How to make boring information come to life in your presentations Mar 20th
If you work in a so-called “boring” job, there’s nothing worse than presenting to an audience that is captive. Presenting technical information to these individuals can be soul-destroying; you know they don’t want to be there, and there is little you can do to “spice” things up. It’s something that’s even been the subject of scientific studies.
While nothing in the world is going to give hard facts and figures the liveliness that some professions provide, there are steps you can take to make your job a little easier (and make life better for your audience, as well). Let’s now take a look at some of these methods in-detail.
Don’t underestimate the power of the venue
If you usually present in the company HQ, consider a different approach. Take everyone out of their comfort zone, and their natural surroundings, and find a modern meeting room that’s in close proximity.
Sure, you will be presenting the same information. However, your audience suddenly has a new stimulus, and this can work wonders for engagement.
Focus on examples, not information
One of the biggest mistakes whilst presenting is focusing on the hard numbers, rather than what these numbers mean to your audience. By using an example or case study, you can immediately mitigate this risk. These can quickly identify what the numbers actually mean for the person – so they effectively don’t have to work things out on their own.
The art of persuasion
This next point is very similar to the previous one we have already discussed. In other words, it’s all about information.
Instead of handing out information on a plate, you need to work on persuading your audience to take action. Your aim isn’t to provide information; it’s to persuade them to do something.
Of course, you need to work out what this is. For example, you might be presenting to sales managers, and rather than displaying the recent performance figures, providing actionable advice on how to improve these numbers might be more engaging. It goes without saying that you still need to provide this information, but the point we’re trying to make is that you can’t go into information-overload as it’s just not going to be received for the entire length of the presentation.
Know the problem of your audience
Following on from the last point, a good way to determine what to “persuade” your audience with is to find out their problem. Again, this is all about resonating accordingly and if you can clearly state a problem that they struggle with in the opening to your presentation, you have their attention indefinitely. If on the other hand you were to provide the information, before then telling them how this problem is solved – there’s every chance that they have completely switched off for the opening sections of your presentation.
Everybody wants to solve a problem and if you can allow your audience to do this courtesy of the information in your slides, it really doesn’t matter how boring or technical it is. Just tell them how to use it.
Mar 20th
If you work in a so-called “boring” job, there’s nothing worse than presenting to an audience that is captive. Presenting technical information to these individuals can be soul-destroying; you know they don’t want to be there, and there is little you can do to “spice” things up. It’s something that’s even been the subject of scientific studies.
While nothing in the world is going to give hard facts and figures the liveliness that some professions provide, there are steps you can take to make your job a little easier (and make life better for your audience, as well). Let’s now take a look at some of these methods in-detail.
Don’t underestimate the power of the venue
If you usually present in the company HQ, consider a different approach. Take everyone out of their comfort zone, and their natural surroundings, and find a modern meeting room that’s in close proximity.
Sure, you will be presenting the same information. However, your audience suddenly has a new stimulus, and this can work wonders for engagement.
Focus on examples, not information
One of the biggest mistakes whilst presenting is focusing on the hard numbers, rather than what these numbers mean to your audience. By using an example or case study, you can immediately mitigate this risk. These can quickly identify what the numbers actually mean for the person – so they effectively don’t have to work things out on their own.
The art of persuasion
This next point is very similar to the previous one we have already discussed. In other words, it’s all about information.
Instead of handing out information on a plate, you need to work on persuading your audience to take action. Your aim isn’t to provide information; it’s to persuade them to do something.
Of course, you need to work out what this is. For example, you might be presenting to sales managers, and rather than displaying the recent performance figures, providing actionable advice on how to improve these numbers might be more engaging. It goes without saying that you still need to provide this information, but the point we’re trying to make is that you can’t go into information-overload as it’s just not going to be received for the entire length of the presentation.
Know the problem of your audience
Following on from the last point, a good way to determine what to “persuade” your audience with is to find out their problem. Again, this is all about resonating accordingly and if you can clearly state a problem that they struggle with in the opening to your presentation, you have their attention indefinitely. If on the other hand you were to provide the information, before then telling them how this problem is solved – there’s every chance that they have completely switched off for the opening sections of your presentation.
Everybody wants to solve a problem and if you can allow your audience to do this courtesy of the information in your slides, it really doesn’t matter how boring or technical it is. Just tell them how to use it.
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