Holographic for Presentations

Holographic for Presentations

There are 7 billion people in this world, 14 billion ears to listen to a solid presentation, and if your idea is good enough, wouldn’t you want it to be presented to each and every one of those people?

With the way technology has progressed in the last 10 years, more and more people are getting on the internet, tuning in, and listening to presentations via Skype, YouTube, live streaming, or the like -but they’re not there or feeling the real live experience. It’s impossible to be everywhere at once, physically speaking, but what if we had the technology to project someone in multiple places at the same time?

With holographic solutions, we can stream a presenter live all over the globe. We could hold live events where a real presentation is happening by someone who might be thousands of miles away. We could host multicast streams of this idea in several locations at once. We could record the presentation, and play it for audiences -similar to the Michael Jackson performances after his passing.

Another great use for this technology is with the ability to have guest speakers from all over the globe. Giving a speech in San Francisco at a tech conference, and your guest speaker can’t make it? With holographic solutions, that guest can still take part in the presentation from anywhere in the world where there is data signal capabilities.

Is this the next evolutionary step in the speaker or guest? It might very well be so. There is, of course, a double edge to this sword. It would become less personable for no one to be physically on stage for an audience. I would suggest that it would best be utilized for bringing a guest on stage, without making them travel around the world if that came to it.

Tablets for Future Presentations

Tablets for Future Presentations

PowerPoint has become an industry standard; a slide for every few minutes; make sure there are plenty of images and graphs to understand; if you were to eat steak every night, you would get sick of it -society is looking for an evolutionary step from PowerPoint to the next big thing. What if the next big thing was already available to the public? In fact, what if the next big thing was already sitting in our homes and just not being utilized for public speaking as well as it could.

iPad, Microsoft Surface, and even Android tablets have all the power and potential to make a great presentation, but they are often not seen as the right tool for the job. Tablets are portable, touch screen and easy to use, connect via WiFi or mobile signal, and generally last a significant amount of hours with moderate usage. A huge benefit to using tablets as an evolutionary step would be that application development is today's best technology advancement, and apps are being designed for mobile and tablet usage on a daily basis. With the right application, a Tablet could link up with all the other tablets in a room, this master unit would control all the others as slave units (they would follow and do exactly what the master unit wants them to do) and the students or listeners could follow along.

To be interactive, poll questions could be submitted through the application and rather than a show of hands, audience members select on screen keeping it more anonymous. More members would find themselves being actively paying attention with an interactive hands on experience than with just listening alone. The information could then be gathered and displayed for the speakers notes, or shown on a projection, or announced some how.

If a presenter had a Q&A segment, it would take microphones, question screening, waiting for setups, and many other hurdles that just take up time along the way. If tablets using the proper application were available, questions could be submitted and viewed along the way, chosen by the speaker at random or at their discretion, either along the way of the presentation or during a small Q&A break segment.

Tablets are the evolutionary step which can merge handouts/take homes, PowerPoint presentations, and q&a/poll interaction. It could be gathered, organized, and displayed for everyone to see or as it’s needed to suit the presenter. More comfort means more interaction,  more response, more people listening to what a speaker has to say.

VR In Public Speaking

VR In Public Speaking

With the way technology moves forward so quickly, we often wonder what the next implemented tech will be to enhance and evolve the presentation experience. Whether it be for the listener or for the presenter, I believe that VR glasses will evolve and improve public speaking interaction from a video media perspective.

What are VR Glasses? Over the last two or three years, augmented reality has taken a significant leap forward into the 21st century with the use of portable VR Glasses from companies like Samsung, Smartphone technology such as Google Cardboard, and fully developed systems such as Oculus. Through the use of these headgear technologies and the powerful, high graphic performance computers of today, we are able to display excellent new experiences to people all over the world using visual goggles which offer three dimensional, fully immersed experiences.

How can we start to implement this into a presentation? What if there was a way we could design a 3d walk through during a building pitch, or take people across the world to place them in a 360 degree environment to view just how awful some of the conditions are in a sweatshop in asian, or even just had the ability to display a video which everyone could see perfectly with no hassle of needing a big room for the projector? Everyone could see and hear everything crystal clear. It would be an exciting experience for those involved, and when people are excited to use something, they are sure to remember the experience better.

