Andreas Brockhaus
Academic Services
University of Washington, Seattle Campus

Evaluating Presentation Methods: A Test Scenario

How can media enhance or hinder a presentation or a speech? Can it make a difference if you use PowerPoint, or do overheads or handouts work just as well? Does media help an audience stay engaged with the presentation? What are the advantages and disadvantages of using different types of media? These were some of the questions and issues the students from the Master of Arts in Policy Studies (MAPS) at UW, Bothell, were examining during Fall quarter of 2001. In order to answer some of these questions, a scenario was developed by faculty members Dr. Jane Decker, Dr. Bruce Kochis and educational technologist Andreas Brockhaus, who also ran the scenario and played the part of the speaker. In the scenario, Brockhaus gave the same presentation three times, but used three different types of media:

• Text-based, where the audience received a handout with basic information
• Overheads, where Brockhaus showed overheads with no accompanying handout
• PowerPoint, where Brockhaus used a PowerPoint Presentation with no accompanying handout

In keeping with the program's topic of study, Brockhaus played the part of a special assistant to the mayor promoting a local library bond at a community meeting while encouraging the audience to approve a property tax increase to pay for the new library. Each speech lasted about five minutes. The students played the part of the test audience and were divided up into four groups, each with six to seven students. One group evaluated the text, one the overhead, and one the PowerPoint presentation. The fourth group evaluated the presentation, the presenter and the audience.

Evaluations

Text-based (Group 1)
The group observed that using only handouts puts more pressure on the speaker, who has to be more engaging in order to keep the audience's attention. The speaker also tended to gloss over some details and wasn't quite as specific as in the other presentations. They thought that the handouts distracted from the speaker and wondered if handing out the information at the end of the presentation might work better. Also, using handouts gave the impression that the speaker had little money or resources, which, the group observed, might be inappropriate when asking for money. One advantage cited by the group was that handouts are very portable.

Overheads (Group 2)
This was seen as a significant improvement over the text-based approach since the speaker was able to present numbers, graphs and other graphics. It also seemed to the group that the issues were handled better. They observed that handling the overheads can sometimes be problematic (placing them upside down, or getting them straight), and that coordinating the speech with the overheads didn't always work since some overheads stayed up for a long time even though the speaker had moved on to a new topic. It was also noted that the speaker spent more time facing the screen and away from the audience. Overall though, the group thought that overheads made the audience more accepting and receptive of authority.

PowerPoint (Group 3)
PowerPoint was seen as highly effective, and the group thought it excelled in its ability to handle graphics and pictures. The group noted that it forced the audience to focus and made it easier for the speaker to manipulate the audience. A few group members said that PowerPoint was somewhat distracting at times, and that it was important to know who your audience is since PowerPoint might not be suitable for every audience. They observed that access to equipment to display PowerPoint could be difficult at different locations. Using PowerPoint also increased the need for accurate formatting and good design.

Presentations, Presenter and Audience (Group 4)
This group saw PowerPoint as clearly the most effective medium because the audience was most responsive to it. They noted that the text-based presentation had little effect on the audience which they described as blank. Some heads were down and there was silence at the end of the presentation, although there was a lot of note-taking. For the overhead presentation, audience members as a whole had more expressions on their faces. There was more talk and response. The audience tended to stare at the overheads, and there was less note-taking than during the text-based presentation. For the PowerPoint presentation, the audience was sitting up and involved, appeared more thoughtful, and took the most notes of all three presentations.

This group also observed that the presenter became more animated with each presentation. Even the presenter's voice became more expressive.

Finally, the group noted that the PowerPoint presentation seemed more professional and credible. Using PowerPoint was also seen as an aid that keeps a presenter on schedule.

Summary

In this scenario, PowerPoint was more effective than handouts and overheads in presenting a clear and organized message to which an audience responded favorably. Its ability to handle graphics and engage the audience made it a clear favorite. The value of graphics in a presentation was evident with all three media. This scenario also showed that PowerPoint was the most effective in taking some of the focus off the speaker, which can help a speaker feel less constrained. Here, PowerPoint was the most successful in helping the speaker to adapt a more natural and animated speaking style. However, the success of the PowerPoint presentation was also partially attributed to Brockhaus, who has a very strong background in using technology in his presentations.

It can be deduced that a speaker's style and methodology helps determine the design of a PowerPoint presentation, how PowerPoint gets used during a presentation and how effective it would be for a specific audience. One downside noted by the group is that PowerPoint is not as portable as either handouts or overheads, precluding its use in some cases. However, overall, PowerPoint showed itself to be the more effective medium for presentations.