Engage your Audience with Relevant Information

Abstracts are for paintings, not presentations

When it comes to art, we willingly search for meaning in the abstract. When we attend a presentation, we want to learn something concrete that will make our lives better. Is your message a little fuzzy? As Bob Ross would say, let’s add some “happy little trees.” 

Tip: Tell your audience about the value you’re giving upfront. What are their key takeaways? 

• The ability to make better decisions? 

• More peaceful sleep, knowing their data is more secure?

• More money through strengthened customer relationships? 

Does it pass the ‘so that’ test?

Instead of, “You’ll learn insights about client behaviors today.”

Try, “You’ll learn insights about client behaviors so that you can drive traffic to your website and increase revenue.” 

Need help making your presentation a crystal-clear masterpiece? Email me for an honest critique.

Virtual Presentations = Less Content

1/2 as much is twice as good

You’ve got a lot to say, but how much can your audience hear?

Hint: It’s not as much as you think.

As an expert preparing your presentation you do your research, write your talk track, practice, practice, practice, shower, and hit the stage or screen.

 Hold on…

If you present what you’ve got, you might be wasting your brilliance and your breath.

Audiences today are busy and their brains are busy trying to process our current health and society challenges.  Audiences need you to make your presentation easier to absorb.

 Cut your content in half.  

 How?  Review your presentation and uncover your one big idea.  Write that in 10 words.

Now look at the rest of the deck and ask yourself 2 questions.

Do those slides amplify your idea or dilute it? 

Are you sharing that information for you or for them?

 Get into your audiences’ shoes (or slippers), say half as much and it will be twice as good.

 If you’d like help reviewing your content so that you can present what matters, email me and we’ll chat.

Nuff said, Ann

You Lost Me at Hello

Like you, I’ve been spending a lot of time online watching, listening and learning. Attending webinars to learn new skills and listening to expert podcasts to feel more connected.

On average, most presenters don’t provide value until 5-7 minutes into their content. Why do we waste those first few critical minutes talking about ourselves, reminding each other of housekeeping expectations or starting off with a polling question that we will never reference later on? 

You lost me at Hello.

Your audiences are busy and they’re deciding whether to give you their full attention or multitask during your presentation. Here’s 3 quick tips to earn their attention early on:

1.     Skip the self-intro. In the words of Anthony Parinello, “They don’t give a hoot about you until they know what you can do for them” (Selling to VITO – Very Important Top Officer [LINK]). When we’re training, we send our bio in advance. When we’re speaking, someone else has introduced us. On Zoom, our name is in the participant list, and there’s a chance the attendees have already Googled our name to see what we’re about.

Rock your presentation and they’ll want to learn more about you.

2.     Add value right away. Let the audience know how your topic will help them have a better day. What changes can they make right now to make their lives easier, be more productive, or make more money?

Say it clearly and early on.

3.     Engage. But, really engage. If you use a poll or ask a question, acknowledge their responses and have a conversation about what they share. The audience has done their part, they’ve participated. It’s respectful and impactful to answer their questions and speak about what they care most about.

Make them feel heard and build your rapport at the same time.

If you’d like more virtual presentation tips, email me & I’ll add you to our mailing list.

Deliberate Movement

What if I fidget, sway, use fillers or forget my talk track?

It happens to all of us. As soon as we get up to present, the nervous ticks we forgot we had come right back up to the surface! The best way to combat nerves? Deliberate movement.

When you finish an idea, pause, take a few steps, plant your feet, inhale, then start your next idea. Your audience will be better able to connect, your pace will automatically slow down, and you have time to remember your next point. Practice deliberate movement to get comfortable with the pause.

Start with A Hook

What if the audience is distracted?

A cheesy joke, short story, scary statistic, or eye-catching image. All of these act as attention getting devices, or Hooks for your presentation. Audiences today are busy and distracted. If we want them to focus on us, we need to grab their attention with an interesting Hook.

What can you add to your presentation to get our attention?

How do I get the audience to listen?

Here’s a radio station we’re all tuned into- WIIFM: What’s In It For Me?

Give your audience the value statement early and often in your presentation. Make it clear, specific, and all about the audience. What can they take away from what you have to say?

What should I do with my hands when I present?

What should you do with your hands? Use them.

When we use deliberate, open hand gestures during a presentation, our tone and pace actually change to sound more engaging to the audience. So add some! Start your presentation with an open welcoming gesture to get you started with the right energy. Then look for the most important words or phrases in your presentation, and punch them up with some purposeful gestures.

Practice in front of a mirror until the gestures don’t feel awkward, then go rock them on stage.
You got this!