While
new technologies have helped us share presentations online, and make
them online to more people than ever before, the fact still remains
that content is king when it comes to presentations. While PPT
sharing websites has made it easier for us to share online
presentations, this tallies to nothing if the presenter is not able
to hold the audience’s attention. With shrinking attention spans,
an increase in the number of distractions and less time than ever
before, holding a good presentation is becoming tougher as the years
go by. So, what can we do about this? While you can share presentations with your audience to make it easier for them to go
over statistics later on, how do you ensure that they listen to you
while you speak? One of the best ways to host a great online
presentation is to keep the audience engaged throughout the
presentation. This will prevent them from dozing off, getting lost in
their own worlds and using their phones. Therefore, here’s a look
at a few different ways to present your piece so that your audience
stays active and alert.
Today’s
Online Presentations
One-hour
presentations that people attended with a notebook and pen were the
commodity of the yesteryears. Nowadays that just won’t cut it,
because people just cannot pay attention for that long continuously
anymore. So, as presenters what can we do to ensure that our message
gets across effectively? While you may share online presentations, in
order for them to be effective, the presenters need to have creative,
unique and interactive sessions with the audience. Hence, the old
style for reading out facts needs to change, as the audience already
has the facts in front of them. Therefore, we need to re-invent
ourselves as presenters to make an impact in front of today’s
audience. To help you out, here’s a look at six ways to give an
impactful and interactive presentation.
Effective
Presentation Ideas
-
Try out an Ask Me Anything style session- Reddit has popularized the ask me anything style question-answer session, and the millennials seem to love this method of answering queries. It brings with it a level of flexibility, uniqueness and fluidity which is sure to keep the audience on their toes. However, make sure you really prepare and do your research with regards to your topic so that you can avoid tricky situations. While it is perfectly okay to not have the answer to everything, you must try to know enough about the field to answer at least 90% of the questions raised. This method also helps in making the session fruitful as it helps the audience feel like they are in control, giving them more incentive to pay attention. Furthermore, if you have researched enough regarding the topic, such a session can be extremely fruitful productive and informative for the audience. In case you are engaging a large crowd, have a friend step in as a moderator to ensure that there is a proper sequence of questions and not pandemonium. Also, in case you are short on time, you can source the questions beforehand so that you have an idea about what you are going to say.
-
Make sure you don’t just stand on a stage and deliver your speech. Try to get down from the dais and actually interact with the audience so that they feel like you are more relatable. This problem usually occurs when the speaker is under-confident and not feeling like he can make an impact on the audience. Remember that being afraid does not help anyone. Try to channel this fear more positively, by actually engaging with the audience and seeing them as ordinary people. If possible, try to talk to people beforehand so that you have some idea regarding how they are as people. Furthermore, when you leave the stage and come down to meet your audience they begin to automatically trust you more, and also feel like they have more importance.
-
Nobody likes sitting in the same awkward position for an hour or so. Therefore, one great way to make your audience more vocal and active is to get them moving. Maybe arrange a small exercise in the beginning that will require them to stand up or work in pairs. This, when done right, really helps in people forming good relations with the presenter, which in turn, leads to better engagement.
-
The best way to inculcate and create an active audience is by getting them to actively participate in games. Therefore, try to gamify your presentation so that people can easily participate and engage amongst themselves. Include mini quizzes in your presentation to help understand how much of the information you presented has been retained by your audience. Conduct a feedback response in order to gauge your own performance as an orator. Another fun thing to do is to include within the session an instance of live polling or voting. This helps you understand how your audience thinks and is a great way to get their feedback with respect to certain ideas. Furthermore, it makes them think like they are being involved in the thought process, making them listen more intently to you and what you have to say. When you share presentations online, it makes it easier to go through facts and figures related to the topic. When you make a game, or actively ask the audience to participate in some event, it gets them thinking about the topic, and this is what you need!
Comments
Post a Comment