Technical Presentations
Should one prepare for a technical presentations any differently than a factual presentation? If so why and how?
Good question, Brenda. Overall I would say no, the basics of good presentation preparation are still going to apply:
1) Know your audience--what is their knowledge level? Are they at level 1, 2, etc?
2) Know your information & what the most logical way to present is
3) Make it interesting
The biggest difference that I can see is in the content. With a technical presentation you won't research & cite sources, but you still want to demonstrate your own credibility & the value of what you have to say.
Ryan
This one is easy, a presentation is a presentation. All the same rules apply.
You are right, the biggest danger with technical presentations is ensuring that you don't leave your audience in the dust so to speak.
Ryan
For a technical presentation, the challenge is to make technical data fun & entertaining, to keep the attention of the student. using all visual & hands on aids possible to keep interest.
One of the best tools used in technical presentations is stories of real world application that explains the use of the material
Definately! I use stories of my experience in the field I teach as a way to help everyone relate to the relevance of the material, and as a way to allow slower note takers to catch-up without the rest of the class being made to feel like they are having to wait on others, and it allows the slow ones to feel less pressured to hurry-up and possibly skip taking critical notes.
Another great plan. I really like the idea of allowing that time for those who may not be as speedy.
Ryan
I agree. Sometimes we tend to forget that some of our students have never been exposed to the things that we, as instructors have been around for many years, and is second nature for us. I try to use comparisons to things that they may be more familiar with when describing a system, or how something operates whenever possible.
David,
this goes back to making sure that we have properly & effectively analyzed our audience to make sure we are presenting the information in the most effective way.
Dr. Ryan Meers
