If you’ve ever had to sit through a dull dental presentation, you know how quickly you can become bored, confused, annoyed, or even fall asleep—yawn! If you have the task of presenting an academic topic, you know the challenges you face in keeping your audience engaged, interested, and awake. These 9 tips will help you overcome obstacles and nail your presentation.
Use humor
Use lots of non-offensive humor. It’s a good ice breaker and can also be used to set expectations in introducing a dull topic. Consider starting off with a brief humorous story about your personal experience with your topic. Everyone loves a good story.
Use lots of visuals
A picture really is worth a thousand words when it comes to visualizing quantitative data. We know you know your stuff or you wouldn’t be presenting, but try not to bore your audience with slides that are nothing but words, numbers, and codes that you just read back to them. Believe it or not, slides are intended to engage the audience—not just serve as a teleprompter for the speaker. Remember that people are highly visual, so include graphs, charts, and infographics for data visualization.
Add audio effects
Add self-shot videos, high-quality YouTube videos, audio recordings, animations, or music to your presentation. Audio effects are a fantastic way to engage your audience. Make sure they don’t distract from your message, but rather convey your point.
Avoid information overload
KISS: Keep it Short and Simple. Your audience can only absorb so much information, so divide the body of your presentation into the three main points you want the audience to recall and process. Keep your data digestible, simple, and easy to understand.
Use nonverbal cues
Seasoned presenters understand that how something is presented can be more dynamic than what is being presented. In addition to using visual aids, engage the audience’s senses in other ways. Establish eye contact, vary the tone of your voice, make the appropriate facial expressions and natural gestures, and convey a high level of energy and confidence—this will help keep your audience interested and attentive. How you say things can be just as important as what you say if it means the difference between an audience that listens and an audience that drifts away.
Involve your audience
It’s important to check in with your people. Make sure they understand your message. Invite attendees to participate by engaging them in a discussion rather than just talking at them. Maybe ask your audience to guess the answer or fill in the blanks on your slides. You can even take it one step further by giving away small tokens as prizes. One presenter threw individually wrapped Hostess Ding Dongs to participating individuals. Who doesn’t love a Ding Dong? You can also ask your audience to introduce themselves or for a show of hands by asking questions. A key to offering an enhanced experience is to get your audience moving—get them to stand up, stretch, or even just ask them to clap their hands. You’ll be relieved when your own anxiety is reduced by facing an audience that is more enthusiastic.
Share your knowledge
I’ve sat through my share of presentations to get my CE units and noticed that some presenters have a tendency to use unexplained jargon that goes over the heads of the audience. Remember, your goal is to teach. You’re not there to reinforce your own intellectual credentials; you’re there to help your audience rise up toward your level. And that often means taking a step back, not overlooking foundational concepts that your audience might not understand, and defining any niche terms that you need to use. Remember, you know your stuff really well, but you can’t expect your audience to follow along if you push them straight into the deep end.
Practice makes perfect
Rehearse the heck out of your presentation, including any jokes or stories. Practice multiple times until it becomes so natural that you no longer need a script. Use your smart phone to record your rehearsals so you can make a realistic assessment.
Take an improv class
One of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever received as a writer is to take an improv class. Standing up on a stage (or at a podium) can be downright frightening, but Improv classes are a fabulous way to gain confidence and feel more comfortable speaking to a group of people. You’ll also learn how to use stress and butterflies to fuel your performance during a presentation. An improv class is one of the few places in life where you have permission to generally fail. Building up your improv muscles is a powerful counterforce that can help in every kind of professional situation, including presentations.
These tips are by no means comprehensive. Just keep in mind that delivering your message and engaging your audience is your primary focus, so be perky, know the subject, and tell an awesome story.
