Presentation Skills: Three Tips For Connecting With Your Audience
Last week I attended a presentation designed to help businesses sell to the government of Canada, run by the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises. I was expecting that the information would be useful but perhaps the presentation could be a little boring.
I was pleasantly surprised.
The presenter did a great job of running the seminar as he did three keys things that any presenter or speaker should try to achieve. These key points helped his audience to benefit from his presentation and stay engaged throughout the session.
This article outlines those three key points for a making a great presentation so that you can make a great impression by applying these ideas to your own speeches and presentations. They are: 1) understanding the audience 2) making eye contact and 3) showing enthusiasm.
Understanding the audience
Do you want to connect with your audience and have them pay attention to what you are saying?
If so, before writing your presentation or speech, give some thought to the audience and what they want to hear. A few key questions that any presenter should consider: “Why is my audience listening to me?” “What is the benefit to the audience?” “What level of detail do they want to hear?”
Outline the benefit in your presentation. What is your presentation going to do for your audience? Tell them why they should be interested in listening to you. Are you going to help them to save money? Make money? Feel better about themselves in some way? Outline the benefit upfront.
The presenter explained that there are plenty of opportunities to sell to the government and that he would show us how to find those opportunities. This is a strong benefit for his audience of small and medium enterprises.
Provide the right level of detail for your audience. The level of detail that you provide in a presentation will vary drastically depending on who you are presenting to and what use they have for the detail. One top government official in Ontario schedules meeting for only 15 minutes at a time, which means people meeting with him must get to the point quickly and provide a high-level summary of what they are asking for or the proposed action. Often, when you are presenting to top executives, they will be looking for a short, to-the-point presentation. Other times it is important to give a lot more detail.
For example, if you are explaining a process, detailed regulations or teaching someone a new skill, a fair bit of information will be required.
The presenter showed us the details, by navigating through the website (which was projected onto a screen) on how to access the bids online, which is exactly what I, as a business owner, was looking for.
Making eye contact
When using PowerPoint, a common mistake that presenters make is to look at the slides and not at the audience. Many people don’t even realise that they are doing it. This is why we use a camcorder on our courses to show delegates what they look like when they are presenting.
As the presenter was speaking, he looked around at the audience and made eye contact with individuals. Through the presentation, he held the gaze of one person at a time for a few seconds, before moving on. By doing this, he let the audience know that he was interested in them, which in turn helps the audience to feel part of the presentation.
To use eye contact to connect:
•Look at your audience – not your slides
•Hold the gaze of individuals in the audience for a few seconds (or the length of a sentence) before moving on.
Showing enthusiasm
Many presentations given in the office can be technical or information-based, rather than fun or motivational topics. Because of this, presenters often feel less than inspired about delivering these topics and it shows through in the way that they present. It’s common for business people to speak without much variety or excitement in their voices. What impact do you think this has on the audience? That’s right, they’ll feel bored or disengaged with what is being said.
Throughout his talk, the presenter conveyed enthusiasm for his topic by emphasizing key points. There was a lot of variety in his tone when he talked about the opportunities for small and medium businesses, which showed that he was enthusiastic about the benefits for his audience. Also, he spent time highlighting the need to take certain actions to be able to bid for government contracts, showing the audience that these points were important.
So, to show enthusiasm in your speech:
•Be excited about what you’re presenting
•Project enthusiasm in your voice by using variety in your tone – emphasize key words
•Pause to let your points sink in
Your next presentation
When you’re preparing for your next presentation, use these three key points to make an impact:
Consider the audience – what is the benefit for them and what detail do they need? Incorporate these into your presentation
Make eye contact – look at the audience (not your slides!) and hold the gaze of individuals for a few seconds at a time
Project Enthusiasm – be excited about what you’re presenting so the audience will feel that way too. Vary your tone to emphasize key points.
See www.macgrercy.com for more articles
Susan Percy is a Corporate Trainer who runs courses in the UK, Canada and worldwide. Susan specialises in courses for executives who want to improve their performance at work, including topics such as presentation skills, speed reading, creativity and time management.
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