Chapter 11 Thoughts

For me reading Chapter 11 was very helpful because while I feel pretty comfortable with writing my speeches and doing the outlines, using presentational media is something I do not know much about. I did not realize the range of things that count as presentational media, such as handouts, using a model, or chalkboards. I mostly think of slides and computer images as presentational media. I like handouts when they are provided to enhance a speech, but as the book pointed out they need to be used at the proper time. Before the speech is distracting, as well as during, so at the end is usually the best time for a handout. My husband is in the Air Force and he attends lots of meetings that use power point slides, and he warned against "death by power point." Some speakers misuse presentational media to the point where their speech either becomes boring or overwhelming with images and animations. He says it makes a meeting pretty miserable when a speaker over does it. I feel better about my speech tomorrow night having used some of the pointers in the chapter. I tried to make my slides very brief, highlighting only the main points. I also used images that I could not describe in words. My main concern right now is that I am going to forget to change the slides. We'll see tomorrow night!