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12.1 More Than One Presenter?
I have attended a few talks presented by two speakers, and I have never been
impressed with the result. Typically, the silent speaker looks dumb doing nothing on
stage (which is distracting) while his/her colleague is busy going through the slides.
Moreover, the audience feels frustration when the best of the two speakers leaves
the podium to the weaker one.
When considering having two presenters, ask yourself “what’s in it for the audience?” Giving both speakers their 5 minutes of glory is no good enough reason.
A potentially acceptable ground for having two speakers is when both are subject
matter experts in their own distinct and relevant disciplines. But even then, I still
believe that having one presenter is better. The other one can simply be made available for the question period.
In a play, actors interact together, so it makes sense to have more than one actor
on stage at any given time. But unless you plan your talk to include conversations
among the two speakers (which would definitely be original), you should stick to
only one speaker.
If you insist on having two speakers, at the very least, minimize any back and
forth between the two of you.
12 Planning
12.1 More Than One Presenter?
I have attended a few talks presented by two speakers, and I have never been
impressed with the result. Typically, the silent speaker looks dumb doing nothing on
stage (which is distracting) while his/her colleague is busy going through the slides.
Moreover, the audience feels frustration when the best of the two speakers leaves
the podium to the weaker one.
When considering having two presenters, ask yourself “what’s in it for the audience?” Giving both speakers their 5 minutes of glory is no good enough reason.
A potentially acceptable ground for having two speakers is when both are subject
matter experts in their own distinct and relevant disciplines. But even then, I still
believe that having one presenter is better. The other one can simply be made available for the question period.
In a play, actors interact together, so it makes sense to have more than one actor
on stage at any given time. But unless you plan your talk to include conversations
among the two speakers (which would definitely be original), you should stick to
only one speaker.
If you insist on having two speakers, at the very least, minimize any back and
forth between the two of you.
12 Planning