Are you sitting comfortably?...then I'll begin!

Powerpoint presentations; the person speaking has all the 'power' and the poor buggers watching don't see the 'point' - well that's my take on the origin of the name! This week has been rammed full of presentations, handouts and feedback; excited...not much!

On a daily basis we talk to a huge number of people about a vast spectrum of topics. We manage this with ease, often whilst typing an email, replying to a text or having lunch, usually coupled with a whole other stream of unconscious thoughts racing through our minds. So, given our ability to juggle all these conversations and thoughts, why is it, when asked to carry out the same simple task in front of a room full of people, does 'talking' become such a different animal?

The task is exactly the same, as you are talking and they are listening; only when in a presenting environment, the audience don't have the option of talking back, making their excuses to go to another meeting or just politely changing the subject mid conversation....these differences combined, change the dynamic and immediately cause a massive amount of stress for the person speaking and the people listening?! Odd when you think about it, as it should be less stressful than talking to someone in the usual conversational sense, knowing that they COULD interrupt at anytime, walk off to another meeting or stop you mid flow to talk about the weather?!

So, what happens?? There are more people, therefore more agendas to manage and of course 'time' happens....S...L...O...W...time; the natural interruptions within dialogue are replaced with the awkward and terribly long silences of monologue. I think that life works best when it is a two way stream; give and take, push and pull, dialogue not monologue. One way systems always seem to stifle creativity and cause blockages and long winded journeys...you only have to drive around most big cities to figure that one out!

It's already become a bit much and we haven't even mentioned handout trauma; is there enough handouts, how will I get them distributed in the most efficient fashion, when is the best time to handout the handouts (not too early as they won't listen, but soon enough to stop them nodding off) - in fact, with most handouts situations, people perk up regardless of what is written on the piece of paper you force them to take and pass round, as they are too busy figuring out the purpose of the handout and the best way to distribute these themselves!

And so to the audience, an environment that we have not been familiar with since school, where we all had the same panic about reading in front of the class or being asked a question when you weren't paying attention and gazing out of the window. The bottom line is, whether you were the geeky kid who was desperate to say something smart, the class fool who had the knack of saying the dumbest thing at the worst/best time or the shy retiring type who needed to remain intently focused just in case they were forced to string a sentence together....we all feel it, the pressure of being in front of our peers and wanting to be accepted.

I suppose the thing to remember is that we are all just as fearful of these awkward situations as the next person, whether you are the keynote speaker or the petrified audience, always on high alert in case you are asked to share or feedback. We all know that powerpoint presentations will continue to be 'point'less and delivered by those craving the power and to an extent, someone has to lead and information has to be distributed...so, in order to survive your next ordeal, best to decide which role you played in the classroom and then take to the stage accordingly! Note: If you are the shy, retiring, non speaking type, look engaged but avoid eye contact at all times!

There are certain things in which mediocrity is not to be endured, such as poetry, music, painting and public speaking - Jean de la Bruyere