2017 Volume 60 Issue 1 Pages 44-55
The present study aimed to explore the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying the evaluation of oral presentations. The top 10 and bottom 10 TED presentations were selected from over 2,000 TED talks based on viewer ratings. Thin slices from these 20 videos were used as stimuli. The first experiment showed that the original ratings could be represented by evaluations of 30-sec clips. In the second experiment, fMRI BOLD signals from viewers were examined while they watched the thin-sliced TED talks. The results showed significantly greater activation in the parts of the occipitotemporal cortex related to visual motion and social cognition while watching the top 10 clips than when watching the bottom 10 clips. In the third experiment, the magnitude of motion in the video clips, as quantified by motion vectors, differed significantly between two distinct presentation groups. These results provide comprehensive evidence for the importance of presenter actions for oral presentations to be evaluated highly by audiences.
