Picture yourself in 10 years…
You’ve been selected to present for a major professional event, high stake for you and your company.
Chances are high that your presentation will be live and online.
It could be broadcasted on many media, corporate social networks, may be on The Next Corporate « WeTube » and directly on personal mobile electronic devices, in your clients’ pockets.
Your presentation will be at the same time global and local, « glocal ». You might even perform from your home office, or from any virtual room, rather than from a big convention center.
You’re likely to reach thousands or more rather than dozens. Their attention span might be even shorter than it is now…They (your audience) will be able to switch and zap you in seconds, too! They will comment and even grade your presentation, publicly chatting while you’re speaking…
You’ll have to be entertaining as well as informative!
It’s likely that the content will be completely free and sharable on web 2.0.
How would it look like? Definitely not like a PowerPoint!
- More simple
- Shorter
- More personal
- More Interactive
- Collaborative
- More Fun
Why?
Because Gen Xers, Millennials and Gen 2020s will integrate at work their social and personal lifestyles, the totally Milennial approach.
What is « a totally Millennial approach »?
» It’s optimistic, proactive, innovative, and it utilizes social media. »
(Quoted from MillennialGeneration.org)
Here are some questions for you:
- What does it mean for presentation training , NOW?
- What are the skills we need to develop to be ready?
- How to protect professional data?
- How to deal with challenging time zones? (you’re in US, east coast , your team is spread between San Francisco, India and Europe )
- Will pandemic diseases reduce dramatically the corporate travels?
- How will the companies be able to pay the ecological and financial costs for travel expenses?
- When will face to face meetings and presentations will really be essential?
- Will physical PRESENCE become the ultimate luxury?
I am sure you have other ideas and suggestions in your own crystal ball, please add them in your comments!
Hi Marion
This is a thought-provoking list – but I think that it’s much less than 10 years away!
Olivia
You bring up some excellent points here, Marion. As much as businesses are trying to figure out how to adapt the way they engage customers thanks to social media, the fact is how we give presentations is also in a state of flux. And honestly, after enduring one too many PowerPoint presentations – you know, the ones where the speaker puts their whole speech up on the slide – I can’t help but see this as a good thing.
Do you mean I’m going to be famous worldwide? I love it!
What skills? – the skills developed in blogging, micro-blogging and time-limited events like pecha kucha help presenters to focus on only the most relevant information and to find ways to best convey our intended messages.
Protecting professional data? I don’t know what the issue here is. In my case, I want to be known, so my information is on many platforms: LinkedIn, Facebook, Slideshare, YouTube, etc.
Time Zones? Always an issue and no easy answers as I’ve found out over the years of presenting global online sessions. Find out where the majority of your audience is located and focus on them and then make sure all sessions are recorded for the convenience of others. If it’s a continuing event, vary the times.
Pandemics? Will have sporadic temporary effects. Peak oil may be more of an issue.
Costs? I’ve seen an increased demand for virtual conferences in the past 12 months. I think demand will continue.
F2F? Is still very social, but limited in how many people you can connect with. People who are active online (like me) are starting to complain that F2F conferences are too limiting. Hybrid conferences are the future, with an active back-channel. There is a need for F2F conference organisers to better manage the back-channel and better support virtual attendees.
Thank you Harold for these very precise answers to my questions!
That’s exactly what I was expecting!
About skills : definitely agree with you about developing time limited Pecha Kucha style Presentations, blogging and micro-blogging.
I also believe online presentation (eg speaking to your own image on your computer screen, designing keynote Preso recording your own voice to comment on it, …facilitating virtual seminars, trainings, meetings, etc…) requires a real new set of skills to be mastered and used professionally.
About the time zones, you bring some very interesting points, and solutions.
I would love to know more about the « hybrid conferences » with active back-channel.
It seems to resonate with the concept of « blended learning », mixing different learning approaches, both online and F2F.
I’m sure there are many more options to explore, let’s keep our eyes wide opened!
Marion
Let me brainstorm on the title of your new book, « Having Fun Presenting with Lisa » and you will be famous in the Whole Twitterverse in a couple of weeks!
Thank you for starting this discussion, Olivia.
You’re perfectly right. This is already happening, as the your latest ebook tells us Also check out the backchannel book by @cliffatkinson and Olivia’s ebook
It’s a question of a few years.
If I used 2020, it was more to sign the generation difference, when Gen Y will really be a majority.
It also came from an exercise I do when coaching executives in personal and professional project. I ask them to project themselves in 10 years time, in order to better access unconscious level of awareness, tap into their intuition, remove inhibitions and blocks due to limiting personal believes.
Let’s dream…let’s pretend we’re in 2020…Then one can really start to explore new frontiers.
I am very curious about your upcoming webinar with cliff atkinson Free webinar Dec 18 « Getting Ready for the Backchannel – w/guest Olivia Mitchell »
I like your phrase « How we give presentations is in a state of flux ».
This so true that nobody knows yet how it will turn out.
We’re all co-creating it.
Just like we co-create new communication styles, with tweets and threads of dicussion like this one, to be taken maybe on twitter again, and on to another blog, then via tel call,etc…
What is certain and will NOT CHANGE, is your determination to adapt, understand and CREATE!