My presentation friend David Upton introduced me to this concept.
If it’s bleedingly obvious what the picture is, don’t put a caption on it, the audience will think you’re doubting their intelligence.
Here’s an example:
There is plenty of good information on how to apply captions here
Radio announcers use stories to unleash what’s called the “Theatre of the mind” , creating pictures in the minds of the listeners, and emotions in their hearts. They have no visual props, no PowerPoint, no video, but they can still create the effect with just a microphone and their voice.
Orson Welles, was so good at communicating with the audience and creating the theatre of the mind, that he set a nation into panic , in 1938, with War of the Worlds, where he presented HG Welles’ novel as a simulated news broadcast. People ran into the streets with wet towels as makeshift gas masks to protect against the poison gas the radio said was headed toward them. Many were convinced it was the end of the world.
From wikipedia:
War of the Worlds
Orson Welles
Their October 30 1938 broadcast, H. G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds, brought Welles notoriety and instant fame on both a national and international level. The mixture of news bulletin format with the between-breaks dial spinning habits of listeners from the rival and far more popular Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy program, created widespread confusion among late tuners. Panic spread among many listeners who believed the news reports of an actual Martian invasion. The resulting panic was duly reported around the world and disparagingly mentioned by Adolf Hitler in a public speech a few months later.Welles’s growing fame soon drew Hollywood offers, lures which the independent-minded Welles resisted at first. However, The Mercury Theatre on the Air, which had been a “sustaining show” (without sponsorship) was picked up by Campbell Soup and renamed The Campbell Playhouse.
You can download a copy of the broadcast here PS. It’s just audio.
There are lots of articles on the power of stories, because they are a powerful tool for keeping your audience engaged. They engage the listener’s mind, recreating scenes in their heads, and each will have a different picture. Ask a few of your friends what they think the Three Bears’ house looks like, inside and out, and you’ll be surprised at the different responses. Individuals create their own theatre images.
Stories should be appropriate for the topic, preferably from your own experience, short, and original. Use them to introduce or illustrate a topic.
Create the “theatre of the mind” in your audience.
In the previous post we talked about personalising your presentation with “you’ phrasing and how to avoid “umm” and “err”.
Radio announcers can teach us much more about how to conduct an effective PowerPoint presentation.
The first thing is that you don’t need a “radio voice” to be successful. The trend over the last twenty or so years is to be yourself, you don’t need training to modulate your voice to conform with an industry standard. Australian announcers like Wendy Harmer and Hamish and Andy, don’t have what is perceived as a “Radio voice”. You know, the four ball modulated gravitas. They are successful because they sound like themselves.
The lesson you can take away for your PowerPoint presentations and other public speaking engagements is that you should just sound like yourself when you’re relaxed among friends. Not too relaxed, though!
Having said that, there are obviously techniques to improve performance. For instance if you are using a microphone, beware of what the industry calls “plosives”, the
“P” “b” “k” “t” sounds that cause small explosions of air to direct into the microphone making loud distracting noises.
You’ve all probably come across the drunken relative making a wedding toast using a loud mike. Something like this:
By being aware of them, you can either hold the mic to one side or modify the effect by sounding the plosives more quietly.
During your rehearsal hold the mike where you would normally, and adjust its position while saying the tongue-twister “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers”. That will let you know whether you are making unattractive plosives.
Never, ever, tap the microphone or whistle into it as you could damage some of the more advanced models. If you want to check whether it is on, rehearse beforehand, or as a last resort say something like,”Hiiiiiii”, increasing your volume as you go.
Don’t drink sugar or milk drinks before you get up to speak because that can cause “lip smacking”, making wet clicking noises with your lips and mouth to relubricate. Most unattractive and off-putting. Drink plain water instead.
Nest article we’ll talk about the “theatre of the mind” and how radio announcers use it, and how you can adapt it to your own presentation style.
It’s natural to be a little anxious or nervous before your big presentation and certainly preparation, planning and practice beforehand will help.
(Prior preparation and planning prevents p!ss poor performance). However if you still beel nevous before the presentation, here are some tips. Read the rest of this entry
Here are a a couple of tips on presenting from a radio announcer’s point-of-view.
Who does a radio announcer speak to? This is a trick question. The answer is a singular “YOU” – good radio announcers don’t say
“Hello to all you listeners out there” , they say something like;
“Hello, how are you today?”
Their audience is someone like
• the person in the car wanting traffic information and news,
• someone at home listening to the radio for companionship, or
• someone filling a silence while working
But each is an individual who needs to be treated as the only person listening out there. We’re lucky with our language in that “YOU” is both singular and plural, so when you use it in a presentation, individuals feel as though you are addressing them directly. Use this to your advantage to create inclusion.
The rule is very little “I’
Not much more “we” (because “We” can mean “you and me” or “me and someone else”)
Lots of “YOU”
There is a school of thought the we use um, ahh and err as verbal placeholders so that we don’t lose our turn in the conversation. Irrespective, if you use it too much in a presentation it becomes very distracting to the audience. I remember a lecturer from my Army days who had this bad habit. Most of the class spent the period counting the verbal pauses and didn’t really take anything in.
One technique is to focus on what you are saying and when the temptation comes to use the placeholder, breathe in, rather than out. You are not then able to vocalise the words.
Another technique is to actively listen to what you are saying. Most people don’t, but it tends to make your speech slower and more deliberate. Not a bad thing for the audience.
Training courses designed to improve your presentation skills. Not only in the use of Powerpoint, Keynote etc, but also speaking skills and organising your presentation. I am in Brisbane Queensland and have conducted assignments world wide.
