Thoughts On Presenting & Design

Last week, I attended the Open Government & Innovations Conference in DC where thousands, it seems, of feds got together to pretend they’re out-innovating the private sector in the use of Web 2.0 and social media and the implementation of transparency.  The keynotes and break-out sessions all suffered from the same problem: detachment from the audience, both physical and emotional.  Specifically, with the only available microphone attached to the lectern and no lavalier mics available, the presenters were stuck in one place and were prevented from interacting with the audience.  A great example of this is Tim O’Reilly’s presentation.  Note what he says in the first five seconds.

Lisa Braithwaite has a great post where she discusses why you should avoid the lectern if you can.  The first of her three points is that the lectern “creates a physical and psychological barrier between you and the audience.”  Personally, I’d like to take that a step further.  One thing I noticed at the conference was that not only was a barrier there between the presenter and those of us in the audience, but it seemed practically impossible for the speaker to form any sort of emotional connection with the audience.  That emotional connection is critical because that is what can drive someone in the audience to act upon your message.  If that emotional connection was unnecessary, then all our presentations would need to be are data dumps.

Likely a main reason why people stand behind a lectern, even when they don’t have to, is because of the perception of safety.  When there’s nothing between you and your audience, you’re in a more vulnerable position whereas the lectern provides something physical to hide behind should the pitchforks and torches come out (trust me, they won’t).  However, it is that vulnerability that allows for that emotional connection.

Of course, there will be times when, as was the case at the Open Government conference, you won’t be able to free yourself from the lectern.  It’s in this situation that Lisa makes some excellent suggestions.  Another I would add is if your can bend and extend the microphone far enough to the side, do so, and stand to the side of the lectern.  Take the initiative to make yourself more vulnerable for the audience.  Granted, in most cases, doing this might sit somewhere between a Herculean effort and impossible, but if possible, I’d suggest giving it a try.

Top Image credit:Reith Lectures 2009, used under a Creative Commons license.

Tags: presenting; speaking