Flash cards are USED BY MOST NON-EXPERTS when presenting. When something becomes so commonplace people often don't analyse if it is actually good practice or not.
Think, for example, about stretching before exercise. Many pro coaches now don't recommend stretching OR doubt it's benefit in some cases. But for years everybody has stretched to avoid injury and aid recovery. So who is correct??? Well, both are correct. Stretch if you want to avoid injury, don't stretch if you want explosive power!
Here's one study on stretching (there are many more on the internet) to demonstrate that stretching isn't necessarily what we thought it was
http://www.juniortennis.com/Science/fullarticle.php?articleid=67
So, if stretching is not so clear-cut, then maybe we need to evaluate flash cards in public speaking. There are no official studies to be found on the internet or in the books I have researched. All of the below has been observed over 3 years as a public speaking trainer.
1) If you don't prepare and understand the subject your flash cards will not help you. Rule number one of academic/professional work: preparation, practice, feedback, practice.
2) If you use flash cards and you haven't practised (A LOT!) with them you will look down at them constantly and the audience will see your double chin! SEE ABOVE (me looking at a flash card)!!!! Remember , the audience will normally be seated and you will be standing up, so the angle in the photo is what they will see.
Anyway, you should be looking at the audience or directing their attention to visual aids with your gaze.
3) A student of mine once made 20 flashcards for a 10 minute presentation. He had basically just written an essay in very small letters on 20 small cards!! This is unacceptable. People do not attend presentations to be read to by somebody fidgeting nervously and speaking in a monotone voice.
4) Another student of mine with around 10-15 flash cards dropped them before his presentation. NOT A PROBLEM! I hear you say. OK, not a problem if you NUMBER your flash cards. He didn't. The student had to do the presentation the next day. Luckily this was in the class room, if it had been a professional presentation he would not have been given the chance to try again later.
Flash cards should be a maximum of 3 with 3/4 items of writing or pictures on each card.
Flash cards should rarely be in your hand. they should be on the desk in front of you or on a lectern.
If you are doing this why use flash cards at all. Just bullet point your key messages and structure on a typed, printed piece of paper in a bold font. No need for flash cards.
5) Using flash cards encourages linear thinking. Yes, your presentation should have a clear structure but your creative process should NOT be linear. Do not prepare your presentation on the cards. Flash cards should be the very last thing you create for your presentation. I always encourage my students to use brainstorming and then mindmapping to create their presentation (or any other project). Mindmaps do not need to be artistic like you see in examples such as this:
I prefer them to be functional. The arty part should only help the flow/connection of ideas.
Here are some examples from my Spanish students who do very professional presentations in English. Ignore the spelling mistakes, look at the connections and how the ideas flow. We normally do a quick draft, then put them on to big sheets of paper, then make a version on PowerPoint.
Here are some examples of functional mindmaps:
The mindmap can then be put on a clipboard, lintern or on the desk in front of you and you can really see the information you want to give as 'whole' NOT as sentences to be read.
Mindmapping will be covered more thoroughly in future blogs.
6) People start to play with them, point at the audience with them, tap the desk wit them, tap the whiteboard/projection screen/wall wit them. They can be a monumental distraction visually and aurally for the audience. PUT THEM ON THE DESK!!!
Conclusion:
As always it's not the resource it's how you use it. If you watch any really good presentations they never use flash cards. Flash cards should only be used when you have no visual support to refer to. This will be very rare; Bestman's speech, impromptu presentation. Most business/university/organised presentations will always have a projector or at least a wall where you can stick a large piece of paper with your key ideas.
Lee Monk is an English teacher and professional skills trainer for maverick English: www.maverickenglish.com
