How do you avoid boring your audience with too much information?

The most important aspect of presentations is having a clear goal that you want your audience to take away. Working backward from that goal, and personalizing the terms and examples you use to resonate with each distinct audience is essential.

"What's in it for them?" is the most important question to ask as a presenter when you are creating your presentation. Knowing your audience gives you insight into why the information you want to share is important to them. It allows you to inform them and stay on point.

Incorporate activities or time for reflection so your audience can really engage with the content and remember it. Discussions enable people to visualise and empathise with the subject matter, in a way that simply talking to them about it doesn’t

🔑 Understanding your audience is the cornerstone of a compelling presentation 🔬 Research shows that approximately 65% of people are visual learners, highlighting the significance of incorporating eye-catching charts, infographics, and images 🖼️ By leveraging visuals, you enhance comprehension and cater to their preferences and needs, leaving a lasting impact and empowering your audience to absorb and retain key information effortlessly

"What's in it for them?" is the most important question to ask as a presenter when you are creating your presentation. Knowing your audience gives you insight into why the information you want to share is important to them. It allows you to inform them and stay on point.

Knowing your audience is the key. To communicate effectively your message, you need to take account of the cultural values and opinions held by your audience. - If your presentation is to be included as part of a conference, ask for a list of delegates in advance. - If you will do the presentation to a new potential client, ask contacts in the appropriate industry. - Before addressing a public meeting take the time to read the local press to see what concerns your audience might have.

A simple one word answer is enthusiasm. If you are not excited and anxious to share your message with me, how can you expect me to be?

1.Prioritize Key Points: Focus on the most critical information that directly addresses your audience's needs and interests. 2.Engage with Stories:Use anecdotes or real-life examples to illustrate your points, making the content relatable and memorable. 3.Visual Aids: Incorporate visuals like charts, images, and infographics to break up text and highlight key data. 4.Interactive Elements: Include questions, polls, or activities to keep the audience actively involved. 5. Pace Yourself: Avoid information overload by spacing out content and allowing time for questions and discussions. 6. Clarity and Brevity: Use clear, concise language to communicate your message effectively without unnecessary details.

Towards the end of the presentation, it is important to bring your audience's attention back to the main message. Having a key take-home point will help your audience remember the main idea you were conveying and an action step will give your audience something to do about what they have learned. The action step can be something very small for example sharing the main take-home point with someone that was not present in the audience. When we share what we have learned, it helps us remember it even more.

The purpose not only helps you frame your presentation in a meaningful way, but it also allows you to remove unnecessary information. Clutter is often added to presentations to make the presenter 'sound better'. If information is not pertinent to the purpose or the audience, then it should not be added.

I like to distill my points into a single well curated image. A picture is still very much worth a thousand words, and imagery can convey an emotion, an idea or a fact much more clearly, and in a language that is universal. An example is a presentation I gave on the down side of self-checkouts in grocery stores. Instead of loading the page up with bullet points I used a photo showing a long line of bored looking shoppers waiting in queue to check out. People got my point instantly, related personally from their own experience, and we were thus able to have an energized and active conversation about the problems and solutions.

In my experience, the most effective presentations are those that keep information on the slide, on the slide. If you’re making a point, don’t repeat what’s on the slide but make it relatable, give your audience a path to understand the one of your three points with an example or more detail. Follow the rule of three, and remember your audience can read. Remember, a presentation is what you leave your audience with beyond what you send to them afterward.

The rule of three helps you stay concise, not overload your audience and makes it easier to remember. There are times to add more points, but only if they add to the presentation without taking away from it (either in content or style). The most effective presentations find ways of transitioning between points effectively.

I have used this rule since college. Incorporating the Golden Circle + The Rule of Three makes for an impactful presentation... 1. Why: Why are you presenting? Is it to inform the audience? To demonstrate a product or skill? Why is your purpose of the presentation 2. How: This is how we convey our WHY. This is the way you are going to deliver your purpose filled statement. 3. What: What are we talking about? This is where you educate/attention grab the audience. All of which should lead you back to your Why!

The biggest thing that jumps off the page to me here is to avoid using filler words. If you find yourself forgetting what you were saying, it is hard to think about whether or not you are using those filler words. If you insert a question to get the audience talking, you can use those few seconds to recover and get your thoughts back together to continue where you left off. Pauses are a good way to not use filler words as well, but much harder to execute (in my opinion). The brain knows that you are supposed to be saying something and begins to want to keep going. This is why I find it easier to ask a quick question to earn time to gather your thoughts or just transition into the next point I was going to make and circle back around after

Get to the point. Start by writing what your goal for the presentation is. "What do I want the audience to know and remember from my presentation?" Then expand on that. Remember that audiences receive information differently. In North America, stories often go first then the point; in Europe, the point goes first, then the story to back up the information. This also goes into "know your audience."

The impact of storytelling cannot be understated. But that story works best if it is relatable. Telling a story about your trip to space may be interesting, but it's not going to engage because no one else in the audience has been there. Using stories, examples and anecdotes that tap into emotions and experiences the audience has had will be far more engaging than just entertaining them with an unrelatable monologue.

I am a public speaker who believes in engaging my audience. I tailor my presentations to meet their needs by learning about their different learning styles. I use a variety of techniques to engage my audience, such as storytelling, humor, questions, polls, and exercises. I want my audience to walk away with additional information that they can use to succeed in their lifelong learning journey. Specifically, I use stories to illustrate my points, humor to lighten the mood, questions to get my audience involved, polls to get feedback, and exercises to give my audience a chance to practice what they are learning. I believe that these techniques can help to make public speaking presentations more engaging and informative.

Interacting with your audience with fun questions/ ice breakers and making an attempt to understand your audience's interest can help to add value to your presentation and make audience be engaged in your content .

This got me thinking about the impact technology has on the art of presenting. As technology dominates, it's vital to ponder its impact on engagement. While convenient, gadgets shouldn't overshadow human connection. Embrace storytelling, humor, and thoughtful questions to enrich presentations and forge genuine connections. Reevaluating tech's role enhances engagement for both audience and presenter. experience, forging genuine connections that technology alone can't replicate. By reevaluating the role of technology in our presentations, we can enhance engagement and create a more fulfilling experience for both the audience and the presenter.

Anyone asking for attention time from others should be aware that at that moment they are competing directly with the sum of the entertainment industry, their audience's personal and professional problems and the surrounding noise from the presentation context (including other people). So be worth their time. Entertain, provide relieve, be clear.

Don't provid too much information. Offer education but not an overwhelming amount. If virtual, no longer than 60 minutes. Offer trainings various times of the day and do them in parts or sections. Do not do everything in one day. Have attendee participation or breakout rooms so it is not just the presenter or facilitator talking the whole time. Be mindful and be yourself and add some humor if possible.

Social media has upped the ante on what audiences expect for presentations these days. Digital tools like Canva, AI tools like Mid-Journey and myriad video editing and data visualization tools mean the level of professionalism that presentations demand is very high. Having pages of bullet points not only turns off an audience but makes the presenter look out of touch. If you've never used digital tools I would highly recommend finding someone who can teach how to really elevate the quality, appearance and clarity of your presentations. Your career will thank you.

Slow down. You already know what you are sharing but this may be your audience’s first or second time hearing it. Place a few deliberate pauses for their benefit after key points.

Remember, confidence is key. When you give a presentation you have to show the audience you know your stuff. So always, always prepare. Even if you know your topic and can recite your points in your sleep, preparation is the only way to be able to give an effective and affective presentation.