I don't move, therefore I am professional

This past week in class we learnt that one of the ways to make a good presentation is to have a fixed stance. Now I know this is probably not a hard-and-fast rule; merely just a recommendation, which got me thinking if there is ever a "proper" way to make a professional presentation without being completely static. After all on the face of it someone just standing there and talking doesn't sound terribly interesting right?

As with most things in life, TV has the answer, and it therefore justifies the many hours I've spent in front of it. The "Walk-and-Talk" is a story-telling technique sometimes used in film and television. It involves the characters having a conversation while en route to another location. New characters may be added and existing characters may leave during the "Walk-and-Talk". It serves to smooth a transition from one scene to another, as well as to highlight how busy the characters are.

More importantly (I feel) however, the "Walk-and-Talk" introduces a visual element that is interesting to the eye to what would otherwise be a static scene of people talking. It can also give the illusion that the story is progressing, as if the characters are walking ever closer to the credits.

Now that's fine for TV, but can "Walk-and-Talk" work for a presentation? Well Al Gore certainly was anything but still during his now famous speech Inconvenient Truth speech. If I remember correctly he climbed into a crane and talked as it elevated him. He was trying to illustrate how much the carbon levels has increased over the years, and it seemed pretty effective (to me at least) to do so while he was increasing his altitude.

Well not everyone can drag a crane into a classroom right? So unlike Al Gore, the rest of us are pretty much limited to lateral movements. That has not deterred some though. Comedians are known to walk across stage while doing stand-up (pretty ironic isn't it?). It is very commonly used when they are done with one joke and want to move on to a completely new topic.

Side note (yes i'm changing the topic slightly here... move your computer monitor across your desk if you want to get the sense of "Walk-and-Talk"), stand up comics are probably the least proper examples when it comes to professional communication. However this may not have always been the case. Consider the following:-

In Renaissance times, the King was considered to be a 'God on Earth' and it was only his Court Jester (or Fool) appointed both to amuse him and remind him of his humanity, who was allowed to speak plainly. In King Lear, it is up to the Fool to remind the King of the consequences of his actions. - Royal Shakespeare Company

So once upon a time, the Court Jester was the only one that was allowed to tell the King the truth. He had to be harsh (though not too harsh else he might find himself a head shorter) and frank. He delivered hard news to the King in the form of jokes and insults, and he probably did it while juggling or doing head stands. I'm not sure if the King would be too amused if he had a fixed stance.

In conclusion I suppose that walking can be a very useful visual tool in some sense; To show you are done with one chapter and want to talk about something else, you literally "move on" to a new topic. It can be very effective; it was definitely good enough for King Lear at least. However it should be said that our presentation next week is for a completely different "ang moh".

Something to think about nonetheless. Good luck for all your preparations!