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USING POWERPOINT AND OTHER VISUAL AIDS “Sameness is the death of the speaker.” – Bill Gove
One of the most difficult things for a presenter, speaker or communicator to do, is to hold the audience’s attention. This is vitally important if you want to be effective at communicating or influencing your audience.
If you do not have their attention, then you might be saying things, but they are not listening! And if they are not listening you will not be effective at influence.
Bill Gove observed that sameness is the death of the speaker. This simple quote applies to every aspect of presenting. It applies to the sound of your voice. It applies to the speed that you speak. It applies to your body language. It applies to energy and enthusiasm. It applies to everything.
It also applies to the way the audience receives your information and the information that is on your slides.
Using tools like PowerPoint can be a blessing or a curse. We have all heard of death by PowerPoint haven’t we? Most people that use PowerPoint hide behind it. They cram far too much information onto each slide and end up just reading the slides out loud to the audience. Few things are more boring for your audience than this!
Using visual aids is a great way to liven up your presentation. It’s also a great way to break up the sameness for the audience – it gives them something to
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