Give the Most Awesomest Presentation Ever!
When giving a presentation, most people will completely forget what you said and what you did, but they won’t forget how you made them feel during that presentation. If they come away from what you’ve done feeling good, inspired, and more knowledgeable, then those feelings can translate into memory retention. If they come away from your presentation with a bad taste in their mouth, then you’ve succeeded in wasting everyone’s time and energy.
If you want to give an awesome presentation, here’s how to do it:
Know your audience.
Your presentation must be reflective of the audience listening to it. If you are talking to a bunch of computer engineers about the fine points of how to build a deck and don’t relate it to something they can understand [i.e. computers], then they won’t have a clue about what you’re actually talking about.
Have one big idea.
The more you repeat something to a group of people, the more you’ll reinforce the point you’re trying to make. That’s whys stand-up comedians often say the same word or phrase three or four times during the course of a joke because it helps to reinforce the idea behind the joke. Keep reinforcing your big idea and you’ll hit a home run every time.
Tap into the audience’s emotions.
If someone can relate to something that’s been said, they’re more likely to remember it. If you can make people laugh, cry, or even get angry with what you’re talking about, then more of what you’re talking about will stick in their heads.
Connect the dots for people.
It can seem rude sometimes to have to explain every single detail about how to get from Point A to Point B on a certain subject. We might want our audience to get there on their own so that they can take ownership of making the changes that need to be made. Most people, however, won’t ever bother to make it to Point B unless you draw them a roadmap where you’ve connected all the dots that they need to hit.
Be visual.
People don’t often remember specific words that are said during a presentation, but they will remember graphics that are displayed while you’re talking. Up to 65% more information is retained by people when they have a visual representation of the information being presented to them. The graphic must correspond, however, to be effective. If you’re talking about beavers and you put a picture about the anatomy of a duck, you’ll just confuse your audience and ultimately lose their attention.
Don’t be afraid to practice.
Preachers who talk to their congregation every Sunday practice their sermons in front of their families two, three, or even more times so that they can have confidence in what they’re going to say. The more practice you put into your presentation, the more subtlety you’ll be able to craft into your information.
These tips can help you create the perfect presentation that will have your audience interested and engaged. Being a good public speaker can dramatically help the process as well, but as long as you work on these specific items, you’ll create a great presentation that will convey memorable information to the people who are in attendance.
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