance is inhumane. Speakers should not be expected to have their timing down so well that every slide transitions smoothly.
It's presumably part of the presentation style that started with Pecha Kucha (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pecha_Kucha) which then inspired Ignite talks (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignite_(event)).
It's definitely a different approach but it can encourage people to present in a way that flows more rather than a presentation that is broken up on a per-slide basis.
Auto advance is going a bit too far. It's a recipe for mediocrity. Nobody can time transitions that regularly, and missing beats are ugly and painful.
I'd rather see a rule: Advance the slide within X seconds or it will auto advance. Then limit the number of words, or something, instead of the number of slides.
It's not that hard, really. If you memorize your presentation you can reliably get within a few seconds. Most of the transitions don't require pinpoint timing accuracy, anyway.
It's really common to overlook the amount of time that will be eaten up by applause/laughter, though. Don't forget to give yourself some breathing room for that sort of thing, particularly if your speaking format penalizes you in some fashion for going over time.
Another way is to impose a hard stop at the 7.5 minute mark. If after a yellow light and a red light the presenter is still yammering, cut off their mic.
Message still delivered. No worries!
I noticed there was one particular slide that appeared only a fraction of a second after to gestured for it to appear (It looked like a human operator was watching you and advanced the slide when you indicated). That's some incredible timing!
Sometimes you can't help it.
Even if you're super prepared and you know your material is good, if you don't give presentations on a regular basis your reptilian brain just sits there screaming THEY ARE GOING TO KILL YOU to your autonomic nervous system. It happens to me almost every time I give a presentation (about twice a year), even though I really enjoy giving presentations and I am completely not nervous at all consciously.
I'm far from being a presentation pro, but I've talked myself out of getting nervous - just by reasoning it through like going on a flight.
When you're in an audience, do you want to kill a speaker? I know that when I'm in an audience, I (a) don't care at all; (b) switch off if the speaker is bad; (c) actually want to hear the information being giving them (and don't mind if the speaker is bad - and probably rooting for them if they are).
It was once pointed out to me by a public speaking coach that "the audience wants you to succeed." It's so easy to let nerves kick in and become terrified that if you make even the slightest mistake you will be booed off stage. It can feel like an adversarial relationship between you and the audience.
The reality is that in almost all cases people in the audience are there voluntarily because they want to hear what you have to say. They want you to succeed so that they can have an enjoyable experience listening to you.
I have also realized that this is true at times when I am in the audience for a speaker who is really nervous. In some small way it feels like I am part of the speech. I think most people have been in this situation and sort of cringed when a mistake happens, because you don't want to see the person on stage hurting, you want to see them do great.
If you've seen his older videos and interviews you can see how far he's come along. Few more presentations and he'll be a pro.