When are you really motivated to listen to somebody? This often is when we have a real interest in the topic, or when the message relates to things that are important to ourselves, the “What Is In It For Me”.  Connecting with the ‘Why’ for our listener is key in every communication. So to make your next presentation stick, make sure you cater the “why” for the other person and use these 7 tips to make it memorable

  1. Be yourself. When presenting, we tend to go into ‘presentation mode’ and become formal and stiff. Consider a presentation like a conversation with more than one person. More easily said than done, but practice makes perfect.
  2. Prepare your message, not only your power point. Know what your audience wants, know what you want the audience to do, know your key messages.  We often take too much time preparing our power point, and overlooking the real essence of the presentation. Ask yourself ‘if the beamer failed, what would I tell my audience?
  3. Start with why. This helps the group understand the problem to be solved and the benefits to solving it. You can do this by opening with a story, a startling question, or explicit problem statement. It will set up the case for change as clearly and quickly as possible.
  4. Use evidence and stories. To help illustrate and substantiate your points, use specific evidence. Examples, personal stories, customer cases, testimonials, demonstrations.  Evidence gives colour and depth. We remember specific examples much longer than situations stated in general terms.
  5. Open and end in a memorable way. Captivate people’s attention from the first second, and end on a high note. Often the closing is a simple ‘thank you for your attention’, which is a missed opportunity. Repeat your key message in a very clear and concise way, this makes your key message more powerful and memorable.
  6. Remember the 6×6 rule for your slides. For quick and easy digestibility, don’t put more than six points on a slide and no more than about six words per point. Also, make sure everyone in the audience can understand your slide in less than ten seconds. This may require some reengineering of the content, but it will be worth it.
  7. Be enthusiastic. This might seem odd advice, yet I have seen it work time and again. Right before the presentation, do some physical exercise, stretch, get energised, get your body in a positive vibe, and decide to have a good conversation with your audience.

If you have a presentation or workshop coming up that you’d like to discuss, feel free to send us an email or note on LinkedIn.

What presentation do you have coming up?