Engage Your Audience in Your Next Presentation
Can you wing it?
Spontaneity is essential for presenters who want to engage their audience and make an impact. Here Clive Lewis, MD of Illumine Training, reveals how to think on your feet.
Would you dare to wing it when making your next presentation? Or are you one of those people who won’t deviate one inch from a pre-prepared script?
… Developing your spontaneity is the way forward …
The problem if you follow the latter route is that you won’t have any rapport with your audience and that means interest levels will be low. Developing your spontaneity is the way forward and, furthermore, it’s a skill that can be learned.
Of course there are risks with spontaneity. If you have seen the performance of those would-be young guns in the TV programme, The Apprentice, you will know the problems. Caught off guard by Sir Alan Sugar’s direct questions many of them simply couldn’t cope when asked to go ‘off piste’. As viewers we watched wide eyed as these extremely bright executives went off track, went into too much detail, or simply lost their thread.
So how could they have planned for spontaneity in their presentations? The secret is this - ‘whole brain’ reasoning or, to put it in another way, using structure to support spontaneity.
The way this approach works is as follows. When it comes to communication our logical left-brain is absolutely superb in three critical areas - cutting to the core (breaking down our topic), breaking down the core (separating ideas out distinctly from one another) and dynamic movement (giving ideas energy and force). Meanwhile our right hand, intuitive brain is brilliant with images, stories, sensation, colour and imagination. And it is how we combine both parts of our brains that enable us to wing it with confidence.
Of course some people think that any structure limits spontaneity. But this isn’t true. The mind processes information extremely quickly and presenters, in giving themselves structure to improvise, are helping themselves and their listeners in two extremely important ways. First, structure provides focus for an audience. It imposes order on the mass of information presenters have at their fingertips. Second, structure is liberating. Much like putting a plane on autopilot, structure leaves the pilot free to engage with his/her passengers, make contact, provide important flight information whilst knowing all the time that the plane is heading in the right direction.
…structure is liberating…
So let us see how this approach works in practice by looking at the sort of presentation you might have seen in The Apprentice - the marketing presentation for a new toy. How would you design such a session? Well in the first case, using structure, you might prepare something like this.
- For your introduction you would start with ‘the big headline’ which, for example, could be ‘What kids want to buy’.
- You then break this into manageable chunks such as:
a. The current market - what products are selling?
b. The future market - emerging trends
c. How the proposed toy will fit into buying patterns. - The conclusion adds force to your ideas and echoes the headline …. ‘So the new toy is a product that kids haven’t got, which looks good and which will keep them entertained.’
…our framework should depend on what you think will be easiest for your listeners to comprehend…
This is the basic structure but you add to this with your ‘right brain’ capacity for creativity to engage your listeners. So, for example, on the headline you might start with something provocative such as ‘toys are status symbols’ to capture your audience’s attention. Then you might add stories, anecdotes, personal insights gleaned from your own experience to personalise the main chunks of your presentation. And you might provide the momentum by being imaginative with your conclusion e.g. ‘So think back. Remember when you were 12 years old. What would it have been like to have bought this toy? Just how impressed would your friends have been?”
Of course there are many structures that presenters can use to help them with their spontaneity. Chunking information into a time frame e.g. the present, the future and ‘the gap’ between is one approach. Or you might use a geographical plan where you chunk your information into distinct spaces e.g. company, division and individual. The choice you make for your framework should depend on what you think will be easiest for your listeners to comprehend.
It is also worth remembering that not all improvisation occurs when you are ready for it. What happens when you are asked on-the-spot questions? The reality is you can still use this structure - big theme, chunks and conclusion - to get your message across. Just remember that thinking on your feet isn’t about having every single possible fact at your fingertips. Rather it’s about thinking about the audience and structuring what you say so that it is clear, useful and engaging for them. That’s the way to make it memorable.
Illumine Training offers a number of courses and workshops that can help you to engage your audience.
Professional Presentations
Our compact 1 day or comprehensive 2 day in-house course that focuses on presentation techniques that help you to know your audience, prepare effectively and deliver with IMPACT. It’s not a course that focuses on presenting with PowerPoint®.
Think On Your Feet®
THE verbal communications course. It will help you to structure ALL your verbal communication by combining effective thinking with proven communication tectniques. It’s a great course to help you get your point across and deal with those awkward questions and situations. Think On Your Feet® is available as an in-house course or 2 day public workshop (London and Manchester).
Tags: Engage your listeners, Presentation techniques, Professional Presentations (Training)