One of the most common questions I hear when people ask me how to make a better presentation is, “how do I make my topic interesting?” Well, usually presentations are not solely interesting; it’s the presenter who is interesting. You have the power to make your topic an interesting one. If you are passionate about your topic, if you are telling a story, you are going to transmit that passion to your audience, who will be equally immersed in the topic as you are. We are forgetting that the oldest and most viral forms of presentations have always been stories. Some of the most fascinating presentations I’ve seen have been on topics I knew nothing about and/or was not interested in at all, but the presenter told a story, and that is what gets your attention! There is a certain energy a presenter gives out when he or she is crazy about his or her topic. That is the energy you should be looking to reach when you are presenting in front of an audience.

Audiences tend to doze off during presentations, it’s nothing personal, just a natural reaction; people are driven by needs, they look at you up there, giving a presentation and think: “What is this? Is it dangerous? Can I eat it? Can I have sex with it?”And if the answer to all three questions is no, they lose interest. Help your audience stay awake; I’m sure you do have something interesting to offer, if not you wouldn’t be making a presentation, right? Engaging the audience and making a presentation memorable can be easier than you think. Throw a few questions at them, make them move… some of the most interesting public speakers engage their audiences in these ways. When you pose a question in a presentation, at first most people believe it to be rhetorical and don’t mind thinking of the answer, but if you pause, just for an extra 5 seconds, you will get their wheels turning. Are you part of a seminar? One of many presenters in a day? Try having the audience stand up and stretch for 2 minutes before you begin, they will be thankful for the break and much more responsive. These are just some of the ways to make an impression on your audience, come up with some of your own which will create this reaction.

Craft your presentation as a story that you want to tell your audience. Don’t be afraid to get personal, draw from your own experiences to convey that emotion, your audience will be thankful for your sincerity. The type of story you are going to tell will have to do with your Audience’s Needs (soon I will publish a post on how to map your Audience’s Needs). Sometimes however, you aren’t really crazy about what you’re presenting. It’s not always easy to get pumped about distribution costs or possible side effects of a certain drug. This is why we call it the Art of Presenting, it has much more to do with acting that it does with business. Don’t be afraid to become another person on stage, your presentation will be much more sincere if you are your own self; but if you are a shy person by nature, it’s alright to take on a different approach. I’ve seen the stage transform people and turn a shy person into an absolute leader. The most important factor for this to take place is that you rehearse your speech; rehearse it over and over, in the shower, on your way to work, while cooking dinner; rehearse it until you are absolutely comfortable with what you are saying. People can see right through a poorly prepared speech, and although on stage you will have to adapt to your audience as you go and most of it will be improvised, you have to know your topic inside out to give a perception of security and keep your audience interested.

A very good way to keep your audience interested is to give examples and show data that relates to them; this goes hand in hand with your Audience’s Needs, something to start keeping in mind. Think about what they are interested in and give an example using that information. If your audience is a group of potential investors, you are probably going to retain their attention better if you focus more on potential profits than on the hours of work you put into the project. One is more suited for the investors, while the other might be used to convey the passion you have for the project while trying to find partners.

You might find yourself trying to present in a second language, such as English, and not being able to apply some of the advice you find on this post. If you don’t feel comfortable enough with English or, most of all, if your audience is not formed by native speakers, the best rule to follow is that of simplicity. Make your presentation as simple as possible and repeat the important points several times, until you are sure they burn into your audience’s memory. If one can attend a presentation in a tongue which he is not fluent in and take home the core message of the presentation, believe me, they will think you are the best and most interesting speaker alive. Many times, by trying to decorate your speech too much, what you do is distract the audience from the core message.

All these details are important and it takes time and practice to come up with the best combination for each presentation. You have all attended presentations you didn’t like, so draw from other people’s experiences to learn what not to do; tell your own story, and choose which parts to tell to each audience; don’t be afraid to be a different person when on stage, that is your presentation personality; and most important of all, if you want to give an interesting presentation: think outside of the box.

Until next time,

Byron Stanford for Project Presentation.