Protect yourself from poorly presented (or crafted) presentations

I don't know why, but suddenly I am thinking of ways to protect myself when I must sit through a poorly crafted presentation.

They mean well and may not know better.

Presenters who stuff the screen with bullets that they insist on reading to you.

Or not only is the screen filled with bullets but there is a logo, a date, a slide number, and an image that may or may not have anything to do with the bullets.

Or the slide may be black text on a white background and the lighting in the room makes it painful to look at.

We see everything in infinite detail and our brain will note the slide number, date, clip art, slide design and everything on each slide even if we try only to focus on what is important. This is tiresome.

For a long time I did not know why I hated sitting through some presentations.

The more I learned the more I understood.

Do not believe that we can multi-task when it comes to intellectual activities. You may be able to wash the clothes and read a book, but you can't read a book and watch TV at the same time. Or text and drive a car. Our brains do best when they do one thing at a time.

A slide with bullets begs me to read them, so I do. As I begin to process what I read the presenter is reading the bullets interfering with what I am doing.

So what to do?

First try to focus on the presenter and ignore the screen.  If this is not possible due to the layout of the room, then focus anywhere but on the screen.

This limits input to the presenter's voice. You merely have to listen and process what is said. But you won't confuse your brain with reading and listening at the same time.

Be prepared.  You may not like what you hear. When a presenter reads bullets often they are short phrases, not complete sentences and sometimes they don't make any sense. You have to hope that the presenter, having read the bullet realizes this and expands to explain what they mean. The next time you try this technique you may see exactly what I mean.

May you rarely have to use these techniques.

John