Jedi Knights With Frickin’ Laser Pointers
by Lee Potts ~ April 16th, 2008. Filed under: Problems with Equipment, Problems with Light, Problems with People, Venue - Any.
The last presentation before lunch was just getting started and I’m trying to find my copy of the agenda. Since I was the PowerPoint guy at that meeting, my day was pretty much over and I was hanging out with the crew in the control booth daydreaming about the lunch buffet. The technical director’s whispered, but emphatic, “uh oh!” brought me back. “Cover your eyes,” he said “it looks like we have a Jedi Master on stage.”
Huh?
Oh yeah, the speaker. He was rather, well, enthusiastic about using the laser pointer. Back and forth from one corner of the screen to the other. Waving it under every bullet point to underline its importance. Look out, here’s the dangerous part. He forgets to take his thumb off the button as he turns back to the audience. The little red dot slides across the audience like he’s a nervous hit man looking for his target. It’s lucky he doesn’t burn out a couple retinas. Whoops, he’s turning back to the screen. Good thing he’s not a Jedi Knight. That evil Sith lectern would be toast. I could almost hear the sound effects from that scene when Luke…
(sorry, got carried away)
Anyway, I think you see the point. If you’re going to use a laser pointer, use it correctly. Some suggestions:
- Many speakers seem to like holding onto the laser pointer to have something to do with their hands. They are using it as a security blanket. These are often the worst offenders. Try putting the pointer within easy reach on the lectern. It will be there when you need it but you’ll be less tempted to use it when you don’t.
- Make sure the laser light only goes where you want it to. It’s capable of attracting a lot of the audience’s attention, and that attention should be directed only where you need it to be. And never, ever point it toward the audience. (This illustrates another instance of the need for the presenter to control the light. There will be more on that in future posts).
- Make sure your hand is steady. It might be adrenaline, it might be the coffee, it doesn’t matter. It tends to make the audience uncomfortable when the little red dot won’t stay still and it’s clear that your hand is shaking.
- If the laser pointer is part of your remote control, try to get in enough practice with it so you’re less likely to hit the laser pointer button when you’re trying to advance the slides.
- Part of the problem with using the laser pointer is that you usually have to turn, at least partially, away from the audience. This makes it harder to engage them. It can also make it harder for the lectern microphone to pick up what you’re saying. Try to test the stage arrangement out in rehearsal. Can the lectern be turned slightly toward the screen? Can you wear a lavalier to support the lectern microphone?
Related Resources
- wiseGeek: Are Laser Pointers Dangerous?
- Switched: Laser Pointers Now Considered Controlled Weapons in Australia
- YouTube: Ninja vs. Laser pointer
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April 17th, 2008 at 8:40 am
Heh. I received a laser pointer as trade show swag over 10 years ago. I never used it on stage myself — but for the first year or so, it was a dandy toy for pestering my tropical fish.
I kept the toy in my kit for a few years, too — but whenever presenters asked to use it, I discouraged the practice.
“Let’s see how you rehearse without it,” became a pat phrase. After rehearsal, I would usually offer positive reinforcement for their non-laser performance.
My laser pointer has been in my kitchen junk drawer for quite a while now…
April 17th, 2008 at 11:26 am
@Laura Bergells: I agree. In most cases, it’s best to reserve the laser pointer for exercising the cat once you get home. There’s one major exception in my line of work. When one of our speakers is showing a graph, especially one that’s displaying the data in a nonstandard way, we suggest to them that they take a moment or two to orient the audience to the graph before explaining what the data mean. Basically reviewing what’s on each axis, the significance of the particular scale of each axis, things like that.
April 23rd, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Laser pointers banned after attacks Mon Apr 21, 12:11 PM ET
SYDNEY (Reuters) - A major Australian state has banned laser pointers after a spate of incidents in which aircraft pilots have been temporarily blinded, the government said on Monday.
High-powered hand lasers, including so-called “star pointers” used by astronomers, would be listed as prohibited weapons in New South Wales state with jail terms of up to 14 years for anyone carrying them without a permit.
“It is a gutless and cowardly act that could result in an horrific outcome. It only takes a fraction of a second for a pilot to become temporarily blinded and that could have catastrophic consequences,” said state Premier Morris Iemma.
Several pilots have recently reported high-intensity lasers being shone into their cockpits during take-offs and landings, and police recently enlisted intelligence agencies to help combat what papers called “laser lunatics.”
The latest incident occurred over Sydney’s south at the weekend when an ambulance helicopter was hit by a green beam.
The ban will build on planned national importation controls announce by the federal government earlier this month, treating laser pointers like firearms.
“It’s destructive, dangerous behavior which needs a coordinated response across Australia,” said Home Affairs Minister Bob Debus.
(Reporting by Rob Taylor, editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
April 23rd, 2008 at 1:38 pm
@Mike: Thanks Mike. People have trouble hitting the spot they want to highlight on a screen thirty feet away from the podium they’re standing behind. How on earth is anyone aiming a handheld presentation laser pointer at a smaller, much less stationary target with anywhere near enough accuracy to be dangerous?
April 30th, 2008 at 10:01 pm
My take on laser pointers is that they don’t add much. I much prefer to see a presenter get ‘physical’ with the slide - walk over to it, into the beam if necessary and show us the axes as they’re explaining it. The presentation by Hans Rosling at TED is a great example - http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/92.
The only reasons I can see for having one is if the screen is too far away from the presenter to walk into, or if the presenter has a physical disability and can’t walk to the screen.
Olivias last blog post..Conversational Presenting
April 30th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
@Olivia: I agree with you that, in most cases, laser pointers don’t add much. Great example of an alternate strategy. I also like the way Rosling uses the arrow cursor as a pointer. He’s an amazing presenter.
Unfortunately, most of the presentations I support now take place in a very formal, regulatory environment. There are no lapel microphones. There is a lectern and, during the main presentation, the presenter is expected to be standing behind it. During the Q&A period, if you’re not behind the lectern, you’re most likely at a microphone by the “bullpen” which is even further from the screen.
Once again, it comes down to determining what tools and techniques best help the speakers make the points they need to make and tell the stories they need to tell.