Once upon a time, you could enter a conference room or auditorium, stand behind the podium and expect a captive, engaged audience (or, if not captive, at least captured anyway, once the doors were closed). But then one day, everything changed. Audiences changed. Life changed.
Gone were the days of the unanswered email and “leave a message after the beep.” Gone was the attentive, focused audience. We had entered the age of the smartphone.
It is an age of endless accessibility. An age where answering an email while listening to a presenter isn’t considered rude – it’s multitasking.
In this restless era where your audience has the entire world literally at their fingertips, how will you excite them and ensure that your message resonates?
Dynamic with Digital
- Tell a Good Story
In this day of shrinking attention spans, where stories are told in 140 characters and 9 second videos, there is more pressure than ever for presenters to be both dynamic and direct. What’s still true though, is that people love a good story. Regardless of medium, your audience’s attention will follow a compelling plot line, where they’re ready to hear what happens next. And remember, they should be a part of your story too. Listeners will be drawn in and active knowing why they’re in on the story.
- Paint a picture
When you’re presenting with slides, they best serve you when they illustrate your story, rather than tell it. Use visuals to anchor a topic or intrigue your audience to hear your words. The best slides are succinct enough to read at a glance. If your audience has to study a slide, they’re no longer listening to what you’re saying. As a rule of thumb, use the six-by-six rule. No more than six bullet items per slide, and no more than six words per bullet.
- Put it in Print
Handouts are an essential, even expected, part of a presentation. In this new digital age, they’re more useful than ever, providing a single point of focus to an audience often coping with sensory overload. High quality, full color print materials physically engage your audience, add impact to your message, and emphasize your commitment both to your product and to the act of presenting itself. Materials should be focused and succinct, always including your contact information and any additional resources, and encouraging people to contact you with questions. It’s also useful to supply room for participants to make notes. These days, small businesses can turn to companies like Xerox, who are making it easier than ever to create dynamic, multimedia presentations right in house.
What will your audience remember from your next presentation? What impact will you make?Continue to visit this page all month long for more information on engaging and dynamic presentations to win your audience. For even more tips, tricks and tools to make your next presentation a success, visit the Xerox Solutions for Small Business Site. You can also sign up to receive our newsletter, full of insights, information and tools you can use to deliver your message effectively and with polish.
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Thank you for sharing the documents for making an effective presentation. You are right on the mark.
Thanks so much. Keeping your audience’s attention is harder than ever before when we’re competing with screens. Glad you liked the content!
Great (and enjoyably brief) comments – right on target – appreciate your insights into this new era of finding the sweet spot of effective communication!
Thanks for the feedback! It’s a different world than it used to be. At the end of the day, I think it’s still about great storytelling – it’s just a lot tougher now.