Group D's Thoughts on Paval's Presentation
John Paval's presentation taught us that the specific details are important to emphasize, but in a limited number. The game of transmission reminded us that the important details are easily misconstrued without the right repetition or emphasis. The graph he presented representing the flow of information over time was an accurate representation of what occurred: the majority of the information was lost after the first recount, and speakers started to add their own information to fill the gaps and make the story interesting afterwards. 70% of the original information was lost, whether we were trying to describe visuals with just words or a convoluted story with minute details. Sometimes we need more than speech-- gestures, graphs, movement, and intonation are just some of the factors as important as the words we choose to convey an idea.
As for the story of "How the Young Woman Died," we learned not to state our opinions before presenting the appropriate evidence, noting how an effective presentation led the audience to a certain conclusion with a directed overview of the facts in support of the argument.
We had a blast working with the students in Sweden. Hopefully it wasn't too awkward :)
- James, Max, Robert, Nate