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TurningPoint Student Response System
8/11/2004
The demo setting stays active till you go back in and turn it off. The first time I used it I was part way through a disastrous presentation-thankfully it was a rehearsal in front of volunteers-when I realized that the data couldn't possibly be coming from this audience. Then I went in and turned off demo. Then things went pretty well. But I had over prepared and kept everyone's attention on the technology rather than the content. When I gave that presentation again with half as many slides and probably half as many features, it went very well.I heard from many folks that this technology would make my presentation slow and that waiting for the graphs to come up would be painfully long. This certainly was not true of the TurningPoint software. I used the timer, which off course I could set to an infinite amount. I set it to ten seconds. I made it look like the New Year's Eve ball. Of course I had other choices. I would ask the question, start the timer. The audience could change their answer at any time till the ball had dropped. Then the graph, in the style and colors I had chosen, showed immediately. Not only did the technology not slow up the presentation, I felt we got more done in a shorter time. The questions chunked the presentation into clear topics. The fast software just focused things with a quick and relaxed pace.
And it's fun. This technology makes it easy to involve the audience. I felt like I was Louie Anderson on Family Feud. "And the answer is…" I knew from the audience responses that I wasn't telling them something they already knew and that I was emphasizing the parts they were most interested in. There was one part of the presentation that I thought was very important, but the audience didn't, so I dropped it and gave them more of what they were curious about. I do not think I have ever gotten so much praise for a presentation.
Presenting in front of 152 people-you have all kinds of data on your audience-at a conference I was glad I used an operator. But with some discipline and practice I could do it alone.
The Turning Technology folks have a full Web site with training materials and a demo that lets you use the actual software. They gave me terrific support. They clearly believe in their product. Their Web site says "TurningPoint will change the way you interact with your audience forever." I think that is absolutely true. I wouldn't give a presentation without it.
Victor Edmonds (edmonds@berkeley.edu), is director of Educational Technology
Services at the University of California-Berkeley.
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