Towards a “Poor” Presentation: What can Jerzy Grotowski Teach Engineering Students in the Digital Age? (2009)
Edward R. Tufte, critic of Microsoft’s Power Point, is concerned that slideware reduces the analytical quality of presentations (Tufte, 2003). Yet, in the field of engineering communication, the visual representation of abstract information is necessary for the communication of complex concepts to the audience. The problem arises when presenters over rely on the visuals by using slides to present the “script” of the presentation. This generally involves presenters reading from slides that are text heavy. On the other side, novice presenters may get caught up in creating visually stunning presentations at the expense of planning what to say and how to say it. Presenters need to be made aware of the specific relationship that is created when they become “performers” in front of an audience. It is imperative that presenters understand that Power Point is a tool that is meant to be integrated and in support of the presentation. According to Philip Auslander, performance is competing with mediatized forms (Auslander, 1999), and in a sense, Power Point, as a pre-recorded electronic medium can easily upstage the presenter. This paper aims to examine a methodology of performance training that a theatre instructor can teach engineering students to help them in the “performance” of classroom presentations in the digital age. The kernel of Jerzy Grotowski’s theory on theatre practice is that the essence of the theatre lies in the relationship between the actor and the spectator. This theatre is called the “Poor Theatre” since it opposes the synthetic, rich theatre that tries to create the “total experience” – a redefined notion in an age of film, television, and now internet. Grotowski identified three key concepts and tried to systemize them: powerful acting (performing) occurs at the meeting place of the personal and archetypal, the most effective kind of performance takes place if there is a minimum of accoutrements, and finally, the theatre (or performance) is intercultural and needs to relate “truths” to many cultures (Schechner, 1997). Grotowski’s desire to demystify the creative process and develop a methodology of performance training will be examined in relation to technical presentations and their (arguably) necessary integration of digital media.
Amy Franklin Whittaker is part of the Engineering Communication Program at the University of Toronto.