Skip to main content.
You're browsing: Home > 2005 > 07 > 13 > What is a Presentation Professional?

July 13th, 2005

What is a Presentation Professional?

At InfoComm this year the ICIA introduced an impressive document called “Audiovisual Best Practices”. Now before you get too excited, let me tell you this is not a a best practice document about designing or delivering presentations. It is best practices for “The design and integration process for the AV and construction industries”. Nevertheless, it is very well done and can serve as a model for the kind of best practices document we might want to see developed for presentation design and delivery. Altough not targeted to Pres Pros, “Audiovisual Best Practices” does recognize the important role we play and lists the following definition of a Presentation Professional in its introductory chapter.

Presentation Professionals
After hardware is installed in an AV system and staff training is complete, presentation professionals are often hired to produce strong, effective and creative presentations that use the AV equipment to its fullest potential. This ensures a solid return on the organization’s investment. Presentation professionals are often hired as in-house resources or as independent freelancers to enhance the message through graphics and video presentations, marketing expertise and creative application of presentation tools.

This is the first time that I am aware of that a Presentation Professional has been formally acknowledged and defined. I think this definition is a pretty good start…. but what do you think? What would you change or add if you could? Does this describe your profession?

Posted by Robert Befus in ICIA

5 Comments »

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 13th, 2005 at 1:51 pm and is filed under ICIA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the comments RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

5 Responses to “What is a Presentation Professional?”

  1. Richard Bray says:

    It hardly scratches the surface…..

    Here’s an idea for a portfolio of abilities for a “presentation professional” (IAPP 2000):

    A-Presentation Software
    PowerPoint, and some of the others, and the support packages, PhotoShop, Illustrator, Freehand, Flash, etc.
    Image, text, manipulation and management, digital content integration.

    B-Presentation Technology
    Projection, screens, monitors, switching, mixing, signal management, control, video, TV,scaling, staging, lighting, lighting controls, video conferencing, satellite/ ISDN communications, web access and delivery, interactive/ audience response systems,

    C-Speaker delivery
    Microphones, signal management, loudspeakers and signal processors, mixing, remote controllers, indicators, timers/ traffic lights, speech management, speaker management, BGM and scheduling, interpretation systems, room layout, audience management,

    D-Creative Development
    Content, graphics, text, animations, video, integration into client’s strategy, interfacing, marketing, promotion, translation management, cultural awareness, publications/invitations, social programme, audience management, follow-up,

    E-Project Management
    Cost control, resource management, production and product delivery, personnel management, crisis management, client management, I am sure many of you will think of others to add to this initial list.

    All that AV hardware installation is useless if it is not used properly; the meeting with the presentation is mismanaged, the speaker is unable to deliver a message, or there is no return on investment.

  2. Peter Durand says:

    The comprehansive list of technology and techniques posted by Mr Bray is missing one key element: good storytelling.

    Richard is spot on in saying that topline AV equipment is a futile investment if “the presentation is mismanaged, the speaker is unable to deliver a message”.

    Good storytelling in the context of a public presentation is less about technology and more about theater; if the props, costumes and set don’t serve the story, then they are a distraction.

    The presentation professional is caught in a bit of a trap: Now matter how effectively the tools of visual storytelling are used, the final performence hinges on the presenter’s skill as a masterful storyteller.

    The key, then, is an early engagement between the presentation creator and presenter.

    The presentation professional needs access and insight to the intangible elements articulated by Bray in section D, Creative Development: integration into client’s strategy, interfacing, marketing, promotion, translation management, cultural awareness.

  3. Visual Being » Blog Archive » The 2006 Presentations Council Survey says:

    [...] In 2005, InfoComm International published its definition of a Presentation Professional. You can read it here. Three quarters (76%) of our survey respondents agreed “somewhat” or completely with this definition. After reviewing the supporting text of the “somewhat” responses, it is clear that those who answered “somewhat” were not questioning the definition, but were mostly indicating that their role included presentation development along with other responsibilities. There were 260 respondents (28%) who did not agree with the published definition of a Presentation Professional. In order to avoid contaminating the job related survey results, the responses of these 260 respondents were removed from all but the initial demographic survey questions.  [...]

  4. The 1981 Wharton Study » Presentation Facts says:

    [...] am not sure, but I don’t think it should be automatically accepted as a fact that they can be. As Presentation Professionals, are we comfortable relying so heavily on a 20 year old study using visual support that few in the [...]

  5. Dr. Livingston I Presume? » Presentation Facts says:

    [...] Presentation Professionals, start treating their profession more seriously, they probably shouldn’t expect the rest of [...]