Monday, March 23, 2009

Please, please....

I just went to my kids school for chapel. We had a missionary speaker. I will not say who or which group. I will not say any defining characteristics. I appreciate this man and what he does. It is valuable, and he is definitely serving God and to be honored for that.

But... please, please... we've grown past the age of the two and a half hour missionary slide show!!! You know, the one where you get the comments such as, "well, see that man who is only half in the picture? His brother, who is not here, ........"

And just because you put your slides in a computer and use power-point does not make it NOT a slide show!

Now, to all of you who will say, "but it was those that made me want to be a missionary.." I agree. I know. I am here too, after living through countless missionary presentations of slides and talk. But, technology has arrived, there are stories that can be told with expression, and less is more sometimes! I mean, we looked at no less than ten slides of butterflies...

Sorry - just venting here.. :-)

The kids were well-behaved, and I was proud of them.

7 comments:

Rebecca Conduff Aguirre said...

Yes, I know, some of us are really challenged in the area of presentations, prayer letters, etc. I still cringe when I receive letters that are poorly done...and there are so many new resources out there for awesome videos...I recently discovered a website where you upload your pics, choose a song and then it changes the pics in different ways to the rhythm of the music! :) Pick an upbeat, Latino-style song and it looks pretty snazzy!

Shan in Japan said...

Ohh, Becky, what is that website? I am prepping for home assignment!
I hope I do not drone on for two and a half hours about my 'slides'! Can completely understand your frustration.

Unknown said...

My oh my - having been on the receiving end of many of those slide show presentations - and having had to GIVE plenty of presentations, I think I've come to the nice happy medium.

Ellie said...

Becky - website's name?

I've done it with Windows Movie Maker, but if there is another one that works, tell us.

Then of course, what I've learned is keep it brief and tell stories (short stories) with definite beginnings, points, and endings. And gear towards your audience.

In this poor guy's favor, some people are just not good at talking to kids. It takes different vocabulary, length, and skills.

Rebecca Conduff Aguirre said...

www.animoto.com

I am not sure if there is a charge for this or not, but the videos I've seen produced on animoto are amazing! No two ever turn out the same because they analyze the pictures and the song and match them up. And if you don't like it, you can always send it through again for a remix! :)

Shan in Japan said...

Thanks, Becky! I just quickly looked over the website, looks great! There is a fee, but seems reasonable.

Rebecca Conduff Aguirre said...

You are welcome...I think that a reasonable fee would be well worth it for having dynamic presentations while on furlough...esp. in light of the present times when people are so distracted by the economic situation, etc. Frankly, I think it is very hard to get and hold people's attention anyway! :)