May 19th, 2010
Welcome back! In this segment, we’ll explore some specific tips for keeping your presentation interesting and impactful. Follow these tips and you’re sure to keep your audience riveted and engaged.
1. Know when to hold ‘em
It is positively baffling how many speakers and presenters don’t know how to simply and effectively use audiovisuals. Used properly, these tools can enhance a presentation, drive home key points, and keep the focus where it belongs: on the speaker. Anything else becomes a distraction that leads to boredom. Look around – there are plenty of articles here on this blog that demystify the proper use of rental projectors and audiovisual support. Read up on the subject matter and you can master this quickly and easily!
2. Meat and potatoes
Be sure to structure your presentation so that it has plenty of meat (valuable subject matter, new information, useful tips, etc.) as well as potatoes (such as supporting explanations, demonstrations, hands-on experiences, and exercises or material designed to reinforce the key points). A presentation that’s “all-meat” often gives too much new material without allowing for integration, which may result in a much lower retention of the information by the audience. Similarly, an “all-potato” presentation lets the participant walk away feeling as though they learned nothing new or useful. As a presenter, it’s up to you to strike a balance.
3. The Takeaway
Here on this blog, you can find entire articles that explain how to master the takeaway, which refers to the key point or points you want your audience members to remember (and possibly take action on) long after your talk is complete and you take a bow. Speakers who master the art of the takeaway are the ones who tend to have the most lasting impact on their audiences – sometimes for years to come.
Come back next time for our final installment in this three-part series, where we’ll explore additional tips for the putting those finishing touches on a well-developed and polished presentation. Meanwhile, you can rent a projector from Projector123.com by clicking here.
Leave a Reply
