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.
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:
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.
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