Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Don't use Video Clips when Presenting

I recommend do not play video clips in your presentation. Find a different way to deliver the message.

Over the past year I've attended a few presentations where the presenter played a video clip. Often these clips range from two to five minutes.

Here are the problems with the video clips:

  1. I am here to watch the presenter. If I wanted to watch that clip I would watch it on the computer.
  2. Sometimes the clips are excerpts of shows or movies and don't make sense without the context.
  3. Audio can be hard to hear and video can be hard to see because of the lighting.  Often there is scrambling at the beginning of the clip to adjust the audio volume. It works fine on the presenters computer at home, but is then presented on a different projector and probably even a different computer.
  4. During the video clip the presenter often stands awkwardly to the side of the presentation area or look at their computer screen. This loses the audience.
Find a way for you to deliver the message instead of the video clip.