Technology in the Modern Age

When the term ‘live presentation” comes to mind, one automatically assumes that there will be a smorgasbord of applications and technological marvels for the eyes to behold. While the 21st Century has brought some astonishing aids to the presentation arena, most presenters and speakers have used the readily available technology to oversimplify their presentation. Since the days of Socrates, those with ability to articulate and speak eloquently have been able to convey their message much more effectively than those born without said abilities. Technology cannot be substituted with well conveyed information. More so, technology has been used as a crutch to captivate those who would otherwise not give attention to a presentation without multimedia aid. A technology based presentation is at times even detrimental to itself, in that the audience may pay more attention to the “glitz and glamour” of the presentation rather than what the speaker is actually attempting convey.

In retrospect, while technology can be of great assistance to any presentation, it is no alternative for an informational and well executed presentation. They often lack the substance that other non-media presentations contain, and the result is nothing more than a visual array of charts and diagrams. Most media laden presentations are designed to either mask the competence of the speaker or give more credibility to his information than is present, by way of visual deception. Even when these aforementioned factors are not in question, the technology used becomes the presentations inevitable downfall. The information becomes second to the overall presentation, almost an afterthought. In the end, what you are left with is trivialized information created by the technology used, while the goal to persuade or inform has eluded the speaker because one cannot expect the audience to recall what has been said (audio), when the focus was visual.

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