creating engaging presentations

Unless you’re delivering a speech to a vast audience, one of the biggest elements of success is how you approach your audience. To do that, you need to know your audience.

I remember sitting through a presentation once where the presenter first asked everyone’s level of experience and skill with the subject matter. I thought, great! Everyone is at a fairly high level, and this should be worth my time. Unfortunately, she hadn’t done any advance planning for a more experienced crowd and continued on with the presentation, which was a very basic level one. I wondered why she’d even asked.

If you’re going to be delivering an informative style of presentation, try to find out in advance the audience’s level of expertise to ensure you’re delivering what they’re going to find most valuable. If that’s not possible, you have a few options.

You can allow for some flexibility in your materials to allow for a more basic, or more advanced level, depending on your audience’s response to your questions at the start.

You can advertise beforehand that the presentation will be basic, and this allows for the potential for future presentations that build on the basics, and may draw in people who felt the basics weren’t for them.

Whether you’re delivering an informative style of presentation, or a more persuasive speech, getting your audience engaged right from the start is key to keeping them engaged. Ask some questions to draw people in. Use humour, or, even a strong statement of fact or your opinion. If you want to engage people and be engaging, try approaching it as though you’re having a discussion.

Get your audience engaged right from the start and throughout your presentation

1.        Know your key messages and stay on point

2.        Use presentation aids sparingly and as an aid; not as the core material

3.        Be prepared for questions, and for follow up.