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How Technology May Get In Your Way

by Patricia  Fripp    

Without a doubt, audio/visual technology has added showbiz impact to association speakers' presentations, both for paid professionals and our industry leaders. However, just because something is available, doesn't mean we have to use it! Here is another point of view.

I am an exceptionally high-tech marketer and receive good business and prospects from my web site, e-mail newsletters, MentorU on-line learning seminars, and other high-tech parts of my business. However, the fastest growing segment of my business is coaching sales teams, executives, and leaders so they can be more effective on the platform. The downside of all the presentation-enhancing technology is summarized by what more and more frustrated managers are telling me: "Our CEO used to be a really great presenter before he had PowerPoint. Now he relies on it so much that he is less effective at motivating our sales force."

Two association executives came to me to develop a speech about a new program. They spent some time describing it, but it was so complicated that I couldn't really grasp it. I figured that if I just didn't get it with our one-on-one attention, then the non-technical audience they wanted to sell it to didn't stand much chance.

Finally, I asked them, "How will this change the way your members do things? Tell me about the impact it will have on their lives." They walked out with a great speech, supported by PowerPoint for added illustrations. One commented, "What a great process! Usually we put together 40 PowerPoint slides and then decide what to say in between." 

That's exactly the problem. Misuse of technology can turn speakers into mere readers of captions for slides. Personal communication is lost.  Even the Pentagon has taken a stand against slide-dominated presentations. The Wall Street Journal (4/26/00) reports that General Hugh Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, issued an order to all U.S. military bases which translates as, "enough with the bells and whistles - get to the point." Navy Secretary Richard Danzig announced that he was no longer willing to sit through slide shows, saying they were necessary only if the audience was "functionally illiterate."

Here's another business example. It was near the end of one of my all-day speaking school and coaching sessions for engineers. Everyone there was very proud of their expensive, colorful presentation materials and expected to rely heavily on them. I had been demonstrating the relationship of organization and content to delivery, emphasizing that stories are the currency of human contact, the only way to connect emotionally as well as intellectually. 

I asked one gentleman to play a game with me. Would he pretend that the power had gone off and he had to repeat what he had just said without any visuals? He did so, becoming animated and enthusiastic. Without exception, all the other engineers agreed that he was a much stronger presenter when he talked to them directly and made eye contact instead of just narrating his slides. This proved what I had been telling them all day about the superiority of human contact over electronics. Since then, these engineers often e-mail me that my name is frequently mentioned in their briefing rehearsals: "Fripp is right. Cut the viewgraphs down to one third!"

Technology is terrific - as long as it supports and enhances the connection with the audience. In the end, a presenter's message depends on creating pictures inside the heads of the audience, not on a screen.

Your members need to know three simple guidelines for effective presentations:

1. Start by answering the audience's basic question, "Why should I care about all this?" Turn numbing data into exciting pictures of what will change in the listener's life. Help them make the decision your briefing is designed to promote.

2. Use stories. More than any showy visuals, people will remember what they 'see' in their minds while they are listening.

3. Use technology to support the message, not visa versa.

An over-reliance on flashy affects can even negate the message. A very fine presenter I know had a nightmarish experience when he was invited at the last minute to speak for a small group in Las Vegas. The audience would be young and the theme MTVish. It was, without a doubt, one of the most exciting meetings he'd ever attended. There were actual MTV clips, high-powered music, and the officers came dressed as rap stars. The intensity was so great that it was impossible to get the audience to focus on a real live speaker or the topic of the meeting. The goal was lost in the glitz.

Don't let your association leaders fall into the trap of using technology as a substitute for communicating directly with their members. Those members want leaders, not glossy graphics. By all means, use audio/visual technology as a valuable support, but never, never lose the powerful personal touch! IT SHOULD SERVE YOU AND YOUR MESSAGE, not the other way around. Use it at is was designed - to enhance your message, not to eclipse it.


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Copyright© 2002, Patricia Fripp. All right reserved. For information contact Frog Pond at 800.704.FROG(3764) or email susie@frogpond.com.