I am often being asked to give talks about disability benefits to elderly people, carers or disabled people(mental and physical) and it really is so boring ( to the average pundit - not us of course!) Has anyone got any ideas about visual aids, presentations or how to engage the audience and present the subject in a stimulating way ??

Fri 09-Dec-05 08:38 AM by ken

Gill, I think the first thing to remember is that what you are delivering needs to be relevant to your audience. This means its important to know who your audience are and their perspective - people tend to listen when the stuff you are talking about or asking them to work on is what they are coming accross or having problems with.

With benefits training you need to get people practising what they are learning so lots of exercises that reinforce your message will help.

Humour is good, but nothing too controversial. I am currently explaining non dependendent deductions by using an Eastender story line....

You can call the training team here and we can have a chat if that would help.

I have 3 cartoon pics of Homer Simpson, one with a headache, the other smiling, and the other lying on a sofa asleep with a can of beer on his belly.

I have made them into powerpoint slides and put them into several of my presentations to liven them up

As for Eastenders story lines, well in Wales it might have to be Pobl y Cym with subtitles