I use PowerPoint, but very selectively. My body is more effective. So is yours. Here’s why.
The most potent multimedia technology in the world is the human body, including our voices. We’re wondrously multisensory creatures.
No humanly devised communication technology can compete with our body’s expressiveness.
It shouldn’t surprise us that the root word for ‘communication’ is the same for ‘community’ and ‘communion.’ Our bodies commune. Love-making is the supreme example. Skip the PowerPoint when you want to be passionate on stage. Who wants virtual reality in bed?
The next time you’re at a restaurant, watch and listen to people at nearby tables. Smiles. Gestures. Intonations. Non-stop, back and forth, endlessly creative interaction. Wild.
Stage actors learn body movement to perform as if they could carry the dialogue without uttering a word. They have to master the body.
When we stand in front of an audience, our body is the visual palette for painting our message. Our voice is the soundtrack.
When our voices and bodies are in tune, we can connect powerfully. Personally. Even intimately. Like magic, we become one with the audience.
For all of its benefits, PowerPoint has the enormous disadvantage of removing our bodies from our messaging. In effect, the screen substitutes for our body. Our voices then carry the burden of personalizing our presentation. We might as well be on the radio.
If you really want to connect, limit PowerPoint to what you can’t communicate with your body, including voice.
The three essentials are eyes, arms, and mouth.
#1 Look at your audience. They want to see you looking at them. It says that you want to connect with them personally.
#2 Open up your arms. Invite your audience to listen by opening up to them. Go especially wide when you want to emphasize that your message is meant for everyone. Open arms are stage hospitality incarnate.
#3 Open your mouth. Speak expressively to the audience, not inexpressively to yourself. Smile in between sentences. A genuine smile. A smile of appreciation and delight.
Here’s a great video clip by Clifford Stoll that demonstrates my point. Watch how Cliff does it. His body is his palette. He adds technology only as needed. Enjoy.
Please share this with speaking friends.
— Dr. Q
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