With Bigger companies like Microsoft, Facebook, and Google heavily investing (Facebook has reportedly purchased Oculus for $2B) this future technology will offer a distraction free experience like no other. Prices used to vary between company; Google Cardboard can be made using an old pizza box -not a joke, while Oculus Rift was $2500 per unit. The prices are now normalizing, and minimal investment for proper equipment is ranging in the $100-200 range, while the premium (which is not necessary for this implication,) still holds its high value for now. Looking into the use of a big projector/av set up, smart-board, or other technologies for multimedia projection, this seems like a feasible option for alternative in the future.

Week 4: Supporting a Point of View

Forms of Media to Support a Presentation

There are many forms of supporting a presentation using media. Media can be delivered physically and visually in front of the listeners to help follow the presentation and help support a point of view, or even just to highlight a note worth remembering for later. 

Using media physically, with props, handouts, or even flip charts, the members of the audience have something with key points of interest and notes to take with them to recap the presentation. Having a physical copy of something always helps people follow along; even if they do not fully comprehend, they won't be lost completely. With props to pass out or use during a presentation, the listeners are able to again make a mental note to associate one very specific thing with your presentation. An example of this would be passing around a jar of tar from cigarettes during an anti-smoking presentation. It's disgusting visual can really help drive home the point of how unhealthy smoking is for people. 

Visuals delivered through projection, whether on slides, PowerPoint, transparencies, and even digital multimedia like videos and animations can be helpful with supporting a point of view. With the classic method of projections, the audience does not have to worry about being lost -as long as they pay attention to the enlarged slide show presentation created for their enjoyment and understanding. More and more people are using PowerPoint and like programs to create slide shows for their constant improvements of integration and versatility. Integrating visuals like animation and video allow for a break up in the presentation, giving the presenter a moment of rest, and the listener a moment to break from the constant listening to one person. 

At my job, we have several forms of media presenting. We use Smart Boards, and projected Power Point presentations typically, for the convenience and their ease of use and effective presence. Also using handouts, we find that having something to take with you is just as good as a presentation prepared for your visual needs. Knowing what's going on while you're there is great, but taking all of that information with you in a physical copy is better because you can look back and remember things you'd possibly forgotten or missed. 

-Robert

Week 3 Assignment: Engaging An Audience

Engaging An Audience

Engaging an audience is an essential part to having a successful presentation. This is the foundation of what makes a presentation memorable, connects the speaker with the audience, and delivers the message and point of the whole presentation. There are many ways for us to present ourselves to an audience to become more engaging. Being Vulnerable, Encouraging Interaction, and Being Authentic  are just three simple ways to engage in an audience. 

Never be afraid to be vulnerable to an audience. By opening up yourself and sharing personal stories, audience members will have the ability to respond to emotion and personal experiences that you are bringing into the presentation. By showing that you are human too, they will find you easy to relate to and will be more open to listening to your speech.

Encouraging interaction is an excellent way to break up the dull moments in a speech. Often the case, listeners are seated in an auditorium or room, everything is quiet and dark, and there is only one person speaking. This can be quite tiresome after a few minutes if there is nothing engaging the audience. By encouraging interaction, including members of the audience into the presentation, and even going mobile and coming to them, it separates the speech from so many others that the audience had to listen to. 

Being authentic is difficult, but an excellent way to engage in an audience. Being authentic is being real and honest about who you are. There are many ways to do this that will come off as arrogant or superior to the general public. By using your actions and personal experiences as examples, being authentic is an excellent way to show that you are worth listening to as a success story. 

Audiences need a speaker to be engaging in order to take in the most of a presentation. Vulnerability, interaction, and authenticity are just a few ways one can make a presentation more memorable and can connect with members of the audience on a more one-to-one level of connection. By wanting to engage an audience, a speaker takes a valuable step in the right direction in becoming a professional presentation giver.