Whether you love them or hate them, they are part of our jobs and there is no escaping them.
Who are they? What are they? …Presentations
Here are some of my top tips and tricks when it comes to engaging audiences, choosing the right content and delivering with context.
Don’t Complicate Things
Keep your presentation simple, straightforward and to the point. Long winded PowerPoints, fancy animation, designer fonts and complicated sentences will confuse your audience and can possibly overwhelm them too. Not only that you risk them starting to fidget, zone out or even disengage.
Simple, clear messaging will allow for easy information transfer and lead to a more informed or educated audience.
Engage your Audience
Make the audience feel involved. Ask for their opinion or thoughts on a topic or pose a question to them. They are more likely to keep ‘alert’ when you use this technique as they will be unsure of what might come next or when they might be called upon again.
When possible, and if your topic allows it, try not to hand out hard copies of your presentation in advance. This may also lead to a dip in engagement as they may read ahead or even decide they have prior knowledge of the topic and zone out.
If you do need to use handout, for notes etc. Try suggesting short comfort breaks where they take down notes and share with a neighbor or the group. This can somewhat minimize the engagement dip.
Mixed Media
‘I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand’ – Confucius
Flat presentations where you speak continuously are not as effective or memorable as presentations where you use visual aids, group work or clips.
Use pictures, graphs, video clips or even group exercises like teach backs or present backs to make your presentation dynamic. This will not only keep the engagement levels at optimum levels but will also appeal to your audiences different learning styles.
For example, if you show a short video clip during your presentation it will enhance engagement and visual learnings will benefit from watching it, auditory learnings will benefit from listening to it and if you ask for their opinions afterwards or do a teach back the kinesthetic learners will benefit form that!
Move
Don’t stay in one place unless its strategic. What do I mean by that?
If you are delivering a topic or some detail in a ‘telling’ style – you want the audience to take note or it is serious in nature, then I would suggest standing still. It not only allows for the message to be delivered more clearly, its also backs up the tone of the content.
If you are delivering a topic in more of a ‘selling’ style, you can move around. It will add energy and dynamism to the words you are using and lift your message and engage your audience.
Movement also doesn’t mean just your legs. You can add movement by your facial expressions and hand gestures. Top tips here – the larger the audience, the larger your gestures should be!
Tell Stories
Call upon your own experiences to make things interesting. It is an immediate audience engager as they will start to actively listen out of curiosity. They will relate to you better and you will enhance the relationship between you and them. Not only that, it is a good way to keep boredom at bay for you and them.
If you are delivering the same message or PPT multiple times, you can keep it exciting for you and them by changing up your stories. Just make sure that they relate to your key message.
Be Conversational
You don’t have to be so rigid when delivering a presentation. Don’t talk at your audience, talk to them. There is a lot of power in conversation and that style is a technique the best presenters use. The audience won’t feel like you are lecturing them and will open up to you and the message you are trying to get across to them.
Practice Makes Perfect
Whether you are a seasoned presenter or a first timer, you can never practice too much. Rehearse alone or ask others for feedback. Everyone can always and learn and improve.
What If?
Preparation is key. If you start thinking what if, then proactively find solutions. Isolate what might do wrong or challenges you might face and do something about it!
What if my mouth goes dry? Bring water!
What if I lose track of my slides? Number them!
What if the projector doesn’t work? Get there early and test it!
What if I get asked a hard question? Have a ‘Parking Lot’ flip chart ready!
What if… you get me.
Hope this helps and good luck with your next presentation!
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