Puerto Rico and Malta English Conference: A Review

An Introduction

Last week I went to a conference that I found had a particularly interesting content. The conference was given by a young German researcher who studied the similarities of the English language between Malta, Puerto Rico, United States and United Kingdom. He came to the conclusion Puerto Rican and Malta English were more alike and US English and British English were more different. The conference topic was beyond interesting, taking into account the history background of each English origin and the little/great relationships between them.

The Speaker

Unfortunately a good topic is not everything that comprises an outstanding conference. Starting with the well-known and respected speaker, while he didn’t lack charisma and humor, he did not speak with a clear and loud voice. He did not articulate well his lips and he had an accent which was not troublesome for most people. However, he had the habit of lowering his voice by the end of the sentence which is where most of the important information is presented.

The Slides

The most annoying and eye tiresome part of the conference was the presentation slides. The information was presented was not public friendly. A lot of emphasis was given to technicalities and not to the research itself, making the conference more enjoyable when it was about to end. The slides were crowded with sentences and small letters. Trying to understand what was written in them while struggling with the room lights was painful to the eye. While some of the audience did not find this a problem, the people in the back, me included, did have trouble concentrating on the presentation. A few of the people sitting by my side got up early and left. Some were not even able to take notes. I was more concentrated on my surroundings than in the conference. I do not blame myself or any of the people who left. Concentrating nowadays is hard enough with a cellphone and a laptop on hand. You could imagine how a speaker not owning the stage and a bad presentation can worsen the situation. 

The consequences

It is important for speakers to be able to communicate their information and findings clearly with their audience. What is the point of a conference other than enlighten successfully and entertain an audience? Failing at accomplishing this not only affects the reputation of the speaker but students grade are also affected if their professors ordered them to write a paper about the findings the material presented at the conference. This blog is not meant to be disrespectful. I am merely expressing the conference had an interesting topic and yet the combination of a non-rehearsed presentation and bad designed slides can turn even the presentation of a Nobel Prize into a one-more-waste-of-time.