Monday, January 28, 2008

Delivering Presentations


I watched the Tom Cruise video that has been creating buzz lately. I was quite impressed. Not by what he was saying or the words he used, but his delivery style. The way he expressed himself, the way he used pauses, and his facial expressions show off his expertise in acting. This video could be used to teach students how to deliver effective speeches. I remember one presentation I gave in grad school and I was so tired from preparing for the presentation the night before that I just wasn't into putting energy into the presentation. And the teacher commented on this. He said you have to act excited about what you are saying, which will influence the audience into paying attention to you. Tom Cruise does this perfectly; he's very excited about what he is saying. After my lesson in grad school, when I give presentations, I do my best to mask my anxiety or tiredness and pretend I am on a stage acting.

4 comments:

La Chounie said...

Hitler gave passionate speeches... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Q-6H4xOUrs

What the person says should be more important than how the person says it in my opinion.

Shannon said...

La Chounie, thank you for your comment and for reading my blog. I'd like to point out that this post is not about content, but about delivery styles. What delivery styles do you find effective?

La Chounie said...

Well I do enjoy watching Tom Cruise and he certainly does have a good delivery style. I particularly like the scene in Top Gun when Maverick says, 'What's your problem, Kazanski?' and Iceman replies 'You're everyone's problem. That's because every time you go up in the air, you're unsafe. I don't like you because you're dangerous.' This is the part I like, Maverick's use of the pause in his delievery style. 'That's right! Ice...(pause) man. I am (pause) dangerous' I think as he was saying this, he was fixing Iceman's collar or flicking lint of shoulders or something! Funny stuff...

Anonymous said...

Shannon, yo I've tried to get in touch with you a bunch of times. Are you still using your gmail address or what?

Kamil