92% engagement results from the audience talking

QUESTION - how do I present to win?

THOUGHT – secure the attention of your audience and keep it

In my humble view, there is nothing worse than a speech at a wedding – unless of course the objective is to put the audience to sleep while the caterers organise the next course. Like most people, I have been to a lot of weddings and like most people I have payed attention to no more than a handful of wedding speeches. Unlike most people, I am honest about this.

I also find it hard to stay awake when I am reading written submissions and job applications. This is because the content I am reading, like the wedding speech is not presented with me, the audience, in mind and fails to offer anything I find interesting or engaging.

Engaging your audience and holding their attention is essential for the success of any speech, presentation or submission. Further, you cannot secure and maintain the attention of your audience, the chances of you achieving your goal are significantly reduced.

So how do you engage and hold the attention of your audience?

The starting point is always to REALLY understand that audience and what is likely to engage them. The next step is to write the presentation with that audience in mind. A winning presentation is drafted and delivered with the audience uppermost in your mind – having asked yourself – what are they interested in? What do they want to know? What do they want to take away from this? etc!

A winning presentation is not about the presenter or the business that presenter represents. A winning presentation is all about the audience.

Two important tips for maximising audience engagement are:

• Stop speaking and start conversing
• Tell stories the audience engages with

A recent study found that:

• An average level of engagement of 92% was achieved when the audience was actively participating in a conversation with the speaker
• An average level of engagement of 78% was achieved when the speaker was the only one doing the talking

These days, I never give speeches – I only have conversations with audiences. It is a much better way of engaging the audience and ensuring they get a return on their investment. While it is harder to get a response in a written presentation, a conversational style can again be more engaging, especially where this involves directly addressing issues raised in discussion leading up to the submission.

Recent research found that 58% of people attending a presentation remember the stories told. Other research has shown that stories are remembered far more than facts and figures, especially where the stories are highly relevant to both the topic and the audience. More and more, the great business speakers in the 21st century, like Seth Godin, Simon Sinek and Guy Kawasaki do little more than tell stories that illustrate the points they are making.

Another technique I use to maximise engagement in a verbal presentation involves standing at the front of the stage, looking audience members in the eye and talking to them individually, while having a conversation and telling stories.

THOUGHTS

Engage your audience from start to finish by ensuring that the content presented, and the style of presentation reflects a sound understanding of that audience and their expectations.

Have conversations rather than make speeches – recognising the importance of involvement and tell stories ahead of facts- recognising that humans engage with stories

SOURCES

Super Office, Venngage, Info Graphic, Custom Show, Mar Tech Series, The Career Café, Ethos 3, UT Blog, Tableau, American Express, Rule the Room, Financial Post, Linked IN, Presentation Panda, Present Better and Adobe

John

MORE THOUGHTS – www.djohncarlsonesq.com