Comments on: Reading-from-the-Page in Presentation: Crazy’s Defense

By: Judy Redman

Judy Redman — Sun, 02 May 2010 08:03:17 +0000

One of the problems with conference presentations is that unless you are one of the keynote speakers, you have such a short time in which to make your point effectively. I tend to work from a pretty full manuscript and read most of it because I think it is incredibly rude to take up time allocated to other members of your panel.

I don’t teach from a manuscript though – I tend to speak to my powerpoint slides. Likewise when I am doing a eulogy at a funeral, I do it from a tight manuscript so I get everything right, but when I preach, I tend to use notes with a full introduction and conclusion.

By: HBprof

HBprof — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 19:10:40 +0000

I love Crazy!

By: Amanda Baker

Amanda Baker — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 16:12:26 +0000

Dr. Crazy makes a lot of sense to me, perhaps because, like her, I get attached to my exact wording when sharing a nuanced interpretation. That being said, however, reading aloud is still only effective if the topic is right and if her rules for presentation are followed. If you are writing something to be read aloud, be it a sermon or a conference paper, you need to hear it aloud in the preparation process. At first, this will likely require actually reading it aloud to yourself. In time, hearing a sentence aloud becomes part of the mental process. Most of all I like her rule of not giving audience members an excuse to check out!

By: Adam Couturier

Adam Couturier — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 14:29:26 +0000

Brooke, thanks for creating this round up. I look forward to reading what others also have to say on this issue.