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November 13, 2005

Presentation Kung-Fu

Public presentations are fun. I enjoy doing them, and I enjoy watching others do them as well. The avowed masters of the art are one thing (Steve Jobs, anyone?), but I'm often more engaged and delighted by people who are just good in front of a room. Two that come to mind are Richard Tait of Cranium and Chris Capossela at Microsoft - both are loose, funny, and do a great job of knowing their audiences. (If either of these guys are speaking near you, go. Trust me.)

So when I was at Web 2.0 last month, I saw a lot of different presentations. Most were OK, some were bad, but one in particular stood out - Dick Hardt of SXIP (pronounced "skip").

It's wicked.

Hardt's style is really different - he uses a graphically-intensive, rapid-fire approach; the guy reads from a prepared text and then hits NEXT, NEXT, NEXT on PowerPoint to keep the image on the screen relevant to the words coming out of his mouth. It takes a little getting used to, but it’s an outstanding effect. The presentation screen becomes hypnotic; you barely notice Dick at the front of the room, delivering the presentation.

I came across a videotaped, earlier version of his Web 2 talk (this one delivered at the O'Reilly Open Source convention), and it holds up pretty well online. If you're looking for ideas on your next presentation, it's worth a watch.

UPDATE, March 12, 2006: One or more of the original hyperlinks on this page expired, and has been dereferenced. The hyperlinked text is now underlined.

Posted by Gavin Shearer at November 13, 2005 12:34 PM. Posted to Cool.

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