Our program featured Easton Rotarian Terry Pundiak, who presented a presentation on various methods for presenting a presentation. He recalled nearly resigning from Rotary when he was told about the Classification Talk requirement. With no Google to rely on, he resorted to the ancient practice of book reading to research the subject. He discovered the importance of establishing a connection with the audience. But how?
Perhaps playing to the audience like a rock star? Well, maybe not the rock star thing. How about some jokes? Pay back your audience with the gift of laughter. But better keep it clean. You don’t want to be offensive. What style is best? Johnny Carson might do. Something from Karnac. The answer is “a,b,c,d,e,f,g”. The question sealed in the envelope: What are the early names for Preparation H? Maybe Rodney Dangerfield would be better. Or better yet, some jokes about the subject matter of the presentation. If comedy is not your style you could try some magic tricks. Allow audience members to participate as you display your ESP prowess (this might have worked better if there really was someone in the audience named “Ray”).
Consider establishing a dialog with the audience. Ask them questions designed to allow them to share meaningful experiences. Who is the most famous person they have ever met? Easton Rotarians have met people including Stevie Wonder, Lionel Ritchie, Mother Teresa, George H.W. Bush, Tea Leone, and Dwight Eisenhower. Ask about their favorite vacations.
Write down every word before you do your presentation. Practice it several times and do a dress rehearsal. This will allow you to determine the length of your show. Artificial intelligence is allowing some people to have their presentations created for them by using Chat GPT. Terry’s query of “what makes bird watching fascinating” yielded a full page of 10 factors. He finished the presentation with a rapidly moving slide show of some of the amazingly diverse birds that can be seen in our local area. Sorry Chat GPT, the real answer is the amazing beauty of the birds themselves.
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