Question

how would you respond to the following?

An example of poor public communication was when Congressman Hank Johnson was questioning Admiral Robert Willard about moving 8,000 Marines from Okinawa, Japan to the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam.  Congressman Hank Johnson stated that, “Yeah, my fear is that the whole island will become so overly populated that it will tip over and capsize.”  At the time the statement was made, it appeared that Congressman Johnson was very concerned that by relocating troops and equipment to Guam, the island would literally tip over and capsize.  He later explained that he was speaking metaphorically. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7XXVLKWd3Q)

One way to avoid problems in future communication is to do your research.  If you thoroughly research your topic and have verified the information you are presenting is true and correct to the best of your knowledge, then the chances of passing along erroneous information is greatly reduced.  Also, you will be able to field any questions that may arise after the presentation.

Some lessons learned from these poor examples are to be prepared and know your topic.  You should also try to anticipate questions that an audience may have so you can immediately and knowledgably provide an answer.

“Death by PowerPoint” means that the PowerPoint presentation was too busy, hard to follow, and did not flow well.  A visual aid should be just that, an aid.  It should be kept simple and it should enhance your presentation.

Answer 1

The problem speech by the congressman is not about lack of research or gaining information/knowledge about the topic, but a lack of common sense when he says that an island can tip over. It shows his ignorance about basic things that drives a bad reputataion for him. Even when he tried to say he was actually speaking metaphorically, his actual body language in the admiral interview does not reveal any signs of his intention to be metaphorical or hilarious. His language also shows lack of clarity and purpose.

Apriori research about the topic to be discussed is a requisite for any situation. Several great leaders have been caught off guard due to lack of knowledge about key issues in a discussion topic. In any such cases, it is better to anticipate the questions and prepare answers for them.

Clarity and brevity are the cornerstones of a good presentation. Presentations especially when dealing with numbers have to be simple with clarity and stressing on few important specifics. Sometimes they say it is better to use seven or fewer words in a single slide because more than that will be too much for the audience to grasp. A visual presentation acts as a supplement to human speech usually.

So except for few points, it is better that the presenter explains the details of the slide. This also makes the presentation livelier. When the PowerPoint is filled with details audience get engrossed in it and lose connection with the speaker. This makes the discussion look like a reading session. Too many animations and tables make the presentation less interesting. Graphs and charts help to translate table of numbers into making visually interesting presentation making it easier for the audience to understand the point