Patronising your audience

The scientific literature is clear if you do the research about the many proven behavioural flaws in the nature of a standard “powerpoint” delivery. My “Presentations Skills” presentation has expanded to cover more of the evidence behind what many understand implicitly. Something I fail to understand however is that an audience will let a speaker simply parrot their slides out verbatim and treat them like children.

The false economy of the slideument providing slide set and document as one has been covered previously. Treating your audience as a group of five year olds by reading, word by painful word, the entire contents of your deck is patronising in the extreme. Yet strangely, the culture of presentations has come to accept this as almost acceptable. Most audiences flinch at the “Read with Mother” use of a laser pointer but the flying in of bulletpoints somehow sneaks under that same barrier.

Your audience are adults. They can read. If you want them to read, send them a document. If you want them to listen, speak and remove all distractions. If you need a script, then you haven’t practised hard enough. Putting your script on the slides will only detract from your delivery. Treat your audience with respect and you will receive much greater engagement.