Yes, video is becoming ubiquitous. YouTube, cell phone video, digital camcorders… the possibilities are endless for creating and sharing video with people. So it only makes sense that people are getting more interested in incorporating video into their speeches and PowerPoint Presentations.
But please beware: everything is more complicated once you decide to deal with video.
For starters, before you put video into a presentation, ask yourself “why am I doing this? Does the video really add to the meaning and experience for my audience? Or am I doing this just because I can? Or because I think it will be cute? Or because I think it will deflect attention away from me having to speak?â€
Make sure you have a good reason to use video. I often use video in my keynote speeches because I talk about how great leaders communicate to live audiences and the media. Therefore, I have to show video clips of everyone from Winston Churchill to Martin Luther King, Jr. to Ronald Reagan. Plus I show how modern leaders like Oprah Winfrey and Bill Clinton use specific techniques to maximize their effectiveness anytime they speak.
So I have to use lots of video clips in any keynote address I deliver. To my audience, it all looks easy and seamless. But it’s not. There is a lot of extra work involved.
Recently, after a keynote address I gave to the American Medical Association in Washington, DC, someone came up and asked me, “TJ how do you make sure the video works correctly in your presentation? Do you just hope it goes well?â€
“No!†(I said in a polite tone.)
Anytime you are dealing with video you need to put a lot more time into the preparation process. Here are some of the steps involved.
1. Arriving very early to test. My speech was at 3: OO PM in Washington. I could have taken the train or plane from New York City and arrived early afternoon, in plenty of time to give the speech. Instead, I arrive the night before so that I could be in the room at 9:00 AM to check out the room, equipment, details and meet the technical staff.
2. Preparation before the trip. My director of operations Kris Gentile created the video clip presentation as a PowerPoint. He installed the presentation onto my laptop hard drive so that I could play it directly from my computer. Next, he put the PowerPoint on a memory stick in case I had to use another computer provided by the organizers at the JW Marriot (you can’t always assume that there will be time to switch out computers). Finally, Kris created an entire backup of the presentation on a DVD that could be played in a DVD player in case I could not get a laptop to work with the PowerPoint. So we had not one, but two backup plans.
3. Rehearsal. Of course we rehearsed several times the day before the speech in my TV studio in Manhattan. And I rehearsed on the train ride down. But rehearsal is never complete until you’ve rehearsed in the same venue as the one where you will give the same presentation. While everyone else was at lunch, at 12:30 on the day of the speech, I was able to get into the convention hall to do a full practice session to make sure that my computer and video clips were compatible with the gigantic projectors and speakers at the hotel. The first time I attempted to play my videos, the computer froze and nothing worked. Panic! What if this happens during the live presentation? So I restarted the computer and the next time it worked fine. Additionally, I was able to give a copy of my speech outline to the technicians who were projecting my image on the giant screens in front of the room when my videos weren’t playing. Sure, I had to scarf down a salad quickly instead of enjoying a leisurely lunch with everyone else, but it made the difference in having a successful rehearsal versus none at all.
4. Delivering the speech. By the time I gave the speech, I was quite relaxed. The hard work had already been done. Sure glitches could still happen, but I was not preoccupied with “wishes†or “hopes†for a good result. I didn’t have to cross my fingers for luck. Instead, I simply executed. And the results were fantastic, for me and the audience.
So use video if it truly serves a purpose for you presentation, but make sure you go through all of the steps I mentioned; otherwise you are likely to be staring at a blank screen in front of your audience while you attempt to sputter apologies.
Originally published as Preparation for Video Powerpoint Presentations by TJ Walker for SpeakingChannel.TV
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