Technical difficulties: visualising knowledge and the transformation of academic conference presentations

Arguably, the Microsoft PowerPoint presentation is one of the most important tools for academics in visualising and communicating knowledge. There have also been many STS studies related to the role of presentation in communicating objective knowledge (Daston and Galison 2010), for instance, in mediating the ‘real’ associated with ethnographic descriptions (Nafus and Anderson 2009), the possibilities of such (Wakeford 2006) and the role of technology in facilitating successful presentations (Latour 1994). This workshop aims to make use of this knowledge and combine it with some methodological innovations from design to explore our own PowerPoint presentation practices.

Taking the form of a simulated academic conference presentation, particular technical difficulties associated with PowerPoint presentations will be experienced within the workshop. Through responding to these hypothetical technical difficulties, we may ‘trial’ new methods of and transform our presentation practices. The workshop is structured in three phases. First, we will conduct a short presentation using PowerPoint slideware software. After this, different ‘interventions’ will be explored that help us overcome the technical difficulties faced. Last, the implications of these interventions on our presentation practices will be considered and discussed collectively.