The More You know, The More Power you Have
The more you know about your audience, the more power you will have in making your presentation more relevant to them, their field or their interests. Properly researching your audience or at least making an effort in that direction can really pay off. This is a very important step in your proper preparation process for delivering a professional presentation.
Try to find out the following about your audience:
- What do they already know about the subject?
- Are they really interested? (If not, I'll have to create the interest)
- What are their WIFT's? (What's In it For Them?)
- How fast can they absorb what I'm saying?
- What do they expect me to say?
- What are their mind-sets? (prejudices, attitudes,beliefs etc)
- Who will be attending the presentation, and what is their level of seniority/importance?
- Is there any point in giving the presentation if certain people are unable to attend?
- Will people be attending your presentation by choice?
- How well informed are they? Will they have any background knowledge at all and, if so, how much?
- Will they understand any jargon (technical terms) you normally use?
- What will they be expecting from you?
- How can you present your material so as to encourage a positive response (and avoid a negative reaction)?
If you can accurately gauge just one of these factors above and try to tailor your presentation accordingly, you will surely make a more impactful presentation and ensure your message is long lasting.
For more presentation skills, check out our "Presenting With Impact" instant download training package.
Presenting with Proximity, Passion & Participation - Present with impact
presentation skills - If your aim in giving a presentation is just reciting information while others are listening to you passively, this traditional presentation mode is the easy way, and it doesn’t work. It’s ineffective. If your ultimate goal is to teach, inspire, and motivate an audience, if you want them to change, if even a tiny bit, then there has to be engagement between you and your audience.
When there is no engagement, there is no change. True engagement assumes some level of emotional involvement or commitment on the part of both the presenter and the audience—but the responsibility to light the fire of engagement lies primarily with you, the presenter. There are three key ways to establish this connection and engage with audience using passion, proximity and participation.
