Three inspiring semi-quotes. “People hear what they see.” “It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.” “The person makes the message.”
Why don’t presentations involve more people, then? Right now, even the better speakers I see, those who use Powerpoint/Keynote to deliver critical pointers and information visualizations without overwhelming the audience with glitz, rarely put images of themselves up on slides.
Maybe there’s some latent resistance to appearing narcisistic, or because speakers don’t consider themselves photogenic, but I believe this might be a missed opportunity. If the audience’s evaluation of a presentation hinges on how well the speaker presents him/herself, the speaker should make use of tasteful visual aids to reinforce their self-presentation.
I’m certainly not suggesting that every slide should include a glamour shot of the speaker, just that there should be room in a speech for self-introduction and (when appropriate) self-promotion other than at the very end, next to the “Acknowledgements ” section, perhaps crammed in with the typical “wacky group picture.”
Maybe live video feedback of the speaker, re-projected onto the main screen, would be an acceptable solution during the talk-heavy portions of a presentation. If the speech involves on-hand demonstrations or graphics illustrating a process, blown-up pictures of the speaker from previous events could work, and would even provide a service for people in the back who might not necessarily have a direct view of the podium.
And hey, if you’re not confident about your looks in general, using in-presentation photographs gives you an excellent chance to provide evidence that you can look decent, at least with sufficient foresight and lack of jet-lag.
