Thursday, February 2, 2023

Can’t Be Missed

For both the audience and the presenter or trainer, live presentations are always going to be more effective and productive than something that can be readily accessible at any time

By André van Heerden, Communications Director

The other day I was talking about TV shows that people used to schedule a night and a time to watch. There used to be a must-watch-TV line up on Thursday evenings that included Friends and Seinfeld.

More recently, I remember planning my evenings so that I could watch Jack Bauer stop terrorist attacks on the weekly series 24.

These shows were at a time period when if you missed that program, you missed it. Maybe you could have taped it on a VCR, but it took some planning, and you were always worried that someone would tape over it or spoil something about the show before you got to see it. I think this is the biggest reason why shows back in the ’90s and 2000s generated such focused interest.

There’s something about a live event—or something that if you miss it, you can’t access it again—that makes it special.

American singer-song writer Rosanne Cash notes that “the ephemeral nature of live performance is the part I love most—it’s a monk’s sand painting, carefully constructed, then wiped away in an instant.”

I can remember a number of times hearing a live band perform and enjoying their music so much that I bought their CD. But when I got home and listened to the very same songs that I heard them perform live, it never sounded as good.

Despite the songs now being recorded in a professional studio, with better sound quality, and their best performance, it no longer had the life and pull of the live performance.

I think the same holds true for any sort of course, training, and even a work meeting. While no one is going to confuse safety training with a band or a popular TV show, that training will hold more interest, and be more effective, if it’s perceived to be special and uniquely accessible.

If I know I can watch the training online whenever I want, and even pause it and restart it again later, it doesn’t make me pay attention as much as when I know if I miss something, I can’t just rewatch it another time.

I attended Carleton University in the ’90s, and they offered a course that you could watch on TV. A number of my housemates took this course and thought it was great that they could stay home and watch it from our living room.

Unfortunately, there were a number of problems with this. One, there was always something more interesting to watch. Two, my friends knew that the course would be available on video cassette tapes at the library.

This meant that they could put off watching the course, which led to the discovery of a third problem: hundreds of other students had all done the same thing and all wanted the same limited number of tapes! I don’t think many ever passed this course if they chose to watch it on TV.

For both the audience and the presenter or trainer, live presentations are always going to be more effective and productive than something that can be readily accessible at any time.

Another reason for this is that the audience is actually part of the live event. Famous comedian and actor Robin Williams said, “My preference is live performance. Because you get the feedback. There’s an energy. It’s live theater. That’s why I think actors like that.

“You know, musicians need it, comedians definitely need it. It doesn’t matter what size and what club, whether it’s 30 people in the club or 2,000 in a hall or a theater. It’s live, it’s symbiotic, you need it.”

I know as a soccer coach that I could never coach my players as well online in a video as I can in person. Part of it is that I’m holding them accountable to pay attention to what I’m saying, but the other part is that I’m feeding off of their reactions. I can sense what is being understood and what needs more explanation.

The accessibility of streaming platforms, YouTube videos, and online courses is convenient, but the negative impact on comprehension, enjoyment, and engagement has to be noted. It may enable someone to tick a box that they’ve completed the required viewing, but it will never be confused with must-watch TV.

An essential part of creating a must-watch event is making everyone feel like it can’t be missed.

Can’t Be Missed

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