Many presenters offer up a PowerPoint slide that is so busy and full of text that the people at the back of the room cannot read it. They then compound this by apologising for the "crowded" slide - and proceeding laboriously to read out all of the text.
By this point they have lost their audience and will have failed to make whatever point they intended. They are suffering from an inability to see and articulate their ideas clearly and concisely. To adopt an old adage, they "cannot see the wood for the trees".
This type of presenter also typically never explains the basics so unless you are almost as expert as them the talk can go over your head.
By contrast I saw Larry Lessig speak. He used what seemed like hundreds of short punchy slides and illustrations that punctuated and informed his talk. He explained complex and shifting issues clearly and in an entertaining manner. He was like a person who had climbed to the top of one of the trees in the wood and was telling us the way ahead.
By this point they have lost their audience and will have failed to make whatever point they intended. They are suffering from an inability to see and articulate their ideas clearly and concisely. To adopt an old adage, they "cannot see the wood for the trees".
This type of presenter also typically never explains the basics so unless you are almost as expert as them the talk can go over your head.
By contrast I saw Larry Lessig speak. He used what seemed like hundreds of short punchy slides and illustrations that punctuated and informed his talk. He explained complex and shifting issues clearly and in an entertaining manner. He was like a person who had climbed to the top of one of the trees in the wood and was telling us the way ahead.
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