Monday, October 10, 2011

Live vs. Recorded

Warning: I have absolutely NO data to support the following assertion.

People have different tolerance levels for filler talk depending on if it is a live presentation versus a recorded one.

If I dial into a webcast, it doesn't bother me so much when the speaker starts off, "I'd like to thank Frank for inviting me here today, before I get started I'd like to let him say a few words." "Thanks, we are thrilled..."

BUT, if I encounter that at the start of a recorded webcast (where all of this goes on with just the boring cover slide up for the first five minutes) I go bonkers and drop off.

I'll leave it to others to prove such an experience is general (which I think it is) or to examine why we have different expectations. But if you believe it to be true, you should do two things:

  • Prompt the opening speaker to have a clear jumping point from intro filler to meaty start of the presentation.
  • Edit the intro filler out and start the recorded webcast at the meaty start.
Why not just start with the meaty start? Because I think the intro filler serves some real need in live presentations, it lets folks jostle the chairs and get situated, in reality or in virtual equivalents.

At any rate, think about it the next time you are doing a presentation that will get distributed in a recorded format. Right before you get into the meat, pretend the camera just got turned on.

1 comment:

Techquestioner said...

I think that's a valid observation. We expect the intro filler in a live presentation because it's used to get the audience's attention. I have the same reaction to it in a recorded one: I'm already paying attention when I select and open the file. I agree that everything except a simple statement of the name of the presenter and the date and occasion where it was recorded should have been edited out.