Last week, instead of having a normal class period, we presented a webinar that we had planned in groups over about a week. We also viewed some of our classmates' webinars. This was the first of the practical exercises we've done that I don't feel went half as well as it could have. I observed some possible causes of this both while presenting my own webinar and viewing others'.
First, communicating with people when there is no feedback is much harder than it sounds. And it sounds pretty hard. I had expected that I would be more comfortable just talking to my computer than I normally am talking to a room full of people, but that was definitely not the case. Physically standing in front of a group and talking gives me a feeling of being grounded; I can use body language and read the audience's body language in order to tailor my speech or pacing. When all I had to look at was the slide I was on and an incredibly distracting chat box, I felt like I was speaking into a void. It was like practicing a speech in an empty room, except that people could actually hear me. The webinar that I viewed a couple of weeks ago had seemed scripted, and at the time that was off-putting. But after having to do this myself, I completely understand why people just read off of a script.
An effect of not feeling "grounded" in my presentation was that I sort of oscillated between just talking without thinking much about it and completely losing focus and losing my train of thought. Something that might help with that problem in the future would be to print out a copy of all of the slides so that I could remind myself of the context of the current topic. Just having something physical to hold and look at, rather than notes in a Google doc, might also be helpful.
One main point that I gathered from viewing other webinars (which were all done very well, by the by) was the importance of the slides the presenters used. The instructor had mentioned this before, but it was good to actually see it. It sounds shallow, but I have remembered the presentations with visually engaging slides much better than the ones with slides that were just bullet points on a plain background. Having pretty or dynamic slides to look at also reduced my urge to go on Facebook or do whatever else while the webinar played in the background.
I also noticed that the nature of the webinar format - pre-made slides and voices, but no video - smoothed over some problems that may have occurred on the presenters' end. I think that happened with my own webinar, and I know that it happened with the ones that I viewed. A member of another group told me that her group had done particularly poorly, but I never would have guessed that from what I saw. So that, at least, is reassuring.
On the whole, I found more to dislike about webinars as a format than things to like about them. For one thing, I didn't retain information from the webinars that I viewed. Because I relish the opportunity to whip out a Buffy the Vampire Slayer reference, I'll quote Giles: "The knowledge gained from a computer has no texture, no context. It's there and then it's gone. If it's to last, then the getting of knowledge should be tangible." The webinars, while well-planned and well-executed, were intangible and thereby forgettable.
This isn't to say that webinars can't be a useful format. They overcome barriers such as accessibility (in some cases), distance, time constraints, and cost. But I think that they should be a last resort. If there is a better way to relay the same information to the same people, that is the route to take.
You make many points in your post I agree with. First, the importance of the design of the slides used in webinars is augmented. I think that this is because it is the only visual participants can focus on when in a webinar, since there is no person or persons available to focus on. I think that this goes along with your comments on how when communicating in a presentation or workshop in person you can react to the physical signals you receive. There is a dialogue happening in in-person presentations that happens at a different level that is lost through webinars. I understand the value of reaching more people through this platform, but it does have its limitations.
ReplyDeleteI think despite misgivings about scripts, for this assignment having one was what saved me so many times from just completely losing my train of thought. I found myself getting super involved in my script which allowed me to tune out distractions like the chat box (moderated by my peer while I spoke). I think, too, that it's all about how the individual orients themselves to a script. Scripts don't always need to sound scripted, but sometimes it's easy to lose the emotion and inflections in speech. I find it interesting though, trying to put inflection into my voice in order to make up for the lack of nonverbal cues. Plus, I prefer to give a speech to a computer than a room of people because at least when people get distracted while listening to a webinar I can't see them do that. But I think you have totally valid misgivings about the format.
ReplyDelete