In the entertainment business, the idea of the warm up act is a long and honourable tradition. In the more formal academic arena, we have long encouraged the idea of pre-reading. In nearly all cases, there is preparation for a talk which can be beneficial. A presentation before your talk can set the tone for the main event. Do you wish to convey gravitas or informality, learning or the common touch, humour or seriousness?
But how many times do you actually do it?
If you like the idea of using graphics to communicate and reinforce your message, as described in http://www.brighthub.com/office/home/articles/9659.aspx then how about separating it from your talk and letting it run beforehand as a warm up act? Of course, this may not always be possible but where it is, it can be powerful as well as keeping the punters entertained until the main feature.
Consider for example, the following as a warm up act to a talk about the history of the use of computers within UK general practice.
This presentation provides some history, exactly the kind of thing that you would expect in pre-reading. The presentation itself is designed to look more like a cinematic presentation than a traditional presentation with nice large images and few words to maximise impact. It should be set to present on a pre timed loop. I tried a 10 second delay between images and a nice simple fade through black transition between pages. Do not be tempted to rush the transitions, you need to give the audience time to think and absorb the messages.
Obviously, in a real situation, you may like to use more pages, which would run for longer before the pages are repeated. However, the more pages you use, the more you dilute the key messages.
Back to your primary purpose: is it to keep them entertained until you start, or to communicate key messages? You can do both, but there is a trade-off at some point. Remember as well, the power of non-verbal communication. The style of language you use on your slides will convey almost as much as the actual words, and will set the tone in terms of formality, assumed knowledge, and the intended audience.
Having used this kind of approach in the warm-up, a nice simple presentation would support, not detract from, your talk.
Gillies AC (2007) The Art of Presentation: getting it right in the post modern era, Radcliffe Publishing, Abingdon
