Emotion is a powerful tool to persuade your audience in a presentation. It can help you connect with them, capture their attention, and motivate them to take action. But how do you use emotion effectively and ethically in your presentation? Here are some tips to help you.
Before you design your presentation, you need to understand who your audience is, what they care about, and what they want to achieve. This will help you tailor your message and your emotional appeal to their needs, values, and expectations. You can use surveys, interviews, or social media to research your audience and their preferences.
Identity. Values. Goals. As a presenter, you must think about your own. You should also consider the collective audience’s broad identity, reasons for caring what you have to say, and what they want to get out of it. You can also speak to the individual. If you have researched attendees, you may know about some of the projects they are working on. You may know they love to read, hike, travel, or knit. Weave these insights into the dialogue. Help them to feel unique. Show them you care. Share with them. Listen to them. Stay excited.
Honestly...just be human. I think being human is the best way to persuade people to see things similarly. You have to understand your audience and relate to how they might view what you're trying to pitch to them even before you go into battle...but at the end of the day...we all just want to be comfortable.
Depending on your purpose and your audience, you may want to evoke different emotions in your presentation. For example, you may want to use fear to warn them of a threat, anger to rally them against a problem, joy to celebrate a success, or curiosity to intrigue them with a question. You can use stories, images, videos, or statistics to trigger the emotion you want.
One technique I use with the executives I coach is called actioning. It’s a method of mentally assigning a transitive verb to each section of your speech. Some transitive verbs executives I like include "inspire" or "persuade" or "reassure" or "warm." The verb describes your emotional intent, and the effect you'd like to have on your audience. Then, we you deliver your speech, mentally think of that verb. This helps you clarify your emotional intent and deliver your message with more impact. Actioning also helps you get out of your head, and into the hearts of the audience. You'll find you speak more clearly and with fewer vocal stumbles. Try it for yourself and see how it transforms your speech!
While emotion can be persuasive, it can also backfire if you overdo it or ignore the facts. Your audience may feel manipulated, offended, or skeptical if you use emotion to exaggerate, distort, or hide the truth. You need to balance emotion and logic in your presentation by providing credible evidence, clear arguments, and relevant examples to support your claims.
By sharing vulnerable stories with honest and authentic emotion we can create deeper and more human connection. When I combine that with data and case studies it’s a powerful combination to persuade and influence your audience.
Emotion can lose its impact if you use it too often or too intensely in your presentation. Your audience may become bored, annoyed, or overwhelmed if you bombard them with emotional stimuli. You need to use emotion in moderation by varying your tone, pace, and delivery. You can also use humor, pauses, or questions to break the tension and engage your audience.
Emotion can be persuasive only if you show it authentically in your presentation. Your audience can sense if you are sincere, passionate, or confident about your topic. You need to show emotion authentically by using your voice, body language, and facial expressions to convey your feelings. You also need to be respectful, polite, and empathetic to your audience and their emotions.
The ultimate goal of using emotion in your presentation is to persuade your audience to take action. You need to end with a clear, specific, and compelling call to action that tells them what you want them to do, why they should do it, and how they can do it. You can use emotion to inspire, motivate, or challenge your audience to act on your message.