Punishing Poor Presenters

How different does an audience experience a presentation than the presenter? Perhaps more than you notice.

I am editing a video taken from the Back of the room at a recent "Pow'Rful Process" seminar. While presenting, I thought that I did a great job. Watching the video from the view of an audience member shows that I made a few (OK, maybe more than a few) mistakes.

While presenting, I did not realize that I moved in front of the projector a few times. Also, although I was promised months in advance that the room was suitable for a projector, guess what? The table was too close to the screen for a large view, and I see on the video how much room there is for improvement in this area.

Watching a DVD of your presentation from the viewpoint of the audience hurts initially, and is punishment for many presenters. I believe many presenters will not want to see a DVD of their presentations. However, this is what the audience sees and presenters are on the stage for the benefit of the audience, which means watching DVD's of your presentation is essential medicine for good presenters. It is only punishment for poor presenters.

When last did you watch a video of your presentation from the back of the room? Is your audience seeing what you think they are seeing? Are you sure?