This is the latest in a series of posts on the effectiveness of using an object as a visual aid (for a selection of others, see the links below) and comes from one of the Royal Institution's Christmas lectures for children by Professor Chris Bishop.
Apart from the sheer entertainment value, at least three other points are worth noting.
- The eager excitement on the faces of the audience after he tells them he's going to let go of the steel ball.
- The way in which they are paying close enough attention to be able to join in the 'countdown' for the second two of the three numbers.
- How their focus on the swinging ball is so precise that they start clapping at exactly the moment at which the ball reaches its closest point to the professor's forehead.
OTHER POSTS ON USING OBJECTS AS VISUAL AIDS:
- Showing what you mean: more from Professor Sir Lawrence Bragg
- Objects as visual aids: Obama & Archbishop Sentamu in action
- Steve Jobs shows how to use an object as a visual aid (and how to speak about it)
- If Bill Gates doesn't read bullet points from PowerPoint slides
- No flies on Obama
- Senator Scott Brown shows how to use a newspaper as a visual aid
(See also Speech-making and Presentation Made Easy, pp.67-69)
