Most presentations seem to be all over the place.
They seem to leave the audience with more questions, than answers. They might actually have answered these questions. But because they were verbose & unfocused, these points would have gotten lost somewhere in the pile.
This article tells you how to avoid making this mistake.
If only we would imitate Abe Lincoln!
“When I get ready to talk to people, I spend two thirds of the time thinking what they want to hear and one third thinking about what I want to say” – Abraham Lincoln.
If only, all presenters would think likewise.
Presentations that are all over the place
Many presenters seem to want to cover all the possible points, in their presentations.
So, they dump everything they know about the subject, on the poor audience. They believe that they did the presentation, justice. After all, they did tell the audience everything there was to be told.
Unfortunately, the audience thinks otherwise. To them, the presentation was a waste of time.
The audience fails to grasp the essence of the presentation
To the audience it would seem like the presentation was all over the place.
It leaves the audience feeling overwhelmed. The matter was just too much to handle. They couldn’t grasp & retain, the content of the presentation.
They would have come to the presentation expecting answers to certain questions. Maybe, the presentation did answer those. But the answers were hidden beneath layers & layers of content.
The audience, consequently, fails to pick these out.
What presentations can learn from laser beams & tube lights
A tube light provides diffused lighting. It is all over the place.
Most presentations are like tube lights. They lack focus. They are all over the place.
A laser beam, on the other hand, is focused. It concentrates & focuses all its energy on to a single point. Needless to say, but a laser beam has much greater potency as compared to a tube light.
A laser beam is an apt metaphor for what presentations ought to be; focused and directed at meeting its objective; nothing else.
How to design presentations that are like laser beams
Use the following process to help you structure focused and highly effective presentations.
1. Profile your audience: Identify, who will be in your audience.
Profile them based on their:
– Demography (age, gender, education, etc)
– Firmography (industry, profession, work experience, etc) &
– Psychography (interests, lifestyle, etc) evaluation of the audience.
Also, identify how well versed they are on the topic that you are presenting on
Profiling them in this manner, will help you choose the right content for your presentation. It will also help you choose the right examples, analogies, anecdotes, etc., to share with your audience.
Also, from the example mentioned in the point below, you will see how a firmography based profiling can help you decide on the workshop content.
2. Identify audience objectives: Identify what your audience would want from the presentation; what they would be seeking to hear from you.
Say, you are a Consultant, making a presentation on the Power Sector in India. Your audience members are Credit Officers (these are the individuals who disburse loans, to customers) of a Bank.
Identify, why they are at the presentation.
In this case, being Credit Officers, they are there to understand from you what their lending policies to the Power Sector companies should be. They will base this on the opinions that you will present.
Hence, your content should now be focused on providing your audience with this information. You will leave out other content related to the Power Sector, but not directly connected to this.
3. ‘Chunk’ them based on objectives: Often, you would need to chunk your audience into groups of people with similar objectives.
Imagine that you are making the above mentioned presentation, at an industry forum. In your audience are Credit Officers from different banks. There are also Investors, who want to know if the Power Sector in India is a worthy investment avenue.
Each of the audience members might have different questions that they want answered. A group of 100 might have as many needs. Obviously, you cannot address each of their needs.
So, you would need to chunk them into broad segments. Identify broadly, what the needs of different audience members are. The Credit Officers want to know how to evaluate Power Companies. The Investors are looking at the growth prospects of the Sector.
These then become the two primary objectives that you should address in your presentation.
4. Prioritize your content: Provide the information that the most important chunk of people needs, right in the beginning. Then present to the next most important chunk. Follow this method, till you have addressed all the chunks (or, at least, all the major).
So, in the above case, if the Credit Officers were your primary target group, then give priority to their needs.
5. Edit ruthlessly: Knock off all the points that are not absolutely essential for you to meet your presentation objective. Retain only the content that is required for you to make your point, clearly.
There might be points that are good to include. They might be on the same topic. They might be interesting, even. But, if they are superfluous to giving people what they want to hear, they are a waste. Edit them out of your presentation.
This process will enable you to follow Abraham Lincoln’s philosophy.
“But I may not know the audience profile”
If you do not already know, then find out.
If you are going to be presenting at a seminar, then ask the organizers who they are expecting, will be attending the event. What if it is a client that you will be presenting to? Ask your contact there, as to who all will be in the audience.
If you really cannot get an answer, then try and make an educated guess.
If you do not profile an audience, you will end up being all over the place; just like a tube light.
Focused presentations are easy to make
Follow Abraham Lincoln’s philosophy. Follow the process mentioned here.
You will then be able to deliver presentations that are focused & relevant. Your presentations will then pack a real punch. You will be acknowledged as a highly effective presenter.
Wouldn’t you want that?
Jerson James.
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Jerson James can be reached at jersonjames@rediffmail.com
Dear Jerson,
It was indeed a value adding experience for me to be at your programme on High Impact Presentations. Your communication style and personality were indeed very effective and enhanced the quality of the sessions. Among the content per se, the 5 principles of good presentations and the facets to be kept in mind while structuring presentations were most appealing to me. Above all I found the sessions to be practical and relevant.
In terms of potential additions, I feel that including videos of model presentations by experts or yourself can further enhance the quality of the programme.
Many thanks for your efforts and I look forward to meeting with you shortly.
All the very best.
Krishnan,
CRISIL
Dear Krishnan,
Thank you for the compliments. They really give my self confidence a big boost. Especially coming from someone who has had the kind of experience & knowledge, as you.
I’m glad that you found the workshop practical & relevant. I will also bear in mind the suggestions that you have made. In the meanwhile, I will send you some links with some(what) model presentations from other notable speakers.
I will be in touch with you.
Jerson