Useful slide tex (was - Re: English spoken here)

[Dave Crocker <[e-mail]>]

> But can be considerably aided in many cases by written material
> (slides, summaries, or both) well in advance especially if those
> material are also used at the meeting, thereby aiding
> synchronization.


This is a very specific matter of technique.

As I started doing more presentations outside the US or with mixed 
audiences, I was told that the challenge of slide content is to make it 
neither too terse nor too verbose.  Too terse imparts too little 
information for a reader who is using them to augment listening to the 
English.  Too verbose, of course, takes too much time to read for real-time.

In addition, slides often circulate later and need to have enough text 
to be useful without the speaker's commentary.

So I try to use "telegraphic" text that stands on its own.  That is, 
it's a terse as I can make it, while still making sense without my 
commentary.  (It turns out this also provides the opportunity to have 
the speaking commentary go beyond the slide text, since I can let the 
audience rely on the slides for key points.)

d/
-- 
  Dave Crocker
  Brandenburg InternetWorking
  bbiw.net