Technology is essential to the longevity of a quality presentation, whether it be through the use of Powerpoints, videos, or even laser pointers. Without the use of technology, a presenter would be forced to have either an extremely interesting personality or some super cool props to hold the attention of the audience. Since extremely interesting personalities are hard to come by and props can be a hassle to transport, technology seems to be the key to presentation success.

Back in middle school, my buddy Hans conducted a presentation in which he explained to the class what to do in case of an alien attack. He used a Powerpoint in which he had unidentified flying objects moving across the screen, with mooing cows beneath them, moving towards the belly of the UFOs. This made the audience as interested in the presentation as a dog is to its treat.
Last year, in a presentation performed by a woman in my physics class was the exact opposite. With the poor use of technology through a Powerpoint with bland backgrounds and immobile words, the audience was bored stiff. She spoke of topics that made little sense to the audience, and when asked questions, she had no idea how to respond. If she had made better use of technology and put some fancy pictures and other eye candy in her Powerpoint, the audience would have paid better attention.

Since fascinating personalities are rare to come by and props can be a hassle, technology is the key to presenting success. Technology is the backbone of a presentation that holds all the parts of audience’s attention spans together. Without technology, a non-exciting speaker might as well not show up.